• About
  • Editorial Board
    • Staff Writers
  • Advertise
  • Join Us
  • Archives
The Wellesley News -
  • News and Features
    • Professor Phillip Levine Discusses “A Problem of Fit”
      Professor Phillip Levine Discusses “A Problem of Fit”
    • CS Department shifts CS 111 course structure
      CS Department shifts CS 111 course structure
    • WAMI and WRJ host discussion on criminalization of abortion
      WAMI and WRJ host discussion on criminalization of abortion
    • News
      • News in Brief
      • Nation & World
      • President’s Corner
      • Senate Report
    • Features
      • Alumnae Spotlight
      • Eye on Science
      • Faculty Focus
      • LGBTQIA+ Column
  • Opinions
    • Why Art Basel is partially responsible for Miami’s gentrification
      Why Art Basel is partially responsible for Miami’s gentrification
    • It’s time to put traditional grading to the test
      It’s time to put traditional grading to the test
    • What can the fall of Z-library teach us about textbook accessibility?
      What can the fall of Z-library teach us about textbook accessibility?
    • Staff Editorial
    • Letters to the Editor
    • The Elephant in the Room
  • Arts
    • No image
      Pentimento’s Open Mic is Like an Old Patchwork Quilt–Worn, Yet Cozy
    • No image
      Kanye’s Antisemitism Steps on his Shoe Brand
    • Lousy Realities: Luca Guadagnino (2015)
      Lousy Realities: Luca Guadagnino (2015)
    • Arts In The News
    • Reviews
    • Music Peek
    • Books Before Boys
  • Sports and Wellness
    • Student-Athlete of October
      Student-Athlete of October
    • Athletics Update Oct. 19, 2022
      Athletics Update Oct. 19, 2022
    • The Case for Body Neutrality
      The Case for Body Neutrality
    • Athlete of the Week
    • Boston Sports Update
    • The Vegan Digest
    • The SHE Corner
  • The Wellesley Snooze
    • Top 10 Girlbosses who aren’t alumnae, but I would totally believe you if you told me they were
      Top 10 Girlbosses who aren’t alumnae, but I would totally believe you if you told me they were
    • Wendy Wellesley’s Thanksgiving Menu
      Wendy Wellesley’s Thanksgiving Menu
    • The Snooze Awards for the Best Tanners of 2022
      The Snooze Awards for the Best Tanners of 2022
  • Miscellanea
    • President’s Column: The Butterfly Effect
      President’s Column: The Butterfly Effect
    • Administrators shocked to learn that students dislike being left in dark
      Administrators shocked to learn that students dislike being left in dark
    • 50 Lies You Tell Yourself in Order to Survive Until Graduation
      50 Lies You Tell Yourself in Order to Survive Until Graduation
    • The Dose
    • The Olive Branch
    • Multimedia
      • Galleries
      • Infographics
      • Videos
By Laurel Kinman OpinionsSeptember 12, 2014

Media wrongly reinforces harmful preconceptions of sexual assault

Sexual assault has taken over the headlines in the past several months as more and more disturbing figures regarding the subject come to light, particularly with respect to its prevalence on college campuses. From Time magazine, whose May 26 cover flashed a red college pennant emblazoned with the word “rape” to the New York Times, which has featured at least three articles, as well as an op-ed and a “Room for Debate” forum, on the topic in the past three months alone, news pieces concerning campus sexual assault are ubiquitous and unending. Crucial as such pieces are in raising public awareness of a sensitive, yet central issue in a modern discussion of gender relations, these articles unknowingly perpetuate the problem. The media catalogues our cultural discussion of rape into two distinct, and separate, entities: the aforementioned discussion of how to end sexual assault on college campuses, and the backlash against rape culture. These are not, and should not be, two separate discussions. When we fail to regard sexual violence, on or off college campuses, as a byproduct of rape culture, we fail also the many victims, and future victims, of this violence.

As college students, this is an issue that should be near and dear to our hearts. Too many men and women of any age know the pain of sexual violence, and, on many college campuses, the pain and degradation of the initial attack are only further compounded by humiliating interrogations by impersonal panel members, often reported to be untrained, even bewilderingly ignorant given their position, and then the subsequent inadequate response to the students’ complaints. In May, the proliferation of such offenses as these prompted the federal government to open investigation into 55 colleges and universities across the nation for violations of the landmark 1972 Title IX bill, which prohibits sexual discrimination in educational institutions that receive federal funding. Among the 55 schools highlighted were four in Boston itself: Boston University, Emerson College, and Harvard, both the college and the law school. But while we may breathe a sigh of relief that Wellesley is not on this list, we must also recognize that as necessary as it is to repair these critically damaged response systems, changing the way we respond to rape isn’t going to fix the problem. That can only be accomplished by changing the parameters of the discussion.

In its profile of the subject, “The Sexual Assault Crisis on College Campuses,” Time magazine cites a piece authored in 2002 by David Lisak and Paul Miller, appearing in the journal Violence and Victims, that found that, in an anonymous survey of men at the University of Massachusetts, Boston, only 6.4% of study participants reported committing acts that would be defined as rape. More tellingly yet, most of the men who did so reported more than one sexual encounter in which they behaved thus. Translation: Most rape isn’t about crossed signals or mixed messages. It’s about sexual predation by repeat offenders, and “consent is sexy” and “no means no,” while important messages to convey to young people, aren’t going to change that. What we as college-aged women need more than consent education, more than safe drinking tips, and more than increased stringency in enforcement is to be respected. Which brings us back to the question of rape culture.

It should be established at this point that not all sexual assaults are committed by men against women. Nonetheless, the majority of sexual violence does follow this pattern, and it is easy enough to see why. As young people ourselves, we are only too keenly aware of how immersed our generation is in the varied media, whether social, visual, auditory, or otherwise. Yet in almost all of these arenas the depiction of women is constructed in such a manner as to suggest that women are sexual objects, to be viewed, and ultimately possessed, by men. The camera makes voyeurs of us all, and, if the romantic comedy genre has taught us nothing else, it has taught us that men are entitled to a woman’s love, both physical and emotional, if they treat her with any degree of decency.

So long as colleges remain on the defensive, so long as assault-prevention programs focus on the symptoms and not the disease, progress will be sluggish and disappointing. Young women will be hurt. It is not going to be easy, but if we as a society are serious about achieving change, we need to focus on changing our underlying cultural paradigms, not on quick fixes. We owe our young women — and our young men — that much at least.

Share on

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest
  • Google +
  • LinkedIn
  • Email
Previous articleUber broadens travel options for college students
Next articleALS Ice Bucket Challenge: More lukewarm than frigid

You may also like

Why Art Basel is partially responsible for Miami’s gentrification

It’s time to put traditional grading to the test

Banner reading this website has been seized over images of a book shelf

What can the fall of Z-library teach us about textbook accessibility?

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Email Newsletter

Sign up to receive our weekly digest in your inbox

* indicates required

Top Articles

Sorry. No data so far.

Recent Tweets

Tweets by @Wellesley_News

The independent student newspaper of Wellesley College since 1901.

Sign up to receive our weekly digest in your inbox

* indicates required

  • About
  • Editorial Board
    • Staff Writers
  • Advertise
  • Join Us
  • Archives
COPYRIGHT © 2023 THE WELLESLEY NEWS
Back to top