After our conversations about Steubenville, Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake, and rape culture in America (see this LINK), it is important to find materials to help us learn more and continue our conversations.
As we heard in class, the issue of sexual violence towards women unfortunately remains a significant issue in our society. In a study by the U.S. Centers for Disease control of 5,000 college students at over 100 colleges, 20% of women answered "yes" to the question "In your lifetime have you been forced to submit to sexual intercourse against your will?" Thus, one in five college women has been raped at some point in her lifetime. Clearly, this is an issue that requires further study and thought. Take some time today to continue to gather information about its prevalence (in both high school and college), the issues surrounding it, its causes, effects, and solutions. To do so, please follow these instructions:
- Use the links below to browse and gather information. For each, make sure that you don't just read the main article but also explore where some of the hyperlinks take you.
- For every story that you read that's interesting, please copy and paste the link in a comment to this post along with a sentence or two describing the article and what's interesting about it.
- Once you've read a few articles, do a blog post on the issues raised by our class discussion and in the articles that you read. There should be specific references to at least two articles in your post. This may count as your weekly blog post (provided that you also follow the instructions in # 4 below).
- After writing your post, return to the comment section for this one and scroll through the list of articles to see what people are thinking and writing about. For one that sounds interesting, go to that student's blog, read their post and write a comment back to them.
- Select one article that you'd like to discuss further. Print it out, develop some discussion questions, and be prepared to summarize and lead a discussion about it in class tomorrow.
LINKS
- Unfortunately, what happened in Steubenville is not an isolated incident. After the Steubenville case, information came to light about a similar incident that happened to two young women in Maryville, Mo. Here is the original article that details the situation although a lot has happened since. If you're interested, read the article and then go here to see additional updates.
- In class we discussed a few examples where "rape culture" might be present in our society. See this list of 25 Everyday Examples of Rape Culture and see what you think. What kind of impact on our society do you see these having? (Make sure you click the hyperlinks)
- The Huffington Post has an entire section devoted to "Breaking the Silence: Addressing Sexual Assault on Campus". Scroll through and browse the latest stories and columns about this issue.
- Annie Clark, Andrea Pino, and Sofie Karasek are young women who founded an organization called End Rape on Campus. There are a number of interesting resources on the site.
- Often an afterthought in discussions on this issue is sexual assault against men. Consider this OP-ED piece by a Stanford University student
- Soraya Chemaly is a self described "Writer, Feminist, Satirist...not necessarily in that order" who writes and blogs extensively on sexual assault and violence towards women. Here are a few of her articles(make sure you explore the hyperlinks she posts as well).
5 Ways Sexual Assault is Really About Entitlement
Why Naked Pictures Aren't Harmless
http://www.kansascity.com/news/special-reports/maryville/article329412/Nightmare-in-Maryville-Teens%E2%80%99-sexual-encounter-ignites-a-firestorm-against-family.html
ReplyDeleteI thought that it was awful that their community shunned the family after their daughter got raped. They had to leave their own town to get away from the people that knew about their daughters rape.
The first article I read was 25 Examples of Rape-Culture (http://everydayfeminism.com/2014/03/examples-of-rape-culture/) and I thought it was interesting because it defines the term and provides extensive, in-depth proof of rape-culture's existence in America.
ReplyDeleteAn interesting link within the article is one to a list of facts on rape in the U.S. (http://www.cdc.gov/ViolencePrevention/pdf/SV-DataSheet-a.pdf) and I feel that more people should be discussing this as the truth about rape in our country is appalling and something that needs to be addressed.
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ReplyDeletehttp://www.kansascity.com/news/special-reports/maryville/article329412/Nightmare-in-Maryville-Teens%E2%80%99-sexual-encounter-ignites-a-firestorm-against-family.html
ReplyDeleteInteresting article about a girl who got raped and when she reported it, the whole community turned against her. The small town was ruled by a few familys and they could overrule the police and the court due to their political connections
http://www.salon.com/2013/10/15/why_naked_pictures_arent_harmless/
ReplyDeleteThis article suprised me because of the horrible things that students are allowed to advocate on college campuses. This article shows multiple examples of how strongly "rape culture" influences both offenders and victims on college campuses.
http://www.kansascity.com/news/special-reports/maryville/article329412/Nightmare-in-Maryville-Teens%E2%80%99-sexual-encounter-ignites-a-firestorm-against-family.html
ReplyDeleteI thought it was interesting that there is signficantly more evidence in this case than the Steubenville case, but that this case was dismissed.In the Steubenville case, both boys served time in jail. But, in the Maryville case, both boys got off without a scratch. It really goes to show how much power one famous family, even though they may be completely at fault, can have over an entire town.
http://www.cnn.com/2013/11/30/justice/montana-rape-30-day-sentence/
ReplyDeleteThe article is about a man, Stacey Dean Rambold, who raped a 14 year old girl. This seems unrealistic, but Rambold only served 30 days of jail after pleading guilty. The victim committed suicide after this incident, and the judge claims that he made a mistake in Rambold's jail sentence.
