Rape Culture

The college scene is all agog about rape culture. How do we know if it is a problem ?

It’s a phrase you hear a lot. But, what exactly does it mean? Is there one general definition? Not necessarily. In many ways the phrase evokes the famous Supreme Court comment about obscenity from Potter Stewart, “I know it when I see it.”

And, you don’t have to look far to see examples of rape culture these days. Whether it’s advertising, movies, music videos or social media — images, words, concepts — it’s all out there illustrating men dominating women.

So, now we know the problem. It is men.

Popular movies are strewn with plots of men with the sole purpose of having sex. In the movie “American Pie,” the entire plot of the film revolves around teenage boys wanting to throw a party so they can get girls drunk and have sex with them.

That movie was when ? Well, it was 1999. That was 15 years ago, wasn’t it ? How old were these activists then ?

It’s also been stated by writer Adam Herz that the title also refers to the quest of losing your virginity in high school, which is as “American as apple pie.” So, it wasn’t just about girls losing virginity ?

How about porn star/student, Belle Knox ?

Despite the ordeal, Knox said she plans to continue both her porn work and her classes at Duke. In interviews, she frequently mentions working to increase the rights of sex workers.

“I really want to break down barriers,” Knox said. “I want to change peoples views on sex work. … I mean, I was the first porn star to go on ‘The View.’ This is really exciting for me.“

She complains about the publicity and the reaction of others but “This is really exciting for me.” Feminism 2014 version. Another porn star success story.

Ph.D. program in sociology at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. She does cam work, some porn, stripping, and some fetish work. Unlike Knox and L., Parreira is out about her sex work. “The department seems to be a sort of hub for sex workers and sex work research, so it has been a non-issue,” Well, that’s a relief.

Now, back to rape culture. Maybe it’s a tiny bit exaggerated ?

An early sign of an obsession with “rape culture” on campus occurred at Duke during the lacrosse case. In April 2006, in a 2000-plus word statement that declined to mention the presumption of innocence, Duke president Richard Brodhead created a “Campus Culture Initiative,” to explicate and “confirm [emphasis added] the existence of a dominant culture among Duke undergraduates.” There was, of course, no rape, but the CCI proceeded along as if there were, operating under the Orwellian slogan that “diversity makes a more excellent university.”

The Duke LaCrosse team case is a horrible example of leftist agitation in action. The whole story is here. Briefly, a hysteria descended on the Duke University campus after a stripper, later convicted of murder, accused the La Crosse team of a gang rape. The young men of the team were immediate demonized by the usual suspects of campus radicals. Fortunately, the boys came from families that could afford good lawyers.

The immediate frenzy followed the usual script.

Duke president Richard Brodhead created a “Campus Culture Initiative,” to explicate and “confirm [emphasis added] the existence of a dominant culture among Duke undergraduates.” There was, of course, no rape, but the CCI proceeded along as if there were, operating under the Orwellian slogan that “diversity makes a more excellent university.”

The CCI had four subcommittees; three were chaired by extreme anti-lacrosse voices among the faculty (Professors Karla Holloway, Anne Allison, and Peter Wood). The gender subcommittee accepted as an unquestioned premise that “Duke’s gendered culture is, in no small part, derived from a fundamental lack of respect, fueled by a mix of insecurity, dis-empowerment, and alcohol.” Members detected a harsh campus culture caused by men’s athletics and Duke’s policy of allowing fraternities, which simply “supports our community of divides.”

It was men and that is always the theme.

when asked to define exactly what “rape culture” is, Phillips’ definition is fairly comprehensive.

“Rape culture is a culture in which dominant cultural ideologies, media images, social practices, and societal institutions support and condone sexual abuse by normalizing, trivializing and eroticizing male violence against women and blaming victims for their own abuse,” Phillips said.

Yes, the poor porn star (why are they always “stars”?) is a victim and was outed by one of those hormone drenched “frat boys,” a well known campus predator.

Then we come to Dartmouth.

a greek culture is definitely one consideration for a high drinking rate, but so is an active sports program.

There you go. Asked and answered. There is no question in my mind that campus drinking has increased since my days in a college fraternity. Actually, my fraternity Phi Gamma Delta, spent a lot of time teaching me how to dress and to act toward young women. We were encouraged to bring dates to lunch at the fraternity house during the week (no meals on weekends) and our parties tended to be pretty well organized. Of course, at that time, drinking in fraternity houses was banned and girls had to be in their dorms by midnight. The university was acting “in loco parentis.” That has long been abandoned as a standard and it would seem ridiculous to present day students who often have co-ed dorms.

My youngest daughter graduated from the U of Arizona last May and I was concerned about drinking and casual sex but I think she took pretty good care of herself. The comments about Dartmouth police reports ignores the fact that Hanover police live to throw Dartmouth students in the clink. The atmosphere is very intolerant, or was when I was there 20 years ago.

What is the answer ? Some young men have chosen to go on strike and avoid marriage. That doesn’t solve the sex problem but it is far more available than it was when I was a student and we survived.

Here’s how Huffington Post’s Tyler Kingkade–who, as is typical in all of his work on campus events, uncritically presented Dartmouth matters according to whatever version of events the politically correct offered–described what happened next:

Dartmouth sophomore Nastassja Schmiedt, part of the protesting group, told HuffPost that they continued to receive hate mail after the teach-ins. She gave as one example an email with the subject line of “thievery” and the body simply reading, “You owe my family $280 in tuition for forcing classes to cancel.”

Only in the academy could the item quoted above be considered “hate mail.”

