Posts Tagged: sexual assault
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 »
18 And Clueless: How California’s Proposed Affirmative Consent Law Could Have Helped Me
I remember my very first week of college, my first real night at a college party. Newly independent and recently single, I was determined to have a night I’d never forget. I pulled myself together in an outfit I’m sure I was very proud of at the time (though, in retrospect, #fashionmistakecentral), downed some shots, and set off to dance and try to meet boys. I had a nice time but didn’t meet anyone, so around 1am I decided to head back to my dorm room by myself. When I was almost there, I heard a voice calling at me from a car driving next to me. It was a boy, a cute boy, and he asked where I was headed. He told me that he was an RA at… Read more »
Interns in the United States: Unpaid and Unprotected
No benefits, long hours, random tasks, and all for the sake of “experience” on our résumé. As if unpaid internships weren’t already terrible enough. It’s basically free labor for employers in a competitive job market where purse strings are tighter than ever. The pressure to accept an unpaid internship is way too familiar for college students and youth attempting to remain competitive in a dog-eat-dog job market. Besides lacking benefits that paid employees receive, unpaid interns are now denied basic workplace protections.
It Doesn’t Matter What I Wore; A Story of the Night I Was Drugged
*All names have been changed As women and girls growing up in America, we have all heard the warnings to ‘keep ourselves safe.’ We are told not to drink too much, not to wear short skirts or revealing tops, and not to walk alone at night. People claim we live in a post-sexist society, yet women are still constantly blamed for the sexual assaults that happen to them and deemed at fault if they get drugged. A few months ago, I went out with a friend of mine, Laurie* in downtown Sacramento. We stopped by a favorite bar of mine, then decided to move on since it was a slow night. As we arrived at the second bar, Tavern X*, we saw my friend Dane* who had coincidentally also… Read more »
