Julianne Roth is a journalism senior and Mustang Daily sex columnist.
It’s Sexual Assault Awareness Month, and in honor of its victims everywhere, I decided to discuss it.
To start, a man struts down a dark street in his partially buttoned shirt and tight, black jeans. Suddenly, he’s dragged into an alley by two men and his expensive pants are ripped off.
What did he expect to happen? He was asking for it in that outfit.
If blaming a rape on a person’s outfit didn’t sound idiotic to you before, I hope it does now.
This narrative is not meant to generate the slightest bit of comedy. Rape is not funny under any circumstances. In my opinion, “rape jokes” perpetuate flawed thinking in the subconscious, which seeps into our conscience, corrupts our tongues and (sometimes) manifests itself in our actions.
Men aren’t lions
I watched a YouTube video recently titled “How to Avoid Getting Raped.” The “YouTuber” in the video had large breasts, and she was proudly showing them off.
One of the comments read, “Women should expect to get raped in an outfit like that. It’s like throwing meat in front of lions.”
I wouldn’t use an abhorrent example like this if it was an anomaly. Sadly, I have read and heard numerous comments that spew this senselessness — the only difference among these comments is the feckless moron behind each one.
First, let’s address the fallacy in this inane metaphor that men are equivalent to lions.
It’s beyond me to even attempt to comprehend what it is like to have a Y where I have an X.
The plasma concentration of testosterone in men is seven to eight times greater than that in women.
Notice I specify concentration and not production because of the fact that men use and need loads more of it than women.
I briefly discussed the positive effects of testosterone in my column “Sex does a body good.” However, the same hormone that makes men so tasty also makes them scary.
In laymen’s terms, testosterone gives most men increased strength, and more aggressive tendencies and sexual urges when compared to most women.
If so desired, a strong, sexually charged man coming at you with a hard-on can be exciting — but if not desired, it’s a terrifying predicament.
So why don’t men mount anything they want whenever they want?
The separation between man and beast lives within the skull — mostly in the frontal lobe, where reasoning and higher functioning are controlled.
Therefore, when a man catches a glimpse of a woman barely dressed in a short skirt, pair of heels and cleavage-revealing top, he has the cognitive power to control his physical hungers.
Women aren’t pieces of meat
Clothing is just one way for a person to express themselves.
When I wear cleavage-revealing tops and dresses, I’m not asking for people to put their hands on me and force their appendage(s) into my orifices.
I’m not asking for anything.
I’m sure many women can vouch for this statement.
Putting on a little black dress, red heels and Ruby Woo lipstick in no way says, “Please, have sex with my body.”
The only true indicator that a woman is willing and able to have sex with you is simple, really: she will tell you with her words.
And “no” really does mean “no” — even if her tits are out and she’s drunk off tequila. No matter what.
Your basic right to give consent doesn’t mystically disappear when you put on or take off a certain piece of clothing.
Boundaries can get blurred when alcohol and sex are mixed — this dangerous cocktail deserves a column of its own, so I may discuss this later.
Furthermore, if covering every inch of skin protected people from being raped, burkas would be popular all over the world.
Blame the rapist
Rape can often be about dominance, power and control. Sometimes, it has little to do with how the victim looks or dresses.
For many reasons (some are stated above), women are blamed for being raped. I can name at least 10 women who have been raped and have yet to report it.
It’s estimated that only 11 percent of rapes are reported in the United States. Could this be the result of victim-blaming?
You already know what I think.
Believe the victim
The Start by Believing Campaign is an important tenant of Sexual Assault Awareness Month, which I hope remains a way of thinking and responding to sexual assault in the Cal Poly community even after this month concludes.
For further information about the campaign, Sexual Assault Awareness Month or sexual assault you can visit Safer in the Gender Equity Center in the Julian A. McPhee University Union.
RAPE IS NOT ABOUT SEXUAL ATTRACTION AND SEXUAL URGES. It’s about asserting power and control over someone you feel that you can take advantage of. Rapists don’t chose to rape their victims because they’re attractive. Rapists are not always men. Victims are not always women. Rape isn’t about testosterone levels. All you’re doing by bringing up testosterone production in males is medically justifying why some chose to rape. Rape isn’t about hormones, it’s about devaluing the life of another.
I am fully aware that rape is not always about sexual attraction and sexual urges, Nikki. I am addressing the FACT that women often get blamed for being raped because of the way they dress and act. People standby these claims by arguing that the “woman had it coming to her, she teased the men with her outfit and body language.” I needed to address the “sexual urges” factor in order to defend my argument that women are not to BLAME for getting raped.
I determined it unnecessary to use gender neutral terms when addressing the victims of sexual assault in this article. I have never heard of a man getting blamed for his rape, because of the clothes he was wearing.
However, I did say “Your basic right to give consent doesn’t mystically disappear when you put on or take off a certain piece of clothing,” which is a gender neutral statement.
Again, I think I am responding to someone who only read a portion of this column and doesn’t comprehend the message.
If I believed biology was the culprit of sexual assault, this article would not be in the MD.
I don’t believe she has made an excuse for anyone. While many journalists seem to point fingers, it appears that Julianne has simply acknowledged a common argument- that testosterone is to blame for make aggression, and offered a counter argument, stating that our cognitive abilities allow us to override primal urges. Some rapists do hunt their victims, others may engage in crimes of opportunity. All cases are unique and unjustified. I don’t believe that anyone is arguing to the contrary.
I personally think that Julianne has written a thought-provoking article that addresses and refutes common claims, as well as offers support to victims of sexual assault.
The conventional wisdom that testosterone is to blame for aggression is irrelevant in the case of sexual assault. People of ALL genders perpetrate sexual assault and survivors are of all genders. Again, sexual assault isn’t about sex or being horny, it’s about power. How can you argue that sexual assault and other aggressive behaviors are purely driven by male testosterone levels when the perpetrators don’t all have male testosterone levels? Some rapists do hunt their victims but they don’t hunt them because they’re necessarily sexual attracted to them.
It’s true that through social movements and culture we push people to change their minds about sexual assault. Our cognitive abilities allow us to change our options and practices. I don’t have a problem with that, in fact I agree that people have the power to stand up against the social norms. But sexual assault is driven by social factors, not biology.
I think you may have skimmed too much of this article, let me refresh your memory: “Rape can often be about dominance, power and control. Sometimes, it has little to do with how the victim looks or dresses.”
Our beliefs on sexual assault and its causes are similar. You have failed to grasp the point of this article.
Thank you very much!
“Rape jokes” are so ingrained in our culture,” it’s disgusting. Name one episode of Family Guy which doesn’t include at least one. And don’t get me started on prison rape jokes, which are almost inescapable…
I posted a somewhat harsh comment on one of your previous columns with some topic suggestions, and while this wasn’t one of them, this is exactly what I was talking about!
This is evidence that there can be a sharp, witty, and explicit sex column that is also helpful. The power of your column is that it’s a college student speaking to other college students. And this article shows that on Cal Poly’s campus, students will not tolerate or make excuses for sexual assault.
I know you don’t need my approval, but as a reader, good job and thank you.