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Jonah Steinhart

Rape Culture at Paly High - 46 views

started by Jonah Steinhart on 15 Apr 13
  • Markita Schulman
    #4 Markita Schulman on 25 Apr 13
     
    This raises the question: what is consent? And it is a question with a clear answer. As Sarah said, there's a difference between passive behavior and consent, and, furthermore, the law defines certain situations that clearly fall into the category of rape. It often seems to me that even very educated and tolerant people discard date rape or rape where one party is intoxicated as an illegitimate problem, and resort to blaming the victim. I think that it is especially important that this issue is brought up among young people--first of all because we are at a supposedly more impressionable age where we are forming our own set of values and moral standards of right and wrong, and also because I personally feel that at Tam and likely at other high schools as well there are many blurred lines surrounding this issue. This is due both to a lack of education, and the double standards about the sexual choices of women versus those of men. Students are also at an age where their sexual identity technically falls under the jurisdiction of the law. When a monogamous couple is composed of an 18 year old and a 17 year old, many choose to have sex knowing that this could be a prosecutable offense under different circumstances. I think that this personal choice undermines the law in a way that is in my opinion completely justifiable and reasonable, but it potentially creates a culture of total disregard for the concept of rape among teens and especially among intoxicated teens.
  • Ava Mathews
    #11 Ava Mathews on 25 Apr 13
     
    It makes me sick how some people think getting raped was the victims' fault, and that they brought it upon themselves. This is a very important issue and there needs to be addressed more. I think in order to do that we would have to essentially change society, and teach men not to be as aggressive and women not to be so passive. That would be difficult, and it would take time, but it's not impossible.
  • Anna Vandergriff
    #12 Anna Vandergriff on 26 Apr 13
     
    I think the point the girl made on the kqed show was a really important one; our problem is that we focus on teaching girls not to get raped instead of teaching boys not to rape. Although a girl puts herself more at risk if she is drunk, she should still not ever be blamed for what another person does to her. Also it's so wrong for people to blame Amy for her raper in the park, simply due to the fact that she was drunk. If she was passed out drunk and a guy who is no where near as drunk as her rapes her, how could that ever be her fault?
  • Holly Parkin
    #13 Holly Parkin on 28 Apr 13
     
    As many have pointed out, this was an excellently covered article, especially considering it was such a delicate subject. I thought it was great that they showed that rape doesn't always have to be aggressive and violent to still count as rape - rape is rape, no matter the circumstance. "Yes" while intoxicated does not mean yes, not saying anything does not mean yes, and so on. I think it would have added to the article if they got some quotes from students who may have been the ones doing the slut-shaming. So many people look at things like rape and bullying, and say "I would never do that." But when put into context like this article did, we see how easy it would be for any of us to tease someone who was raped under the belief that she is a "slut," or even for someone to rape another person at a party or other event without asking for consent.
  • Jordan B
    #14 Jordan B on 29 Apr 13
     
    This was definitely an important issue that needs to be addressed more often than it is. I thought the Verde reporters did an excellent job explaining the issue in a way that was covered all the topics and managed to not gloss over any issues that needed to be addressed. The sources used in the article were used to tell the story in a compelling way, and showed two perspectives. Their statistics were also used effectively, and truly illustrated the kind of mentality that teenagers have now. It was shocking to me that all of the girls' friends refused to be accepting and supportive of their friends, and instead turned to the kind of methods that perpetuate this kind of culture. I definitely think that these issues need to be addressed not only and Tam, but everywhere, because too often girls are told that they brought rape upon themselves. The reporters on this article portrayed this with sensitivity, but also opened the reader's eyes to the seriousness of this topic as well as this way of thinking that is perpetuated both through the media and peer-to-peer.
  • Meg Weiss
    #15 Meg Weiss on 29 Apr 13
     
    This article was very well done. It was interesting (and horrible) to read about the after-effects of rape. Like Jordan said, it would have been interesting to hear quotes from Tina's peers, because you'd think that their reactions would have been to comfort their friend rather than "slut-shame" her. I also wish that the article talked a bit more about the cruelty of the raper. The article depicts the friends and peers as the bad guys, while they were being cruel and are definitely in the wrong, the raper is just as much in the wrong

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