Currently working on a research project in my qualitative methods class on how media covers rape and whether it is highly sensationalized with disregard to crime statistics, I came across this video. And I had to share it because this type of reporting is why women are taught to fear the man lurking behind the bushes or at the end of the dark alley.
According to the National Center for Victims of Crime, 77% of rapes are committed by someone the victim knows. Women are four times more likely to be raped by an acquaintance than a stranger. FOUR TIMES!
And yet there are videos like the one below that, even though their rally for support of women's issues is well intentioned, do more harm than good. It encourages women to be fearful of the unknown. Bottom line- don't go out for a jog alone or you might get raped and murdered by that sexual predator lurking in the bushes.
Don't believe me? Watch it for yourself.
Yes, stranger rape does occur, but shouldn't these reports encourage strength and not fear. It should teach the signs leading to acquaintance rape because, realistically, that is way more prevalent and a much larger threat to women.
Friday, April 16, 2010
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Walk a Mile in Her Shoes
While searching for articles on sexual assault awareness month, I discovered this organization promoting awareness of gender disparities especially regarding sexual assault.
Walk a Mile in Her Shoes is described as "The international men's march to stop rape, sexual assault and gender violence." This organization asks men to literally step into women's shoes. Men dawn high heels and walk a mile in them.
It sounds like a humorous conquest, especially since I have trouble standing let alone walking in high heels. However, the support and effort required for men to undertake this march is commendable.
When rape is reported, men are most often the perpetrators. This gives them the connotation as the enemy. This organization explicits states, they are not. They care about sexual assault awareness just as much as women.
This organization reminds everyone that the victim is some man's wife, daughter, aunt, niece, girlfriend or friend. Men care about the protecting women just as much as women care about protecting other women.
What is important to remember is that we all have a stake in this issue. It effects everyone. Together we can accomplish so much more.
Walk a Mile in Her Shoes is described as "The international men's march to stop rape, sexual assault and gender violence." This organization asks men to literally step into women's shoes. Men dawn high heels and walk a mile in them.
It sounds like a humorous conquest, especially since I have trouble standing let alone walking in high heels. However, the support and effort required for men to undertake this march is commendable.
When rape is reported, men are most often the perpetrators. This gives them the connotation as the enemy. This organization explicits states, they are not. They care about sexual assault awareness just as much as women.
This organization reminds everyone that the victim is some man's wife, daughter, aunt, niece, girlfriend or friend. Men care about the protecting women just as much as women care about protecting other women.
What is important to remember is that we all have a stake in this issue. It effects everyone. Together we can accomplish so much more.
LGBT Rights: An Under-the-Rug Issue
Covering an event promoting lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans-gender awareness for the college newspaper, I spoke with many students in the midst of a battle for equality on campus not unlike the one women face for equal rights.
I spoke with two girls starting a new LGBT organization called SAFE, or Students Advocating Freedom and Equality. As the name suggests, the group promotes advocacy and action. There is a limit to how much education can help. It makes sense. Many undergraduate students complete internship requirements to get the experience education cannot provide.
One of the girls spoke of a law on the ballot for same sex marriages in Michigan as well as a petition to end the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy. Why are these such pivotal issues? They rarely gain supportive media attention until it is too late.
I remember Proposition 8 in California, banning same-sex marriages and domestic unions. Where was the media coverage when same-sex marriage was legalized? Why is there so much coverage even know? The answer: a fight for popular opinion dominance.
In 1999, Ricky Martin performed at the Grammys. I watched from my sunken living room, anticipating the winners of the next awards, but I never saw him coming. I had never heard of him before, but I was bouncing around with the rest of teenage America. Then rumors surfaced about his sexual orientation due to his large homosexual following. The same thing happened with Lance Bass and Clay Aiken.
My question then, and still, is: why does it matter? Why does the news media view a person's sexual orientation as a personal playground to manipulate and pressure people to come out before they are ready? Is it so wrong to want to be seen for your talent first?
