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EDITORIAL: Addressing the Rape Culture on College Campuses

Below is an editorial written by Alex Zelin and Nicki Johnson, both of whom work with the organization Defined Lines, which is a group that studies the impact of bystander intervention on college students’ attitudes toward a number of areas concerned with sexual violence. In addition to their academic work, Alex is a swammer, having trained at SwimMAC Carolina and spending two years on the varsity swim team at the University of Mary Washington.

More information on Defined Lines and the co-authors of this editorial is available at the bottom of this page.

The editorial below reflects the perspective of its authors and is not necessarily indicative of the perspective of SwimSwam, its owners, or any members of its staff. We will consider all well-written submissions at share [at] swimswam.com.

By now, most of you have probably read about the sexual assault case involving Brock Turner. In fact, that might even be why you clicked on this article. Brock Turner‘s rape of an unnamed woman in January of 2015 (we chose woman instead of victim because it seems wrong to us that she be stuck with the identity of ‘victim’ for the rest of her life if she doesn’t choose to) has become a national tipping-point and lightning rod for an issue that has been a problem for a long time: the issue of rape culture and its place on college campuses.

Think back to when you were first accepted to college (or, if a younger reader, how excited you may be to attend college in the future). You were ecstatic, right? Maybe it was because you could live out your dreams of becoming a doctor or an architect. Maybe it was because you were excited to meet new friends. Maybe it was because you were about to join a great athletic team. Maybe it was because you couldn’t wait to go to all of the college parties.

Maybe you were nervous about a few things, too. Like being away from home for the first time (I think my entire first load of white t-shirts came out a different color after I did laundry for the first time. I lost some good swimming t-shirts that load). Or finding your way around campus without looking too “obviously” like a freshman. Or even running out of money and having to figure out a way to order-in more pizza.

I bet you didn’t worry about being sexually assaulted. Of course, why should you be worried? Most schools post low campus sexual assault rates, while all proclaiming they are a safe school for students. I mean, you wouldn’t have chosen a school where there was a potential for you to get hurt, right?

Well that is where the problem arises. Even with Title IX, rapes and sexual assaults are occurring far too often on college campuses, and the majority are never reported. But the goal of this editorial isn’t to talk about Title IX (that is a totally different article altogether), the goal is to talk about the prevalence of rape culture and how it has, and continues to, negatively affect all of us.

Just to brainstorm for a second – what are the consequences of drinking too much?

  • Falling down (I, Alex, would know. I’m an expert even when not drinking. I, Nicki, can sadly second that claim.)
  • Potentially misplacing keys, wallet, phone, etc.
  • A nasty hangover the next day
  • A long ride with the porcelain express (read: the toilet)

What is not a consequence of drinking too much? Getting sexually assaulted and/or raped.

What about the consequences of wearing minimal clothing?

  • Depending on where you are in the US and the season, you could freeze your behind off or get a pretty wicked sunburn.
  • Falling down can result in bruises and scraped knees, elbows, and palms.

What is not a consequence of wearing a minimal amount of clothing? Getting sexually assaulted and/or raped.

If I were naked, passed out drunk, and lying on a couch in the middle of a house party, I would not be raped unless there was a rapist present. But all too often, the first questions victims are asked are “how much did you have to drink” and “what were you wearing?”

Why don’t we ask the same of victims of other crimes? For instance, “Well, you were carrying a designer handbag. Of course you were the target of a mugging,” or, “What did you think would happen driving around in a luxury car? You were advertising your wealth to thieves.” These questions seem pretty silly, right? So why do we ask them of rape survivors? The answer to this question is simple, rape culture.

So what is “rape culture?” Martha Burt defined rape culture in 1980 as, “a pervasive ideology that effectively supports and excuses sexual assault.” You are probably thinking, huh? And trust me, you are not alone. So let’s break it down into language we can all appreciate.

