Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:To point out that this figure is absolutely meaningless and based on crap methodology does not make one a "rape denier." As another poster pointed out, if we really believed one in five women were "raped" in college, it would be abusive to send our daughters to college. The number is from a web based survey of two campuses. It had no control group (non-college students - see below for more on that). The survey included behaviors that are certainly boorish, but which did not make the respondents even think they had been assaulted.
"Oh, but that's the problem! These women ARE victims, and they don't even know it!!" I'm obviously not speaking about actual forcible rape or anything close to it, but rather about some of the lesser offenses included in these stats: How great that the respondents didn't feel like victims. Hooray for moving on! I feel like that is a feminist view. Women are strong enough to withstand unwanted kissing without feeling the need for group therapy or to march on campus with placards. To get overwrought over some of what is contemplated as "assault" in this survey is pearl clutching/fainting couch territory.
A "conversation" about campus rape that begins with this stat should not go far if said "conversation" is about policymaking - be it campus, state or federal. As a progressive who is realistic and understands resources are not infinite, and further, that resources expended on one thing will necessarily NOT be available for another, I'm troubled by what I see in raw crime stats. 18 - 24 year old girls are, indeed, more vulnerable to sexual assault, which is pretty intuitive. But young women NOT in college appear to be in greater danger. If that is to be believed, activists are demanding resources and attention be paid to campus when young women not fortunate enough to go to college are actually in greater danger.
Talk about not checking our privilege!
+1000
As a feminist and mother of both sons and daughters, I strongly believe that this constant coddling of women, and the ever-present insinuation that women are all "victims," is incredibly insulting. I imagine most women have had unwanted or obnoxious advances of one kind or another foisted on them in their lifetimes. No one enjoys that. But to cry "Victim!" at every instance just sets women back years. And, as PP noted, we aren't talking about rape in these instances. However, I hope to teach my daughter that if she
is ever sexually assaulted and/or raped, she MUST get help immediately, both from medical and judicial. While there is still evidence and credible eyewitnesses. Being brave enough to come forward is part of
not being a victim.
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