Wow. This article is amazing. I cannot believe he only got 30 days. And his actions ended up in the death of someone.
Deletehttp://www.cnn.com/2013/11/30/justice/montana-rape-30-day-sentence/
ReplyDeleteIn this article, a teacher raped a 14 year old student. After the student was raped, she took her own life. The Teacher recieved a 31 day sentence for raping a 14 year old child, the Teacher is 47 Years old. Its interesting how people get such short sentences for such a heinous crime.
http://everydayfeminism.com/2014/03/examples-of-rape-culture/
ReplyDeleteNumber 22 shocked me. There are 97% of rapists that are still out walking around, not even serving a day in jail. It scares me that the system allow this to happen. Everyone talks about our society of fear, but how could we not have one with statistics like these?
http://fox17online.com/2014/02/25/msu-under-federal-investigation-accused-of-mishandling-sexual-assault-cases/#axzz2uOY6Cg6e
ReplyDeleteThis link is a great example of how many cases go ignored regarding sexual assault in college campuses. If colleges are allowed to ignore the reports, that only gives more incentive for rape being accepted.
http://www.stanforddaily.com/2015/01/11/rethinking-gender-and-sexual-assault-policy-my-story/
ReplyDeleteIn this story, a student recounts his experience involved in a sexual encounter without giving his consent. This article is thought provoking in the call to action that he gives to the readers when he says that by taking away the element of gender when talking about sexual assault, than the general public will no longer marginalize or poke fun a the male population who make claims of sexual assault and avoids any complications involving victim blaming.
http://www.stanforddaily.com/2015/01/11/rethinking-gender-and-sexual-assault-policy-my-story/
ReplyDeleteThis article portrays the much-ignored perspective of a young man that experiences sexual assault. It puts you in his shoes and helps you understand that sexual assault doesn't necessarily mean sex,
http://jezebel.com/concerned-mom-slutty-girls-selfies-are-tempting-my-pe-1251831479
ReplyDeleteThis article talks about a family that blocks any teen girls that post any type of sexual post or article that could affect their sons. They are telling all girls that come in contact with their sons that they will not be allowed to contact them if they have any sexual pictures or posts on facebook. To me, these parents are crazy for doing this to their kids and all of the girls they have offended.
http://www.kansascity.com/news/special-reports/maryville/article329412/Nightmare-in-Maryville-Teens%E2%80%99-sexual-encounter-ignites-a-firestorm-against-family.html
ReplyDeleteIn this story a 13 year old was raped by a 17 year old senior in high school and justice was never served. It was a small town and the rapist had ties with political leaders as well as after the case was dismissed was involved in politics.
https://rainn.org/get-information/statistics/reporting-rates
ReplyDeleteThis article reveals the astounding fact that a measly 2% of rapists serve time in prison. This number seems to be soo low because of how little the crime is reported, only 32% of victims come forward to the police.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/12/15/columbia-mattress-check_n_6330172.html?utm_hp_ref=breakingthesilence this article is about students at Columbia university who held an anti rape protest but were then fined by the school
ReplyDeletehttp://www.stanforddaily.com/2015/01/11/rethinking-gender-and-sexual-assault-policy-my-story/
ReplyDeleteIt is interesting to see how the sexual assault experience is from a male prospective and get an idea of just how different the process can be from a woman's.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/soraya-chemaly/the-big-american-rape-on-_b_2506761.html?utm_hp_ref=manti-teo
ReplyDeleteThis article talks about rape on college campus and why university women continue to unreport them. Very interesting.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/soraya-chemaly/the-big-american-rape-on-_b_2506761.html?utm_hp_ref=manti-teo
ReplyDeleteThis article is about a controversy at Notre Dame when the school was quick to have an open investigation about the death of Manti Teo "fake" girlfriend but when it comes to the rape committed by one of its football players the school is quick to sweep it under the table and not make a big deal about it.
http://www.businessinsider.com/u-montana-improves-sexual-assault-issue-on-campus-2014-5
ReplyDeleteThis article talks about the rape capital of America, which is Missoula, Montana. I thought it was very interesting how they are now taking more precautions in the University of Montana and the state of Montana to try to bring the sexual assault numbers down. It seems strange how so much sexual assault could happen in some place and end up giving the town a strange, capital to be known for.
http://www.salon.com/2013/10/15/why_naked_pictures_arent_harmless/
ReplyDeleteThis article is about the "rape culture" many fraternities exhibit across America and it's effect on future generation "college boys" to come.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/01/25/states-campus-rape-police_n_6535074.html?utm_hp_ref=breakingthesilence
ReplyDeleteThis article is about several states that are considering proposals that would increase the involvement city police have with campus rape reports. However, activists believe that the police are not successful in working with sexual assault cases.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/01/29/penn-state-task-force-sexual-assault_n_6566598.html?utm_hp_ref=breakingthesilence
ReplyDeletethis article was talking about how at Penn state students get text message every time an assault accrued. Penn state university believes we should have more punishment for the one that did the crime. Penn state also talks about how we need to take rape assaults more serious. I thought it was interesting how a college is trying to enforce that we should take this serious because it does happen at this college it can happen at any college.