Since the time of our birth we have received messages from numerous outlets – parents, friends, teachers, the media, to name a few. These messages include things like, “a woman should be seen and not heard,” “men do not take no for an answer,” or “men are stronger than women, so clearly they are the superior sex.” Also, we hear many messages about relations between men and women such as, “men and women cannot be friends, men always want sex” or “she probably slept her way to the top.” We even hear messages about relations among women like “I only hang out with guys, women are so catty,” or “Did you see what she was wearing? What a slut!” Finally, the cherry on the top, we receive messages that violence is okay and in some cases even desired, “Chicks like it rough, if they say they don’t they are just playing hard to get,” or, especially common on the playground, “he only hit you because he likes you!”

All these messages together make sexual assault a common occurrence. If “no means try harder,” how could we expect anything different? If the first thing a survivor hears is, “well, you shouldn’t have drank so much, you know men can’t control themselves,” then why would she report her assault? If the assailant is never punished (as in the majority of cases), or even if he is punished, the punishment is small and cushioned with sympathy for the loss of his “bright future,” why wouldn’t he do it again? This is what Burt meant by a culture that “supports and excuses sexual assault,” or a rape culture. And rape culture is especially prominent on college campuses.

To highlight the frequent occurrence of sexual assault on college campuses, the most commonly cited rate of completed or attempted rape among women in higher education is between 20-25% over the course of a college career (and this is expected to be an underestimate due to the low rate of reporting). That means that approximately 1 in 4 women will experience attempted or completed rape during their college experience (Fisher, B.S., Cullen, F.T., & Turner, M.G. (2000). The Sexual Victimization of College Women. National Institute of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics.). Beginning to reconsider what you should worry about during college?

Further, to highlight the experience of support and excuse of sexual assault on college campuses, the majority of colleges do not want you to know this is a problem! Their low posted rates, as mentioned earlier, don’t share the full picture. In fact, the problem is so bad that a recent documentary discussing the prevalence of rape on college campuses, ‘The Hunting Ground,’ was almost banned from appearing on television. If you haven’t watched the documentary, we encourage you to see it!

Are you outraged yet? Yes? Good. Don’t worry, we won’t leave you there, as that can result in disregarding everything we’ve said in an effort to maintain your own feeling of safety and sanity (we get it). There is a lot you can do to help get rid of rape culture! Here are some suggestions:

  1. Share this article on social media
  2. Talk to your friends and family about rape culture
  3. If someone tells you they were sexually assaulted, believe them (remember, sexual assault is WAY more likely to be unreported than lied about)
  4. Watch ‘The Hunting Ground’ – even better, hold a screening at your house, university, school, etc.
  5. Speak up when you hear any of the messages discussed above (or related comments)
  6. Volunteer at your local rape crisis center
  7. Ask your community (e.g., school, university) what they are doing to change rape culture
  8. Call the police if you believe someone is being sexually assaulted
  9. Vote (if you can) for political leaders who believe rape culture and sexual assault are important issues to address
  10. Be an empowered bystander – choose action over inaction, similar to the bikers in the Stanford case. See this video for some ways to be an empowered bystander

**for purposes of consistency the language in this article uses female pronouns for survivor and male pronouns for perpetrator; however, sexual assault can happen to anyone regardless of sex, gender, sexual orientation, etc.About the Authors:

Alexandra (Alex) Zelin is finishing her Ph.D. in Industrial/Organizational Psychology at the University of Akron and is excited to start as an Assistant Professor of Psychology at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga this fall. Her research focuses on gender, gender inequality, and sexism in the workplace. She became involved in Defined Lines during her third year of graduate school and has been an active member ever since, giving numerous bystander intervention trainings. Alex is a “swammer,” hailing from SwimMAC Carolina and swimming for two years at the University of Mary Washington before injuries kicked her butt (literally).

