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Caroline Kitchens wrote that rape culture as a theory over-hyped by “hysterical” feminists. Kitchens argues that “America does not have a rape culture” and that the “theory” does nothing but “poison the minds of young women and lead to hostile environments for innocent males is immense.” She then asserts, “On college campuses, obsession with eliminating “rape culture” has led to censorship and hysteria”

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Dear Mrs. Kitchens, 

Please take a moment to acknowledge your argument is removed, victim-blaming, ignorant, misogynistic, and hurtful. I do not believe that the millions of survivors, family and friends of survivors, and those whose lives were lost as a result of sexual violence would consider our culture a “so-called rape culture.” It is very real and you are very removed. Your article diminishes the need for activism and advocacy work around sexual violence and minimizes the experiences of survivors. 

I would recommend you find a time in the rest of your lifetime to spend a moment with a survivor, hear their stories, observe the heartbeat of a real college campus, and hear testimonies of those affected by rape culture (because trick question- it effects us all). 

Thank you for keeping an open mind. 

Sincerely,

1. Believe them.

2. Validate them.

3. Hear them.

Thanks to a room full of misogynistic white guys, Bud Light has just launched its new “UP FOR WHATEVER!” campaign that emphasizes “Removing “No” from your vocabulary.”

Sexual violence has been found to be even higher in some subpopulations within the transgender community, including transgender youth, transgender people of color, individuals living with disabilities, homeless individuals, and those who are involved in the sex trade. 

For example, the 2011 Injustice at Every Turn: A Report of the National Transgender Discrimination Survey found that 12 percent of transgender youth report being sexually assaulted in K–12 settings by peers or educational staff; 13 percent of African-American transgender people surveyed were sexually assaulted in the workplace; and 22 percent of homeless transgender individuals were assaulted while staying in shelters

1. Title IX is a landmark federal civil right that prohibits sex discrimination in education.

2. Title IX does not apply to female students only. Title IX protects any person from sex-based discrimination, regardless of their real or perceived sex, gender identity, and/or gender expression. Female, male, and gender non-conforming students, faculty, and staff are protected from any sex-based discrimination, harassment or violence.

3. Your school must be proactive in ensuring that your campus is free of sex discrimination. “...If a school knows or reasonably should know about discrimination, harassment or violence that is creating a “hostile environment” for any student, it must act to eliminate it, remedy the harm caused and prevent its recurrence. “

4. Your school must have an established procedure for handling complaints of sex discrimination, sexual harassment or sexual violence.

5. Your school must take immediate action to ensure a victim can continue their education free of ongoing sex discrimination, sexual harassment or sexual violence.

6. Your school may not retaliate against someone filing a complaint and must keep a victim safe from other retaliatory harassment or behavior.

7. Your school can issue a no contact directive under Title IX to prevent the accused student from approaching or interacting with you. 

8. In cases of sexual violence, your college is prohibited from encouraging or allowing mediation (rather than a formal hearing) of the complaint. 

While this video is a parody (and there is objectification of the male body) the lyrics are important. This "feminist parody” actually pokes at the core of the issue: misogyny, entitlement, exploitation, gender roles, violation of civil rights, and disguising harassment as flattery.

Talk about using the oppressor’s words against them. 

BLURRED LINES --> DEFINED LINES

Excerpt from “Why Yes Can Mean No” 

“For me, and many others like me, consent isn’t easy. Yes doesn’t always mean yes, and we misplaced ‘no’ several years ago. This experience isn’t random, but disproportionately affects oppressed communities. Consent is a privilege, and it was built for wealthy, heterosexual, cis, white, western, able-bodied masculinity. When society has taught some of us to take up as little space as possible, to take all attention as flattery, and to be truly grateful that anyone at all could want our bodies or love, it isn’t always our choice to say yes.”

This CMC forum post is important. Claremont is about as privileged and heteronormative as a place can get- and our conversations about sexual violence and consent reflect this. It is disappointing and fucking infuriating that when we design our support systems, services, and spaces for survivors we do not take into account inequalities. We overuse and exhaust the word “diversity” to the point that it becomes invalidated and when it actually needs to be remembered (in cases like this). We treat it like a hollow buzzword instead of a cultural shortcoming and conveniently ignore the consequences and harm inflicted by our discriminatory language and structures. 

This is the kind of thing that keeps me up at night. This is what makes me feel like all the advocacy work we do is getting us nowhere.

1. Patriarchy

2. We still think of rape as a hooded figure jumping out of a bush

3. When you go to report an assault the first question they ask is “Were you drinking?”

4. We teach how to “not get raped” instead of how to not rape.

5. Rape is a punchline.

6. You have to text your friends when you make it home from a party

7. Victim blaming

8. Robin Thicke and his “Blurred Lines”

9. Consent is trivialized

10. Street Harassment

11. Privileged male entitlement to everything (including bodies)

12. Second guessing showing upper thigh

13. We tell male survivors, “you should have fought back”

14. We reinforce the myth of “prevention” when it comes to rape

15. We don’t acknowledge how violence disproportionately effects the LGBTQ community or people of color

16. Grand theft auto

17. We keep Title IX a mystery

18. NO means NO instead of YES means YES

19. We don’t think think of it as violence

20. “She was asking for it”

The Clothesline Project began in 1990 as a visual display of shirts to bring awareness to experiences of sexual violence. These shirts are created either by the survivor or by a family, friend, and/or loved one. The art display was created with the purpose of educating others about sexual violence and is also meant to be an important part of the healing process for survivors of sexual violence. Survivors of all identities are welcome to be a part of the shirt-making process and the public event.

On April 18th, Scripps College Advocates for Survivors of Sexual Assault in collaboration with the Intercollegiate Feminist Center, displayed the first Clothesline Project of the Claremont Colleges. The t-shirts were powerful, painful, heart achingly honest, raw, and beautiful. They represented each individual’s unique struggle and healing process. 

Only one student of the Claremont Colleges who was not affiliated with either sponsor group stopped by. There was no crowd at this event, there was little publicity outside of the two groups’ networks, and who knows if anyone stopped to pay attention. But they were there, taking up space and forcing confrontation with the reality of the rape culture we live in. 

One older woman who identified herself as a Pomona alumni stopped by with her husband because they were attracted to the colorful shirts hanging on the clothesline. After a few minutes she walked over to the group of Advocates with tears in her eyes. We offered support and resources but all she wanted was to thank us.