The Huffington Post published an article to respond to a survey held by Newsweek. The survey concluded that, " found 31.7 percent of men said they would act on "intentions to force a woman to sexual intercourse" if they could get away with it, but just 13.6 percent said they had "intentions to rape a woman" if there weren't any consequences". We talked about in class how women are taught to walk around in groups, to carry pepper spray, to never take a drink from anyone, and many more rules to avoid getting raped. Men on the other hand are not taught not to rape, we assume they know that so we just avoid it. Yet men their whole lives are shown that they need to be more powerful and even controlling by media. Examples of this can be found in advertisements, books, magazines, and even a super bowl half time show (when Justin Timberlake ripped off Janet Jackson's shirt). Clearly the media is getting to males because people no longer see rape as a severe crime. This survey proves that many do not see a problem with rape unless they have to face the consequences, which sadly many times they won't. This is awful because it sends both a message to the rapist and the person being raped. The rapists now knows he can continue to do this and get away with it, each time the act getting worse. The person that was raped is being devalued as a human and has to face the abuse on their own. Another issue raised is that, "the No. 1 point is there are people that will say they would force a woman to have sex but would deny they would rape a woman". This proves that there is such a blurred line of what rape is. People don't know the line which makes it hard for the that were abused to speak up and for the offenders to get punished for their actions. This might explain why so few of rape victims report their issue and why so few rapists suffer legal consequences.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.cnn.com/2013/11/30/justice/montana-rape-30-day-sentence/
ReplyDeleteFollowing up on how Montana is the rape capital of America, this article is about how a 47 year old teacher, raped a 14 year old girl and only got sentenced to 30 days in jail. It seems insane, whether he thought she 'didn't look her age or not' that he would be let off so easy.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/soraya-chemaly/the-big-american-rape-on-_b_2506761.html?utm_hp_ref=manti-teo the author here talks about the social stigma that comes with reporting sexual assaults, and also provides many examples of how prevalent it is on college campuses
ReplyDeletehttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/01/09/college-men-commit-rape-study_n_6445510.html?utm_hp_ref=breakingthesilence
ReplyDeleteThis article is about a study that showed 31.7% of men on a college campus would force a woman into sexual intercourse if they could get away with it, which they believe is not considered rape. It scares me that 1 out of 3 men are "interested" in raping a woman.
https://rainn.org/get-information/statistics/reporting-rates
ReplyDeleteThis is a graph stating that rapist do not get nearly as much punishment as they should.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/09/29/campus-sexual-assault_n_5888742.html?utm_hp_ref=college
ReplyDeleteAn article about how less than one third of on campus sexual assault cases result in expulsion. 50 schools were surveyed and the majority of cases, resulted in a suspension or other punishment.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/01/07/florida-state-university-lawsuit_n_6430518.html?utm_hp_ref=breakingthesilence
ReplyDeleteJameis Winston, star quarterback from FSU, is being accused of rape and the program is being accused of concealing the rape for the good of the program.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/01/09/college-men-commit-rape-study_n_6445510.html?utm_hp_ref=breakingthesilence
ReplyDeleteAn article showing the 1/3 of college men ADMITTED to having "intentions to force a woman to sexual intercourse" if they could get away with it.13% admitted to having "intentions to rape a woman" if they could get away with it. This article shows a difference in someones head when something is labeled.
http://www.kansascity.com/news/special-reports/maryville/article329412/Nightmare-in-Maryville-Teens’-sexual-encounter-ignites-a-firestorm-against-family.html
ReplyDeleteThis story talks about a fourteen year old girl, Daisy Coleman, who was allegedly raped by a seventeen year old football player in the small town of Maryville, Mo. Daisy's mom fought for justice, but charges against the boy where dropped, partly because she had been drinking and partly because the people in the small town did not want to beliave her story.
http://www.stanforddaily.com/2015/01/11/rethinking-gender-and-sexual-assault-policy-my-story/
ReplyDeleteThis story was about a boy who was sexually assaulted by a girl on a college campus. This story was interesting because it focused on the importance on educating everyone regardless of their gender on sexual assault. Because of the lack in education the victim was not sure that what happened to him was even against the law until well after the incident took place.
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/06/17/blurred-lines-robin-thicke-s-summer-anthem-is-kind-of-rapey.html
ReplyDeleteThis article talks about the popular song, "Blurred Lines" by Robin Thicke. This explicit song incorporates an understanding of rape or unwanted sexual advances. This is important because pop music plays a big role in the influence of rape in our society.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/03/08/daisy-coleman_n_4925170.html?utm_hp_ref=daisy-coleman
ReplyDeleteThis article talks about a case of sexual assault that was not properly resolved due to too many lies. Both Daisy, the victim, and Barnett, the defendant, did not offer truthful accounts of the event. What is most disappointing, however, is the fact that there was no rape charge against Barnett in the end