Nicole (Nicki) Johnson, Ph.D. is currently a Post-Doctoral Fellow and Adjunct Professor at the University of Akron and has accepted a position as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Education & Human Services at Lehigh University beginning Fall, 2016. Nicki’s degree is in Counseling Psychology and the focus of her research is the prevention of gender-based violence. Nicki is the founder of Defined Lines’ a “bystander-plus” prevention program for college students, incorporating traditional bystander rape prevention programming with feminist consciousness raising techniques and community action. 

Defined Lines started as a research group studying the impact of bystander intervention on college students’ attitudes toward a number of areas concerned with sexual violence. The aim of the intervention is to give people information, break myths, and empower people to be proactive bystanders in situations that span the spectrum of sexual violence. From jokes, to cat calls, to assault, we were emboldened by the words of Gloria Steinem, “Whenever one person stands up and says, ‘wait a minute, this is wrong,’ it helps other people do the same.” Continue the conversation on Facebook and our website!

 

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Alec
8 years ago

The 20-25% statistic is not accurate and has become sort of a folkloric fact. It is based on a survey that in no way represents an actual college environment.

I’m not trying to say there is not a problem, but using statistics that have not stood up well to any rational analysis does not further the cause, it damages it.

No parent would send their child to college if it was an indisputable fact they would either be sexually assaulted or face a real legitimate threat of sexual assault during their time away.

While we have a long way to go, the suggestion that we have a “rape culture” or some type of cultural agenda that encourages… Read more »

Nicki
Reply to  Alec
8 years ago

The 1 in 4 statistic has been debated, but that is because it is often discussed incorrectly. It is not to say tha 1 in 4 women will be raped or sexually assaulted, but research has held up that 1 in 4 women will have at least an attempted rape or sexual assault which can be just as damaging. And let’s say we go with more recent reports of a 1 in 5 risk (which is what national reports demonstrate) I am not sure how that is still not a HUGE problem. And regarding rape culture, would you disagree that you haven’t heard the messages described in this article? If you haven’t I’d love to know your secret, as I’ve… Read more »

Aquabullet
8 years ago

I will leave the far more relevant and updated paper published by the same organization as the one that is consistently cited from a single fall in 1996…
http://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/rsavcaf9513.pdf

It’s shocking that 2 PhD holders posted a very short article citing one paper and no counter viewpoints. Even if this isn’t a strictly scientific forum or journal, they should know better.

Nicki
Reply to  Aquabullet
8 years ago

@AQUABULLET – thank you for sharing this article, it is a great one, and you are right much updated! It shows that the rates of rape and sexual assault are decreasing nationally (good news) the problem is they are still staggeringly high, and the rates of attempted/completed rape in this article are not substantially different from the previous article cited (please note that the statistic we give is for attempted OR completed rape among women in higher education). As for this editorial, our point was not to discuss a bunch of scientific jargon, but to talk about rape culture and the very reality of it, based on our expertise in the subject matter. If you’d like all the jargon my… Read more »

Ferb
Reply to  Nicki
8 years ago

I see no condescension in Aquabullet’s comment. Associating his remarks with the “rape culture” casts grave doubt on your objectivity, and therefore your credibility, on the subject.

Nicki
Reply to  Ferb
8 years ago

I guess our perspections are very different. From mine, when someone says “they should know better” that sounds condescending. As far as objectivity goes, I’ve never claimed to be objective, nor do I think this is possible. I am a woman who grew up in the United States and witnessed these messages on a daily basis. I constantly have to justify my expertise, as a woman, when we presume expertise in men and I would say this is directly related to rape culture, and if that makes me not credible in your eyes, I am ok with that.

Teacher and Coach (and Father)
8 years ago

At any frat party, there are a disturbing number of young men who would have done the same thing that Brock Turner did. Maybe in an upstairs bedroom instead of outside on the ground, but still the same thing – rape. Going back to our college days, many of us can think of an acquaintance (or even a friend) who would have been capable, after excessively drinking, of this same act. Many Swammers still in college or high school can probably do the same.

