Rape on College Campuses Event

I attended Neal King’s talk on Rape on College Campuses. The event was Wednesday November 7th at 7:15 in 223 Engel Hall. The talk was about how women follow the regulations that men set. Men give themselves power by setting up inequalities such as creating a big group of peole, turning down the lights, dancing, loud music, etc. Throughout the United States, crime rate has dropped but on college campuses it has remained the same. This is due to the high rate of rape on college campuses. Alcohol is a major factor in rape cases. In inhibits the ability to make decisions the way one normally would. Men look to women to reinforce their masculinity, for this reason, they view women as objects of sex. Women go to parties trying to be hot but not “slutty” and to be nice. When they aren’t nice, and don’t give in to the men’s wishes, having sex, the men view this as leading a guy on. They are persistant until they get a yes out of a girl. They view her actions as consent although they clearly aren’t. Some of these actions might be dancing sexy, drugging herself with alcohol, or even just accepting a drink from a guy at the party. The girls that are at most risk are freshman girls until Thanksgiving break and off-campus girls and those at the lowest risk are girlfriends of brothers in the fraternity. These acts of rape continue because guys let them continue. They know that it is wrong but they keep their mouths shut. They want to protect their brothers although they may question their actions. Victims of rape are faced with stress, illness, academic disability, and distrust. They are less “competitive” in the real world and because most rape victims are women, this puts men at yet another advantage. Dry campuses, education, women in control of partying, and self defense classes are a few actions that are being done to lower the amount of rape cases on college campuses.
The idea of social gender construction plays an important part in rape cases. Men are viewed in society as more powerful and dominant while women are supposed to be submissive. This idea can be misinterpreted by many men and when women do not act the “way they should” they could become victims of violence and rape. Men show their authority by controlling women. This also deals with the interviews we did on violence towards women. My stepfather suggested self defense classes for women, a idea that is being practiced now, and most everyone said education was key. Education for women is the best way to stop rape because men will continue to be influenced by society.
I was very impressed by the presentation. Although I was not shocked completely by the quotes from some of the fraternity brothers, it upsets me that so may guys think this way. The world is really a much more dangerous place than we think it is. Our naivity could cause us great turmoil if we do not open our eyes to the reality of the world. I also believe that education is an excellent way to stop rape on college campuses, and this talk served as a great educational tool. I agree with the idea that men use fraternities for networking but I never considered the idea that they did so and pushed women out at the same time. After the idea was presented, it makes sense. I would like to think that this does not include most guys in our fraternities here on our campus, however, I have had a couple of friends who experienced attemped rape in fraternity houses.