Yes, men are sworn to silence over the antics of the leftist agitators, most of whom are probably on scholarship or student aid of some sort. Many are probably affirmative actions beneficiaries. This tends to make other students resentful.

the “rape culture” approach allows activists to shift the narrative away from uncomfortable questions about due process and false accusations against innocent male students, and toward a cultural critique in which the facts of specific cases can be deemed irrelevant. Selena Roberts pioneered the tactic at Duke–when the case against the lacrosse players imploded, she (falsely) claimed that her guilt-presuming columns were merely designed to critique a flawed “campus culture.” Or, as Amanda Childress implied in her oft-criticized remarks, whatever value might exist in following specified procedures in sexual assault cases, universities should focus their efforts on tackling broader cultural mores.

After the Duke La Crosse case imploded, many of the faculty culprits moved on to better jobs and suffered no consequences.

The truth didn’t matter. What mattered was the narrative. A simple accusation without evidence can destroy a promising life.

Witt was no longer a contender for the Rhodes, a rare honor reserved for those who excel in academics, activities and character. Several days earlier, according to people involved on both sides of the process, the Rhodes Trust had learned through unofficial channels that a fellow student had accused Witt of sexual assault. The Rhodes Trust informed Yale and Witt that his candidacy was suspended unless the university decided to re-endorse it.

Yes, the accusation is enough.

In September, according to people with knowledge of the situation, a female student went to Yale’s Sexual Assault Harassment and Response and Education Center, claiming Witt had assaulted her in her dormitory room. The woman later made a complaint to the University-Wide Committee on Sexual Misconduct, created last July as part of Yale’s new approach.

Like many colleges and universities, Yale offers accusers a choice between making a formal complaint and an informal one. This student chose the informal process. In that process, an individual or a few members of the committee are charged with resolving the issue, without a full investigation or a finding of guilt or innocence.

That is helpful because a police investigation might mess up the narrative. There is another side to the story but you would never know it.

the OCR letter “strongly discourages” cross-examination of the accuser. The OCR recommends that schools offer an appeals process for the accused. But if they do so, it requires that the complainant too be allowed an appeal. This flies in the face of the notion, deeply rooted in liberal Western jurisprudence, that subjecting the accused to a second trial for the same offense violates fundamental fairness.

Oh well, who cares about a student athlete? Certainly not some female writers.

It’s not too late for the Yale Daily News or other student publications. Sexual assault remains a plague on college campuses everywhere. Statistically, college students are at a higher risk of sexual assault than the general population. Student newspapers should be looking for opportunities to explain why this is, to determine if their administrations are in compliance with Title IX, and to educate a widely misinformed audience about the true realities of assault.

If, in fact, that were true it might be of some value. However, rape is wildly over estimated on college campuses.

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, the “rape culture” approach provides a weapon to advance a particular type of gender-based agenda (curricular and administrative priorities need to be revamped to recognize that women are victims) in a campus environment in which race/class/gender advocates already dominate. There always will be a stray, anonymous misogynistic comment on a message board, or by a drunken student at a spring-break party, from which advocates can then generalize to claim that a crisis exists on campus–without ever defining precisely what a “rape culture” is, or how the steps they recommend could possibly eradicate it. And since there isn’t a recent example–from Duke to Dartmouth to any of the current Title IX claims–in which those who have cried wolf on campus have experienced any repercussions for their actions, there is no drawback in advancing inflammatory claims, no matter how unlikely.

The existence of hoaxes and false claims doesn’t make much news. The news it does make is sometimes false, itself.

A front-page article in the Los Angeles Times on Dec. 7, 2013, was incorrect in reporting that Occidental College failed to disclose 27 alleged sexual assaults that occurred in 2012. The article (“College shelved more assault reports”) dealt with Occidental’s obligations under the federal Clery Act, which requires schools to publish statistics annually on reported crime on or near campus…CX: Occidental representatives approached The Times early this month to seek a correction. Documents reviewed by The Times this week show that the 27 incidents did not fall under the law’s disclosure requirements for a variety of reasons.

The reporter was later fired.

The incidence of rape hoaxes is widely under reported.

“I am looking for a gun owner to shoot me in the arm/shoulder with the smallest caliber bullet possible,” according to the post, which was quoted in court records.

“No charges will be filed and I am willing to compensate you. I need this to happen tonight, Feb. 16.”

A second post that night titled “Seeking Strong Hand” said she wanted someone to “beat me up,” including “punches, bruises and kicks.”

Several men replied and a man came to the UCSC campus on Feb. 17. Triplett had been at UCSC to attend a Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender conference, prosecutors said.

Schonfield said Triplett met the man on campus and he agreed to beat her in exchange for sex.

“They had sex and afterwards she used a cellphone screen reflection as a mirror to see if the injuries were bad enough and then directed him to hit her some more,” according to court records.

All to get back at a boyfriend who broke up with her.

That was not the only case.

The Facebook post came to light last week when people including Pamela Kandt, co-convener of the Episcopal Women’s Caucus and a Casper activist, complained to the university and demanded action.

Besides the threat of sexual assault, the posting was written to make it appear as if its author was a conservative Republican.

Kandt came to Lanker-Simons’ defense Tuesday.

‘I will tell you, I believe Meg is innocent of this outrage,’ Kandt told the Laramie Boomerang, adding she believes the citation issued by police is a ‘classic case of blaming the victim.’

‘I mean, my God, who would do this to herself?’ she added.

Well, we know that. Crazy women seem to be a common college phenomenon. Thank God my sons were in college 20 years ago and are safely married with children. My grandson is only 9 and maybe in ten years some sanity may return.