Herein lies the question that many people, including Brock Turner’s father, have been implicitly asking: If so many people are capable of this, including people who have never been violent before and have been upstanding citizens,… Read more »

G.I.N.A.
8 years ago

I know -just ban sex . Just don’t do it .

There -that should work.

anonymoose
8 years ago

why do my comments get neglected swimswam? :(((
i put effort into writing them 🙁

anonymoose
Reply to  anonymoose
8 years ago

sorry they are here now. they were away at first

completelyconquered
Reply to  anonymoose
8 years ago

Google Chrome does not like this website. You have to refresh to see new comments.

College Drinking
8 years ago

The authors forgot one possible consequence of drinking too much: blacking out though remaining conscious and, while blacked though conscious, having sex with someone and waking up the next morning with no memory of having sex (or possibly even the person with whom you had sex).

In fact, it just happened to a male friend of mine. The only reason he knows he had sex (or at least assumes he had sex) was because he woke up the next morning naked, in bed with a naked woman, with a used condom on the floor. Was he the victim of rape? I think not, and my answer would not change if my friend had been a woman.

That said, If you… Read more »

Ferb
8 years ago

I find it interesting that one side-effect of this backlash against the “rape culture” is that the dangers of binge drinking are completely glossed over. This article reduces the ramifications of binge drinking down to four humorous/harmless minor consequences. The reality is that both men and women put themselves in a dangerous situation when they drink to the point that they cannot think clearly or control their own actions. I can’t think of any other context where binge drinking to this level is considered perfectly normal, acceptable behavior. Yet, in any discussion of the “rape culture,” the backlash against any perceived “victim-blaming” causes advocates to go out of their way to point out that binge drinking is a perfectly fine,… Read more »

Ferb
Reply to  Ferb
8 years ago

In 2013, the Center for Disease Control identified binge drinking as “a serious, under-recognized problem among women and girls.” Statistics also show a sharp rise among women in emergency room visits related to alcohol poisoning, and in DWI arrests, since the late ’90’s. There have not been similar increases among men. So, perhaps anti-rape activists are doing a disservice to young women when they try to legitimize excessive drinking as a normal, harmless, consequence-free way of enjoying one’s self.

anonymoose
Reply to  Ferb
8 years ago

well in this article the phrases “getting drunk” and “drinking too much” are used so it seems they are not talking about binge drinking. (whereever the difference might be, i dont know that)
binge drinking is of course very bad and harmful like you described.
but i dont think that a person, who is sober and who would never rape someone, would just because they are drunk af then rape someone. i think they would have to have at least a tendency for that first.
and of course this is not an article about the issues of binge drinking but you certainly know that.

Alex
Reply to  Ferb
8 years ago

Binge drinking is a HUGE problem on college campuses and is definitely something that needs to be addressed. Our goal was to discuss drinking in general, as many people become drunk without binge drinking. Speaking for myself, I don’t know of any activists who promote binge drinking. Rather, we acknowledge that drinking occurs on college campuses and work to help prevent rape and sexual assault knowing that drinking (in general) in college will never go away.

The Annoying Logician
8 years ago

Good article. I enjoyed the analysis and conclusion.

That said, I think this column employs some faulty reasoning.

The authors assume that it is *either* the perpetrator’s fault *or* the victim’s fault. For example, either we blame the mugger or we blame the handbag owner. Either we blame the car thief or we blame the luxury car driver. Either we blame the rapist for assault or we blame the the victim for getting drunk and dressing minimally. In doing so they erect a false dichotomy concerning the culpability of both parties involved, the perpetrator and the victim.

