As much as I thought high school sucked, I never had to deal with even a whisper of rape happening at parties around me. Of course, I can't be sure whether that's because no one talked about being raped or because girls weren't really getting raped.
Well, just down the Peninsula at Palo Alto High School, a group of female journalism students have taken the bull by the proverbial horns - their latest publication, Verde magazine, exposes the "rape culture" that persists at "Pali":
Aside from the rude awakening that results generally from becoming aware that there is so much rape and grey rape happening at this relatively affluent high school, it's painful to consider the numerous girls who are now scarred, but it becomes even more painful as you hear what the journalism class' follow-up surveys of students reveal. Among other shocking findings:
-57% of Palo Alto High School students surveyed - FIFTY SEVEN PERCENT - believed that certain women are more likely to be raped than other women because of their "promiscuous" behavior
- 26% thought if a woman gets drunk and is raped, she is responsible for what happened.
Those stats were not separated by gender. But, ye gods, is this mentality truly the result of growing up in one of the most technologically progressive, affluent, and liberal areas in the country? How could this happen? How could a clear majority of students believe that promiscuity in one circumstances is a free pass for sexual assault in another?
I have one answer, and it's a sad one: These kids are spouting the exact same worldviews of Renaissance Italian nobility, of the Spanish Inquisition, of Roman Empire ideals of masculinity and gender responsibility. The same cultures that decided it wasn't a crime to rape one's wife, even in a world of arranged marriages between strangers. The same cultures that couldn't fathom allowing women to own property. So, while we've managed to change SOME of the laws that supported gender discrimination in this way, we have not managed, after 2000 or so years, to correct the misconceptions about sexual responsibility that created those laws in the first place.
If I have any high school readers, please take note: Your attire or your past behavior, sexy or boring, is never a free pass for someone to rape you. Boys have the responsibility to control their urges no matter how you are dressed and no matter how drunk either of you is. We can all stem the tide of unfortunate happenings in our lives with slightly less rambunctious drunkenness, it's true. But the fact that you're drunk isn't a license to take advantage of you either. When men respect women as equals and humans, this idea that women must take the first blow for anything that happens simply because they are one of two drunk persons evaporates. It's important for you to recognize that you're not responsible or this, because if you think you are responsible you are demonstrably less likely to report the crime against you. If you don't report the crime, the offender and his friends will continue to think they can freely rape all over your school. If you don't speak up, other girls suffer - so many already have, it seems -, and that in itself should be sufficient to show you that what's happened before is not your fault.
It's a sad day in Palo Alto.
Well, just down the Peninsula at Palo Alto High School, a group of female journalism students have taken the bull by the proverbial horns - their latest publication, Verde magazine, exposes the "rape culture" that persists at "Pali":
Aside from the rude awakening that results generally from becoming aware that there is so much rape and grey rape happening at this relatively affluent high school, it's painful to consider the numerous girls who are now scarred, but it becomes even more painful as you hear what the journalism class' follow-up surveys of students reveal. Among other shocking findings:
-57% of Palo Alto High School students surveyed - FIFTY SEVEN PERCENT - believed that certain women are more likely to be raped than other women because of their "promiscuous" behavior
- 26% thought if a woman gets drunk and is raped, she is responsible for what happened.
Those stats were not separated by gender. But, ye gods, is this mentality truly the result of growing up in one of the most technologically progressive, affluent, and liberal areas in the country? How could this happen? How could a clear majority of students believe that promiscuity in one circumstances is a free pass for sexual assault in another?
I have one answer, and it's a sad one: These kids are spouting the exact same worldviews of Renaissance Italian nobility, of the Spanish Inquisition, of Roman Empire ideals of masculinity and gender responsibility. The same cultures that decided it wasn't a crime to rape one's wife, even in a world of arranged marriages between strangers. The same cultures that couldn't fathom allowing women to own property. So, while we've managed to change SOME of the laws that supported gender discrimination in this way, we have not managed, after 2000 or so years, to correct the misconceptions about sexual responsibility that created those laws in the first place.
If I have any high school readers, please take note: Your attire or your past behavior, sexy or boring, is never a free pass for someone to rape you. Boys have the responsibility to control their urges no matter how you are dressed and no matter how drunk either of you is. We can all stem the tide of unfortunate happenings in our lives with slightly less rambunctious drunkenness, it's true. But the fact that you're drunk isn't a license to take advantage of you either. When men respect women as equals and humans, this idea that women must take the first blow for anything that happens simply because they are one of two drunk persons evaporates. It's important for you to recognize that you're not responsible or this, because if you think you are responsible you are demonstrably less likely to report the crime against you. If you don't report the crime, the offender and his friends will continue to think they can freely rape all over your school. If you don't speak up, other girls suffer - so many already have, it seems -, and that in itself should be sufficient to show you that what's happened before is not your fault.
It's a sad day in Palo Alto.
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