{"id":3167,"date":"2007-02-12T20:50:15","date_gmt":"2007-02-13T03:50:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.amptoons.com\/blog\/archives\/2007\/02\/12\/apparently-rape-is-big-old-joke-and-a-magical-experience\/"},"modified":"2007-02-12T20:50:15","modified_gmt":"2007-02-13T03:50:15","slug":"apparently-rape-is-big-old-joke-and-a-magical-experience","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/amptoons.com\/blog\/?p=3167","title":{"rendered":"Apparently Rape is Big Old Joke and a "Magical Experience""},"content":{"rendered":"

[I’ve edited this post, and the comments, to change one person’s actual name to the fake name “John Doe.” Read the comments to see why I did this. –Amp, 12\/19\/2010]<\/em><\/p>\n

In another great example of college students being totally insensitive, a student at Central Connecticut State University decided that it would be funny to satirize rape<\/a>. He titled his editorial “Rape Only Hurts If You Fight It.” He claims to be making the point that only sensational stories get headlines, so he decided to make his own sensation.<\/p>\n

Well the students and staff didn’t find the editorial to be funny, and the writer John Doe was called to the carpet in a town hall forum at the school:<\/p>\n

Doe took the podium before a hushed, tense audience — his first public appearance since the publication of a controversial article he wrote last week in the student newspaper describing rape as a “magical experience.”<\/p>\n

The article, meant to be a satire of media sensationalism, had missed its mark, incurring the wrath of hundreds of students over its depiction of rape as a boon to civilization and to “ugly women” who otherwise would not be able to get men to have sex with them.<\/p>\n

Many in the audience felt Doe had a lot to answer for, especially those who were familiar with some of the articles and comic strips he had previously written for the paper poking fun at sensitive topics such as abortion and affirmative action.<\/p>\n

He had been up since 3 a.m. writing the speech. He hoped it would heal the wounds he had reopened and convince the audience that he was truly sorry — although later he would assert that the overwhelming response to his story proved his initial point.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Apparently, the condemnation of students did have some impact because the student was forced to resign, and it sounds like the paper’s editor was even getting a little reflective by the end of the forum. Here’s an excerpt that starts with Doe and ends with the editor of the paper.<\/p>\n

“I apologize sincerely,” he said to the group of women who, in the days since the article was published, had publicly identified themselves as rape victims in a show of protest against the article and the paper.<\/p>\n

One student, Nicki LaPorte, had won a rousing ovation from the audience after tearfully condemning the article earlier during the forum.<\/p>\n

“I am not a victim of rape, I am a survivor of rape,” LaPorte said.<\/p>\n

Several other students were also critical of the article, saying it crossed the boundaries of journalistic responsibility. Besides demanding Doe’s resignation, several students also called for the resignation of the paper’s editor, Mark Rowan, as well as the paper’s faculty advisors.<\/p>\n

Students said that over the last year, the paper had become increasingly hostile to women and gays and other minority groups.<\/p>\n

“Where are the advisors in all of this?” asked one student.<\/p>\n

The controversy over the article prompted The Recorder’s editorial board to vote to remove Doe as the opinion editor over the weekend. Yet Doe will be allowed to continue writing on a limited basis, according to Rowan, who also said he has no plans to step down.<\/p>\n

Doe and Rowan said they were both deeply moved by the dozens of letters they had received concerning the article over the last few days, especially those written by rape victims who described their attacks in harrowing detail.<\/p>\n

“It’s definitely going to make me more sensitive to this issue,” said Rowan, a 21-year-old senior who hopes to pursue a career in journalism after he graduates. “Up until now, I had always seen the world from the narrow vantage point of a 21-year-old white male, but now I see that it needs to be broadened.”<\/p>\n

Rowan said the paper intends to appoint a woman to replace Doe as opinion editor soon. The paper would then have an editorial board consisting of seven men and five women, he said.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Nevertheless, this case seems to be alarmingly similar to the blackface cases we have been seeing. Students claim that they didn’t know their behavior was offensive or inappropriate.<\/p>\n

This also case strikes me as a real male privilege moment because rape is no joke to women especially for college women who have a very high rate of rape victimization. I think many men don’t realize how the threat of rape affects all women. We do things like get our keys ready well before we get into our cars. We check the backseat before we get into our car. We rarely go to parties alone. We stay in our homes late at night, and this applies to almost all women whether we have been sexually assaulted or not. The fear of rape is pervasive and unfortunately so normalized that many women (myself included) take it for granted. I suggest that men who want to learn about how rape affects women’s lives read this essay by Tim Beneke<\/a>. It is an excerpt from his book Men on Rape: What They Have to Say About Sexual Violence<\/em><\/a>. <\/em>The article demonstrates how pervasive and powerful the fear of rape is.<\/p>\n

I wish John Doe and Mark Rowan would have read the Beneke article. Maybe then they would realize why this essay wasn’t the least bit funny. Satire implies that you “get it.” (Didn’t I say this a couple days ago!) Mr. Doe and Mr. Rowan simply don’t get it. By his own admission, Mr. Rowan says he’s being viewing the world only through his young white male vantage point, and I suppose that’s what college is for getting students to see not only their vantage points but the vantage points of others. If Doe and Rowan could see the world through my eyes (and the eyes of billions of other women), would know that rape is no laughing matter; they would understand the paralysis and fear that rape causes for women, and they would have never written such an editorial.<\/p>\n

Thanks to Carmen<\/a> for the heads up on this!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[I’ve edited this post, and the comments, to change one person’s actual name to the fake name “John Doe.” Read the comments to see why I did this. –Amp, 12\/19\/2010] In another great example of college students being totally insensitive, … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[95,31,54,96],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3167","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-anti-feminists-and-their-pals","category-feminism-sexism-etc","category-media-criticism","category-rape-intimate-violence-related-issues"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/amptoons.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3167","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/amptoons.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/amptoons.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amptoons.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amptoons.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3167"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/amptoons.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3167\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/amptoons.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3167"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amptoons.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3167"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amptoons.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3167"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}