This mentality neglects the “gray area,” when both parties (the perpetrator and the victim) contributed to the “incident” [crime, etc.] in some… Read more »

anonymoose
Reply to  The Annoying Logician
8 years ago

serious question: where do you see this *either* question that you described in the article?
i only see the argument that it is always the perpetrators fault and i agree with that.

also about the ‘susceptible’ thing; so what?? like it says in the article a woman could be naked and drunk at a party and would not be raped unless theres a rapist present. obviously if a woman does that might be weird and kind of ‘stupid’ if you want. but thats not what its about.

so NO, even if a woman does everthing possible to be as susceptible as possible to get raped, theres no fraction of ‘fault’ on her side. thats how it really is. sorry

father of teenage girls
Reply to  anonymoose
8 years ago

I am a father of 3 teenaged girls. I discussed this case with them. I made it clear that Tuners actions were his fault and he is fully responsible for them. i also made it clear that I believe if the victim were not blacked out drunk, this would not have happened (there is obviously no way to prove this). I told them the best way to protect them selves was to be in control. And that has nothing to do with fault.

The Annoying Logician
Reply to  father of teenage girls
8 years ago

@Father of Teenage Girls

Thank you. I completely concur with your thoughts. “The best way to protect yourself is to be in control” (tense changed).

swammer81
Reply to  father of teenage girls
8 years ago

The victim wrote about how she was preyed upon because she was a wounded member of a herd. And if it wasn’t her, it was going to be someone else. So I get why people would want to tell their daughters ‘keep up with the herd’ so to speak. It just sucks because as a society, we spend more time telling our daughters not to become prey instead of telling our sons to not be predators. We don’t tell our sons, ‘Hey, don’t get blacked out drunk because you might turn into a predator and rape someone”. Wouldn’t that be the best way to protect our daughters?

Catherine
Reply to  swammer81
8 years ago

Well no, we wouldn’t use that wording because it implies that any male would turn into a rapist when drunk. Instead, I have told my sons not to have sex when drunk, or with anyone who’s drunk, because it could, hypothetically turn into a “he said – she said” situation the morning after, when nobody remembers exactly how they got to where they are.

The Annoying Logician
Reply to  anonymoose
8 years ago

@Anonymoose

1) *You’re using exclusively female terminology to describe rape victims.* For some readers, this might call into question your judgment in assessing this issue. The way that you are phrasing your argumentation seems to indicate that you are a sexist, which would in fact serve to foster a “rape culture,” according to the article.

2) In response to your serious question: You are correct to say that the false dichotomy (either\or fallacy) does not appear explicitly in the article. That’s why I used the word “assume.” Typically, this word connotes an implicit, underlying presupposition. However, I ought to have used the word “presuppose” to avoid ambiguity, so thank you for correcting me on this.

3) In terms of the… Read more »

mcgillrocks
Reply to  The Annoying Logician
8 years ago

I agree with this mostly. Statistically and practically speaking, there are certain actions and behaviors a person can do that will increase their opportunity of getting mugged, assaulted and/or raped. Noticing the obvious correlation between those behaviors is not rape culture, it is making a legitimate observation.

Obviously, this doesn’t absolve the thief, assailant or rapist from blame. Not even 0.1%. The criminal is always guilty of his crime, regardless of the potentially irresponsible actions of the victim. To reference the famous recent case: it terms of what Brock’s sentence should have been, it doesn’t matter whatsoever how the woman got in the state she was in.

Likewise, the act of doing such an action doesn’t make the… Read more »

Alex
Reply to  The Annoying Logician
8 years ago

Thanks for your perspective!

We were trying to cover 2 main points in relating sexual assault to other crimes:
1. The blame for sexual assault is usually on the person who was sexually assaulted for what he/she was wearing, how much he/she had to drink, etc. With mugging/stealing cars, the person from whom the item was stolen may be asked “why did you leave your keys in the car?” And when an answer is given, for example “I had to run into my house really quick and thought it would be fine,” the answer is accepted and the case moves on. Not so for people who were sexually assaulted. They often have to defend every single choice they made… Read more »

About Braden Keith

Braden Keith

Braden Keith is the Editor-in-Chief and a co-founder/co-owner of SwimSwam.com. He first got his feet wet by building The Swimmers' Circle beginning in January 2010, and now comes to SwimSwam to use that experience and help build a new leader in the sport of swimming. Aside from his life on the InterWet, …

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