Last week's Ugly Betty episode, a show of which I am an affectionate follower, featured Justin's coming out. His future step-father caught him with his boyfriend, and promised not to say anything. However, the consequences of having a close family is limited privacy and the secret slipped out. Justin's family bought all sorts of colored decorations to show they supported him in his way of life, but that was not what he needed. He needed their support, but he also needed time to figure out what he felt about it. He wanted to option of finding the right time to let the world know, and he needed people to support his choice and his decision, allowing him to decide when it was time.
LGBT Rights, as expressed in the media and popular television have not always come easy. This is evident in the movie Milk starring Sean Penn and James Franco. The movie details the life and struggle of Harvey Milk in becoming California's first openly gay elected official. It was horrific the incidents details in the movie motivated by hatred of the lifestyle. This movie shows the only direction to move is forward. LGBT Rights are within grasp, so seize it.
I spoke with two girls starting a new LGBT organization called SAFE, or Students Advocating Freedom and Equality. As the name suggests, the group promotes advocacy and action. There is a limit to how much education can help. It makes sense. Many undergraduate students complete internship requirements to get the experience education cannot provide.
One of the girls spoke of a law on the ballot for same sex marriages in Michigan as well as a petition to end the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy. Why are these such pivotal issues? They rarely gain supportive media attention until it is too late.
I remember Proposition 8 in California, banning same-sex marriages and domestic unions. Where was the media coverage when same-sex marriage was legalized? Why is there so much coverage even know? The answer: a fight for popular opinion dominance.
In 1999, Ricky Martin performed at the Grammys. I watched from my sunken living room, anticipating the winners of the next awards, but I never saw him coming. I had never heard of him before, but I was bouncing around with the rest of teenage America. Then rumors surfaced about his sexual orientation due to his large homosexual following. The same thing happened with Lance Bass and Clay Aiken.
My question then, and still, is: why does it matter? Why does the news media view a person's sexual orientation as a personal playground to manipulate and pressure people to come out before they are ready? Is it so wrong to want to be seen for your talent first?
Last week's Ugly Betty episode, a show of which I am an affectionate follower, featured Justin's coming out. His future step-father caught him with his boyfriend, and promised not to say anything. However, the consequences of having a close family is limited privacy and the secret slipped out. Justin's family bought all sorts of colored decorations to show they supported him in his way of life, but that was not what he needed. He needed their support, but he also needed time to figure out what he felt about it. He wanted to option of finding the right time to let the world know, and he needed people to support his choice and his decision, allowing him to decide when it was time.
LGBT Rights, as expressed in the media and popular television have not always come easy. This is evident in the movie Milk starring Sean Penn and James Franco. The movie details the life and struggle of Harvey Milk in becoming California's first openly gay elected official. It was horrific the incidents details in the movie motivated by hatred of the lifestyle. This movie shows the only direction to move is forward. LGBT Rights are within grasp, so seize it.
Friday, April 2, 2010
PSA Sexual Assault Awareness Month
Kristen Stewart, star of the teen drama saga Twilight, recently did a public service announcement about SAAM's campaign theme: sexual assault on college campuses.
Thursday, April 1, 2010
Sexual Assault Awareness Month
Whereas the month of October promotes the awareness of domestic violence, April is devoted to informing others and supporting victims of sexual assault.
According to the Sexual Assault Awareness Month website, the National Coalition Against Sexual Assault along with other sexual assault coalitions established a week in April to promote sexual assault issues. Soon this week turned into a month devoted to just sexual assault issues.
Organized protests of these issues began with the Take Back the Night march in Brussels, Belgium in the 1970s. Women of all shapes, sizes and ethnicities took back the night with a candlelight march.
As a woman, I am afraid to walk the streets at night. Coming from a small town, my fear was only accentuated when I decided to attend school in one of the biggest cities in the state. Being unfamiliar with the area and the people, I sometimes find myself holding back trying new things or visiting new places all because of fear. Fear should not run any person's life.
Why should women fear more than men? Why should women fear potential perpetrators at every corner or down every dark alley? There is a reason women have this fear. In many cases, women are not safe. Women are victims, and this month is for them.
This month is for saying, "You had nothing to do with this. It was this other person who felt he needed to have power and control over you." This month is also to remind others that sexual assault is not just something seen in a Primetime drama. It is real. It happens frequently. What are you going to do to help stop this? How can you contribute? Take back the night. Support those who have been victims, and spread the word that this is a real issue.
