Trigger warning: rape.
Thursday, on the Wolfpack Students Facebook page, an outlet meant for all things N.C. State related, one student posted the link to an article. The article sparked a conversation of about 100 comments. The link directed curious parties to an article from the surely unbiased blog site, Chicks on the Right. Titled, “Rape Is Rape. Unless It Isn’t,” the article sourced a video from “Total Frat Move,” a website dedicated to documenting the behavior of drunken and obnoxious college kids affiliated with Greek life programs. In the video, a slightly drunk college-aged man engages in some sexual activity with a much more visibly intoxicated college girl.
Evidently, the drunken woman in question later described her experience as rape, which she had every right to do.
However, the article argues that, because the girl and the guy were drunk, she could not claim any sort of sexual assault. Though inherently flawed, the article makes one somewhat coherent point about weighing both parties’ levels of intoxication.
But the fact remains, consent is not consent unless both parties offer it soberly.
My problem is not with the author of the article. It is with the person who posted the article, who claimed, “Personally, I couldn’t agree more with this article. Discuss.”
One female student replied, “No,” to which he replied “Well, we know where [she] stands on personal accountability. Anyone else?”
The student in question is a white, male-identified student at N.C. State. Throughout the about 100 comments, he dominated the conversation.
For any dissenters (everyone who commented), he varied between changing the subject, dismissing logical arguments and twisting statements to match his own sentiments. He flirted with and spoke condescendingly to several of the women who spoke against him.
“Personal accountability,” he said. This falls in line with a very common rape-culture apologist argument. The argument basically follows that a woman should not get drunk unless she expects to be taken advantage of.
Several other comments of his echoed this sentiment. Especially one, in reply to a concern raised about the Steubenville case, which implied that a woman needs to be especially careful when she reports sexual assault, as it may ruin a man’s life. Right. Like a violation of one’s body, the most intimate possession, could compare to the loss of a football scholarship.
My favorite quote of his states: “…crying rape because you woke up in the morning and regretted your DECISIONS is not rape. Pointing that out is not a bad thing. It helps society stay accountable.”
Okay. So what we have here is a white man, who is completely uneducated on the matter other than one exceptionally flawed article, telling women what exactly constitutes rape. We have this man making sure that society continues blaming women for being taken advantage of instead of holding the men who take advantage of them accountable.
He seems like the type of person who thinks it’s okay for men to act irresponsibly while they’re drunk, but expects women to be able to keep all their mental faculties in check after several drinks.
One dissenting commenter said, “The only time you see someone with an opinion matching the article is [when a person has] zero experience with sexual assault (personally, with friends, family, etc.) [or when a person] has committed something [like an assault] and is trying to justify it.”
Unfortunately, it is not uncommon for white males to share this sentiment and to voice it. But as men, we have no right to tell women what rape is. We have no right to weigh in on the logistics of what constitutes rape. Our role is to shut up and stop raping people.
Send Nicky your thoughts to viewpoint@technicianonline.com.