Posts Categorized: Sex and Culture
Rare, Not Mythological: How Rape Culture Hurts Men
Trigger warning for discussion of rape/sexual violence and rape culture. There are four truths about rape that seem to escape or get ignored by the collective conscious: Rape is real. Rape is not sex. There is no such thing as an “actual” (or a “true” or a “real” or a “legitimate”) rape. Anyone of any gender can rape anyone else of any gender. Yes, the overwhelming majority of people sexually assaulted are women. Yes, most people know their rapist, either because they are a friend, an acquaintance, or a relative. Yes, most rapes are “non-violent” in the sense that a weapon is not used by the rapist against the person they are attacking. Yes, rape is considerably under-reported. However, none of these facts invalidate rapes that are committed against men… Read more »
Moving Forward with the Sex Positivity Movement
The sex positivity movement that has emerged in the last few years has made amazing efforts in challenging sexist and misogynist attitudes about women’s sexual expressions, everyday behaviors, the clothes women wear, and the like. For every magazine article that sounds off about Millennial women’s alleged narcissism and labels us the #selfie generation, there are thousands of girls flooding Tumblr and Instagram at any given moment, discovering how to love themselves through the creation and recreation of images they have total control over. (Note that while Time‘s article was about the generation as a whole, Time chose a tween girl with her phone for its cover.) Sex positivity gives girls the space to stand up against predatory male teachers who complain about them wearing bra straps and yoga pants, and… Read more »
Why I Married Young
Hello, my name is Paul. I’m a 22 year old college senior, and I’ve been married for 3 and a half years now. Yes, I married my high school sweetheart. We’ve been together since we were a sophomore and a junior, respectively, and we were engaged before I even graduated. After my first year in college (her second), we were married, and we’ve been together ever since. Quick Disclaimer: This post is not an endorsement of young marriage or marriage in general. I only seek to promote respect for everyone’s relationship decisions. Also, this is dealing with my personal story, so there is only discussion of a cisgender, heterosexual experience. This is not everyone’s experience, and that is precisely why I say we should always respect everyone’s relationship choices. In… Read more »
In Florida, Students’ Safety Should be More Important than Sports
Florida has a reputation for a few things—citrus, hurricanes, Gator World, and, unfortunately, our lack of investigations on college sexual assault. I’m referring specifically to the Florida State University’s case involving star football player Jameis Winston. A little refresher on the case: a female FSU student reported that she was sexually assaulted in December 2012. She did not know the name of her attacker, but realized it was Winston, who had not played in any football games yet, when she saw him in class. In February 2013, after barely any investigation, Tallahassee police shelved the case. What happened next is a little more well-known. After nine months of sitting on information, Tallahassee police gave the state attorney the report. They started an investigation, but it seemed as though Florida State… Read more »
Dear Trojan: Make Your Ads More Inclusive
Dear Trojan brand condoms, A few weeks ago, you released a trilogy of ads promoting the Co Zone, short for “condom zone,” in an effort to encourage couples to use a condom every time they have sex. The commercials, which were created in a partnership with MTV, are meant to target Millennials. And in most ways, they do so very successfully. The ads show condoms as part of a happy and healthy relationship. Good on you, Trojan. But they also miss the mark in something that is increasingly important to my generation: inclusivity. I’m sure you already know this, but this specific campaign features a white-appearing, male/female couple. Now, I’m a curious person, so this made me wonder: what’s the general demographic trend in contraception commercials? I had to know the answer, so… Read more »
Protect This House: Women Deserve Safe Campuses
Just in time for a return back to campus, the past two weeks has featured a number of headlines about sexual violence against women: a nail polish that detects one of the most common date rape drugs, the calculated hacking and release of dozens of celebrities’ nude photos from their iCloud accounts, a student at Columbia University who is protesting the school’s lack of justice about her rape by carrying around a mattress, and another university that deemed community service too harsh a punishment for a man who raped another student. Regardless of whether she is a senior who has spent the past three years on campus learning to avoid fraternity houses after dark or a freshman joking with her new classmates that her dad bought her a pink can… Read more »
Uncovering Undercover Colors: A Cosmetic Fix to a Systemic Problem
Undercover Colors, a nail polish that can detect date-rape drugs (also known as benzodiazepines) in potential rape victim’s drinks, has proven to be highly controversial throughout mainstream media and the feminist blogosphere. The product invented by invented by four male undergraduates at North Carolina State University, is being marketed towards female identifying individuals to use to prevent their own rape. Like the many rape-prevention products that have come before it, under this nail polish’s cover of empowerment is just another product that functions to place victims of rape, harassment, and assault at blame. This cosmetic could be genuinely helpful and a great product for those who like to wear nail polish, those who can afford to buy it, and those in situations where benzodiazepines are involved. The service it will… Read more »
The Battle for Consent Culture is Not Over
This article was also published in the Claremont Port Side I have had the honor to write quite a bit about sexual assault and consent during my year as a Choice USA blogger. I am, unfortunately, quite invested in the issue. Not only have I had experiences with assault and harassment, I have watched many of my friends and classmates suffer from the effects of assault as well. Chances are, since one in four college-aged women are assaulted, you probably have too. At the very least, we all, knowingly or unknowingly, know at least one person who has been assaulted. The implication of this is somewhat frightening. The prevalence of sexual assault implies that we all, knowingly or unknowingly, know at least one person who has assaulted someone else. Think about it. Assault is… Read more »
Sexual Harassment in the Lives of Working Students
by Moira Bowman, Deputy Director, Forward Together I saved up money to go to college by working in restaurants–and continued working at restaurants my first year of school. Some days I sat fancy people at fancy tables and served them fancy food and cocktails. Other days, I slung what felt like hundreds of plates of deep fried fish cozied up to big steak fries and counted the hours till I could shower off the coat of grease from my face and arms. I haven’t thought back on those experiences for many years–but recently my organization, Forward Together, began working on a research project in collaboration with Restaurant Opportunities Centers United (ROC) to look at experiences of sexual harassment and assault in the restaurant industry. And I’ve been taken off guard at… Read more »