This year's SAAM campaign theme is sexual assault on college campuses. The site states that one in five college women will be victims of sexual assault.
Being a college student, this statistic shocks me. Sometimes I find myself sitting in class and counting out by fives, thinking: it is completely ridiculous that statistics say one of you will be a victim. It seems like such a high number. I consider my campus safe, and many sexual assault statistics show women are more likely to be sexually victimized by an acquaintance than by a stranger lurking in the bushes. Nonetheless, I still worry about that stranger.
Why is this?
I, as well as many other women, are susceptible inputs of media hysteria. What sexual assault cases are covered more than any other? Stranger assaults. It is every woman's worst nightmare to hear those footsteps when walking down the street late at night, but the same anxiety does not surface when a woman's significant other walks up the stairs.
The media's replication and consistently elevated reporting of stranger assaults outweigh acquaintance assaults, making women believe stranger rapes happen more frequently because they get the most amount of coverage.
According to the Sexual Assault Awareness Month website, the National Coalition Against Sexual Assault along with other sexual assault coalitions established a week in April to promote sexual assault issues. Soon this week turned into a month devoted to just sexual assault issues.
Organized protests of these issues began with the Take Back the Night march in Brussels, Belgium in the 1970s. Women of all shapes, sizes and ethnicities took back the night with a candlelight march.
As a woman, I am afraid to walk the streets at night. Coming from a small town, my fear was only accentuated when I decided to attend school in one of the biggest cities in the state. Being unfamiliar with the area and the people, I sometimes find myself holding back trying new things or visiting new places all because of fear. Fear should not run any person's life.
Why should women fear more than men? Why should women fear potential perpetrators at every corner or down every dark alley? There is a reason women have this fear. In many cases, women are not safe. Women are victims, and this month is for them.
This month is for saying, "You had nothing to do with this. It was this other person who felt he needed to have power and control over you." This month is also to remind others that sexual assault is not just something seen in a Primetime drama. It is real. It happens frequently. What are you going to do to help stop this? How can you contribute? Take back the night. Support those who have been victims, and spread the word that this is a real issue.
This year's SAAM campaign theme is sexual assault on college campuses. The site states that one in five college women will be victims of sexual assault.
Being a college student, this statistic shocks me. Sometimes I find myself sitting in class and counting out by fives, thinking: it is completely ridiculous that statistics say one of you will be a victim. It seems like such a high number. I consider my campus safe, and many sexual assault statistics show women are more likely to be sexually victimized by an acquaintance than by a stranger lurking in the bushes. Nonetheless, I still worry about that stranger.
Why is this?
I, as well as many other women, are susceptible inputs of media hysteria. What sexual assault cases are covered more than any other? Stranger assaults. It is every woman's worst nightmare to hear those footsteps when walking down the street late at night, but the same anxiety does not surface when a woman's significant other walks up the stairs.
The media's replication and consistently elevated reporting of stranger assaults outweigh acquaintance assaults, making women believe stranger rapes happen more frequently because they get the most amount of coverage.
Saturday, March 20, 2010
A Woman with Something to Fight for
My senior year I attended a poetry slam. I know, not the everyday activity of an eighteen year-old, but I was not an average eighteen year-old. I remember listening to this black woman (or African-American, whichever you prefer), and her words moved me to tears.
Capturing her sprouted, snake-like locks in a bun pulled high on her head, she told stories her mother told her whose grandmother told her. The story repeated on down the line about captivity, slavery and bravery. Her relatives had a cause to fight for, and their stories told of their struggles. Poetry is a piece of humanity told through imagery. The subjects colors, wills and desires all meant something different in that aspect of humanity.
As a young, white woman, who has yet to experience much of the world, I started wondering: what is my cause?
If I were standing in the street facing hoses, batons, dogs and tear gas, what would I be yelling? What would my sign say? What would I be fighting for?
I like to consider myself as a passionate person. I feel things, sometimes I think, more than other people do. Like the poet on stage, I wanted a unique story to tell, but I never considered myself unique in a land where the population is termed a "melting pot." I considered myself the pot that someone could look at and say, "Oh, yeah, that is definitely a pot." All the other ethnic backgrounds make up the stew- the meat. No one cares about what the pot has to say, everyone wants to get right to the stew, or the meat. Something to "sink their teeth into."
