You wake up, naked, in an unfamiliar place and in an unfamiliar bed, next to an unfamiliar person. You know who you are, you know that you went out drinking last night, but you don’t know how you got here.
According to the National Sexual Violence Resource Center, 1 in 5 women and 1 in 71 men will be raped in their lifetime. With this statistic in place, it is evident why society is becoming more aware of sexual assault and rape culture.
Rape culture is a term created in the 1970’s to describe how society blames victims of sexual assault, and normalizes male sexual violence. Joanna Drake, a senior at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill (UNC), believes that rape culture begins during the early ages of childhood.
“Even when we’re little, they would start gendering us so much,” Drake said. “Like in sports, saying, ‘You’re running like a girl,’ well [hell] yeah she’s running like a girl. I think that it’s bad that we’ve ever associated girls with [weakness]. I don’t think that leads to rape, but I think that speaks to the fact that we still haven’t reached gender equality…. I don’t think any kid is taught that it is okay to rape, but I think there’s an aggregation and culmination of things that together compounded, and that gives us that umbrella term that is rape culture.”
Senior Julia Burger thinks that rape culture begins with gender dynamics, and coupled with the influence of media sexualizing women, men think it’s okay to sexualize women as well.
“I think it starts with gender dynamics and the traditional [patriarchal] structure,” Burger said. “Men think that since they are at the top, they can get what they want. There is also the physical difference of men being stronger than women and so it’s physically easier to put women in that situation when it’s more of a violent sexual assault. With media sexualizing women, men think it’s okay to sexualize women and then women are seen as sexual objects, not as people.”
English teacher Jill Jackl feels that the college atmosphere invites sexual assault because of its new freedoms and the excess hormones all within a small space.
“I think that college invites an opportunity for these types of situations,” Jackl said. “All this new found freedom, these late nights, drinking, lots of free time and you have to rely on your values, and young women are susceptible. Young men are full of testosterone. You put it all together, the setting, the characters, the scene; it’s combustible.”
UNC freshman Delaney Robinson attended a Valentine’s Day party Feb. 14, 2015. At this party she says she was raped by UNC football player Allen Artis. Robinson reported the rape to the sexual-assault nurse at the hospital, but says she was asked victim-blaming questions by the authorities.
Drake is disappointed with how her college has been handling the issues of sexual assault, but she has hope that they will do better and inspire change in other universities.
“It’s definitely hard when it’s your alma mater because it’s a place you’ve learned to love so much,” Drake said. “Nobody wants negative press about their school…. I think hopefully if we can fix things, then we can set a pattern of change in other institutions because I don’t think we’re the only institution having problems with this.”
With this particular case taking place so close to home, rape and sexual assault is becoming a more realistic thought for high school students who will soon enter into this collegiate environment. Senior Graham Cleven understands that there is more freedom in college, and feels that with more freedom comes more danger. Regardless, he thinks rape is inexcusable.
“My view on college has changed a lot after hearing this type of case,” Cleven said. “[In college there is not] the safety and total enclosure of being in classes seven hours a day. There is some freedom and with that comes all sorts of different dangers and [rape] is apparently one of them now…. Personally, I think [rape] is the worst thing I can think of that you can do to someone, and it’s inexcusable.”
Jackl thinks that universities are biased toward athletes because of the amount of money that athletic programs bring to universities.
“Athletes bring in more money to universities than any other program,” Jackl said. “It’s all about the money. To think that higher education is a free exchange of ideas is a bunch of malarkey; it is a big business. They want to make students happy. They want to make athletes happier.”
Burger feels that the victim blaming that coincides with reporting sexual assault discourages victims from speaking up and reporting. Victim blaming occurs when the victim of a crime or any wrongful act is held entirely or partially responsible for the harm that befell them.
“I think you’re going to get mixed reactions from the public,” Burger said. “You’re going to get people who understand that this is a problem and that it’s not the victim’s fault, but you’re also going to get people who say, ‘Well, she was a whore; she had it coming for her.’ I feel like a reason why a lot of rape and sexual assault cases aren’t reported is because the pressure comes back on the victim.”
When it comes to sexual assault and rape, it is often assumed that “no means no,” and that rape is a very black and white situation. However, Drake feels that when alcohol is added into the equation it becomes less black and white, and more gray.
“There are times where girls may not have a memory of the night before but they were walking and talking and coherent and weren’t stumbling all over the place,” Drake said. “It gets very convoluted. If every time someone was blackout drunk, they couldn’t walk or talk, then that’s like, ‘Well obviously they’re too drunk to be making decisions.’ It sounds like some people will black out, not remember the night, but other people can’t perceive that they’re that far gone.” Jackl feels that while ultimately it is the fault of the assailant for the sexual assault, women need to be careful and take responsibility for the situations that they find themselves in.
“No place is safe,” Jackl said. “No place is safe where you can be a buffoon and go, ‘Oh it’s his fault.’ Yes, it is ultimately his fault for raping her, but I feel like there has to be some ownness and responsibility on us as women in the situations that we place ourselves.”
Junior Max Hundley understands the significance of sexual assault, but believes that if a girl is starting to lose interest in a guy, she should stop talking to him instead of leading him on. Hundley also believes that alcohol can make people behave in ways they typically would not.
“I feel like the girl should try to stop whatever is happening as early in the night; as soon as she can, so that she is not leading the guy on,” Hundley said. “However, at any time, no means no and it has to stop….I feel like alcohol makes people [act] like they don’t really know what they’re doing and sometimes it’s not their intention. I feel like sometimes [alcohol] can influence things to happen that wouldn’t normally happen.”
Drake thinks that as a culture, we should be doing a better job teaching about rape and about consent. “Even with school uniforms, they say girls can’t show their shoulders because it’s distracting to boys; why can’t they just learn not to be distracted or that shoulders don’t have to be sexualized?” Drake said. “At no point should a boy not understand that you shouldn’t rape, and what consent is and isn’t. We should do a better job at teaching that, so that girls don’t have to feel like, ‘If I drink too much, I might get raped.’ That’s the problem. That shouldn’t be a fear.”
Burger is scared to be entering college because she feels that rape and sexual assault is inevitable.
“It’s scary being a female going into college with the knowledge that rape and sexual assault happen so often that it feels like it’s inevitable,” Burger said. “One way or another, it’s going to happen. It’s terrifying to think that’s the culture we are growing up in.”
Jackl thinks that every student needs to be aware of their surroundings and take on a new level of responsibility when entering into college because college is the perfect atmosphere for sexual assault.
“Rape is an act of violence, but be aware of your surroundings, always,” Jackl said. “You are your best protector. Be aware of your surroundings, be aware of your state of mind, you have to be responsible. It’s hard, it’s the perfect storm. College is the perfect storm for rape: drunk, young, stupid, vulnerable.”
– By Hannah Gail Shepherd