Having a cause to fight for, makes me unique. I am not longer a container holding the tantalizing stew. I am enriched by the stew and stand for myself. I may look like some other object in the pot, but in my own way, I am unique. A pot is always just a pot.
Now, I know. I am a woman. I have to fight for what I think it means to be a woman.
Since this is my soapbox, I thought you should know- I am woman, hear me roar.
Capturing her sprouted, snake-like locks in a bun pulled high on her head, she told stories her mother told her whose grandmother told her. The story repeated on down the line about captivity, slavery and bravery. Her relatives had a cause to fight for, and their stories told of their struggles. Poetry is a piece of humanity told through imagery. The subjects colors, wills and desires all meant something different in that aspect of humanity.
As a young, white woman, who has yet to experience much of the world, I started wondering: what is my cause?
If I were standing in the street facing hoses, batons, dogs and tear gas, what would I be yelling? What would my sign say? What would I be fighting for?
I like to consider myself as a passionate person. I feel things, sometimes I think, more than other people do. Like the poet on stage, I wanted a unique story to tell, but I never considered myself unique in a land where the population is termed a "melting pot." I considered myself the pot that someone could look at and say, "Oh, yeah, that is definitely a pot." All the other ethnic backgrounds make up the stew- the meat. No one cares about what the pot has to say, everyone wants to get right to the stew, or the meat. Something to "sink their teeth into."
Having a cause to fight for, makes me unique. I am not longer a container holding the tantalizing stew. I am enriched by the stew and stand for myself. I may look like some other object in the pot, but in my own way, I am unique. A pot is always just a pot.
Now, I know. I am a woman. I have to fight for what I think it means to be a woman.
Since this is my soapbox, I thought you should know- I am woman, hear me roar.
Sunday, February 28, 2010
The Gap: An Introduction
The gender gap, which so many men and women fought to lessen in the 1970s, still exists. Different studies and reports conclude a woman makes 77 to 80 cents for every dollar a man makes for doing the same work. What makes it okay to pay a woman less who is of equal qualification and ability?
This is a question many women should be asking.
Feminists fought for equality and advocacy for women's rights. Even with the passing of Title VII and Title IX, the disparity still exists. Equal treatment for women is being challenged, but no one is listening. Why? There is little voice of concern. Women are not fighting a battle for equal rights. Women are sitting on the sidelines, perhaps, unaware this phenomena still exists.
I do not claim to be an expert on this topic, but through my studies I feel I am more accustomed to looking for the signs of this inequality. What I have learned from many talented, experienced professors is that this still exists and many people do not recognize it does. Nor are they aware of the information readily available detailing and showcasing the need for knowledge and the need for action.
This blog is a project for me. I am finishing the last class in my sequence of study on gender, and I do not want the knowledge I learned to slip away with time. So I propose to exercise what I have learned, present articles I have read, and comments I have received to hit on major topics impacting women today.
With knowledge, you may not be able to sit idly on the sidelines. Get involved, know what is out there and act to make tomorrow better for your daughters and granddaughters like our mothers and grandmothers did for us.
This is a question many women should be asking.
Feminists fought for equality and advocacy for women's rights. Even with the passing of Title VII and Title IX, the disparity still exists. Equal treatment for women is being challenged, but no one is listening. Why? There is little voice of concern. Women are not fighting a battle for equal rights. Women are sitting on the sidelines, perhaps, unaware this phenomena still exists.
I do not claim to be an expert on this topic, but through my studies I feel I am more accustomed to looking for the signs of this inequality. What I have learned from many talented, experienced professors is that this still exists and many people do not recognize it does. Nor are they aware of the information readily available detailing and showcasing the need for knowledge and the need for action.
This blog is a project for me. I am finishing the last class in my sequence of study on gender, and I do not want the knowledge I learned to slip away with time. So I propose to exercise what I have learned, present articles I have read, and comments I have received to hit on major topics impacting women today.
With knowledge, you may not be able to sit idly on the sidelines. Get involved, know what is out there and act to make tomorrow better for your daughters and granddaughters like our mothers and grandmothers did for us.
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