Tuesday
Editor in chief: Jack Clifford
Managing Editor: Jessica Blanchard
Newsroom: (541) 346-5511
Room 300, Erb Memorial Union
P.O. box 3159, Eugene, OR 97403
E-mail: ode@oregon.uoregon.edu
EDITORIAL EDITOR: MICHAEL J. KLECKNER opededitor@journalist.com
Are women
nothing more
than victims? /
Readers raised concerns in recent let
ters to the editor about a campus pres
entation dealing with date
rape, which included methods female
students could use to keep themselves safe.
The readers were angry that this particular
presentation seemed to focus on the victim
status of women, while no mention was
made of the men who need to be stopped
from raping. Instead, the writers said, stop
ping rape was presented as something that
only women can do.
The Emerald editorial board discussed this
issue at length, in a sometimes heated conver
sation about the way rape prevention is han
dled in our culture and, specifically, on our
campus. We, too, feel that many times too
much attention is paid to women — if they
were only more careful, or didn’t get drunk, or
didn’t walk alone at night, or knew better self
defense techniques, they wouldn’t get raped.
The message that needs to accompany this,
aimed at men—that all sexual violence must
stop—gets lost in the shuffle.
Our argument became heated because
there was some concern that indoctrinating a
whole generation (at least) of women with
the message that they could do more to stop
themselves from being raped is only serving
to perpetuate America’s rape culture.
Women should be free to walk alone at night.
Women should be able to get drunk at a party
with friends, both male and female. The fe
male members of the editorial board thought
this suggestion unrealistic, and perhaps that
confirms the point. Women have been
trained to think that because of rapists, they
have fewer rights in the world, and that’s OK
because it’s just the way the world is. The
problem is, if women continue to be taught
this, our culture will never change. Women
then become complicit in the idea that, well,
rape just happens — and nothing can stop it.
On the other hand, dispensing common
sense ideas about protecting oneself in an
imperfect world (yes, in a utopia no one
would rape — or steal, or murder or be
greedy) should be perfectly acceptable and
normal. It seems perfectly logical to tell
young women that they might want to be
careful of the circumstances under which
they drink alcohol. It should be acceptable to
teach women self-defense techniques. And
in the real world, these messages somehow
seem incredibly necessary. How could that
be perpetuating the rape culture?
Perhaps if these messages toward women,
which seem so dominant in our culture, are
balanced with an equal number (or more,
perhaps) of messages designed for young
men, it wouldn’t feel as if women are being
indoctrinated as victims. Instead of a presen
tation that only mentions the steps women
can take to protect themselves, every one of
those presentations should include some
fairly complex thoughts about reciprocity,
and about what happens to consensuality
when a crude joke includes a line such as
“Get in the truck, bitch! ” If speakers and
workshops only focus on self-defense and
prevention, that does continue the sense of
victimhood.
At the same time, it is important that the
messages sent to young men are not simplis
tic. “Just say no” didn’t work for drugs, and it
can’t work for rape. There is a complicated
set of cultural assumptions and social norms
that build the fabric of that “rape culture. ”
Even the term itself is bandied about with
such frequency that it loses its urgency and
makes the topic simplistic and almost use
less. Discussion of nonconsensual sex is a
long conversation, and it requires both
breadth and depth.
With that said, we do have to point out that
our campus is trying. The Interfraternity
Council and Panhellenic Council have a
group, Greeks Against Rape, which organiz
es presentations and forums to raise aware
ness on campus. Most of these programs are
aimed at women, but the IFC does try to
arrange content just for men.
The IFC works together with the ASUO
Women’s Center on “Take Back the Night,” the
annual event focusing energy and effort on re
ducing sexual violence. And the Women’s
Center, while they work extensively on “Take
Back the Night,” has a programming commit
tee that is trying to find or develop program
ming specifically for men, in order to reduce
the victim mentality that some efforts aimed at
women seem to sustain.
Lori Brown with the Women’s Center said
that while she understands the need to focus
rape awareness on men, it can be difficult to
get men to attend events. Men talk to other
men a lot more easily about the subject,
Brown said, and the Women’s Center is
working on developing a peer educator in
tern program, where male students could do
peer-to-peer awareness programs that might
be more effective.
We think these programs are great. We ap
plaud the effort to get men more involved in
stopping sexual violence. After all, most of
the time men are the perpetrators. There is
much men can do culturally to reduce the so
cial mentality that allows rape. It would be
Giovanni Salimena Emerald
much more efficient to get men to stop raping
than to rely on women to be afraid and pro
tect themselves at every moment.
But the University could step up to the plate
a little more. Why not spend the money to
make Saferide (or something similar to that
service) more accessible to more students dur
ing more hours? When attacks are happening
on or near campus, get information out to
every student more often and more quickly.
Design a seminar or a freshman class that deals
with sexual violence and reciprocity that is re
quired for students to graduate—the philoso
phy department’s “Love and Sex” class might
be a great place to start.
The community should keep in mind that
sexual violence presentations done in con
junction with any University office must be
two-sided. We should stop allowing only
women to be preached at about rape. Be
cause as long as speakers come to campus
and do nothing but tell women they should
be more careful if they don’t want to be
raped, our very prevention efforts are help
ing to perpetuate a culture of sexual vio
lence. That’s no road to a perfect world.
t his editorial represents the opinion of the Emerald
editorial board. Responses can be sent to ode@ore
gon.uoregon.edu.
CLARIFICATION
University officials say that the law-firm report regarding the in
vestigation into Jody Runge’s job as women’s basketball coach
(“Public issues deserve public scrutiny/’ ODE, April 30) will be re
leased at a later date. University lawyers are currently reviewing
the report, there is no timetable for the report's release and por
tions may remain sealed because of privacy concerns.
The Emerald regrets the error.
CORRECTION
In the Emerald article “Common Threads” (April 30), Sugie Hong
should have been identified as the co-director of the Asian/Pacific
American Student Union. Also, the article should have noted that
clothing for the fashion show was also provided by Bon Marche.
The Emerald regrets the error.
Letters to the editor
Let the hungry die!
Reading the April 28 Register-Guard article, “Official
apologizes for Dumpster remark,” I was appalled to hear that
“Dumpster diving” would be suggested to people requesting
assistance. Trash belongs in trash cans, period. The idea that
hungry people should root through someone’s refuse on the
chance they might be able to feed themselves is absolutely
repugnant, and said hungry people should be ashamed.
According to the USDA, Americans throw away at least
100 billion pounds of food each year. They waste it for a rea
son — they don’t want it. Maybe the “Best By” date has
passed, it might not look “sellable” or maybe the label is
torn or scratched!
The USDA also said this food could, feed all the hungry.
people in America, but that doesn’t make “Dumpster div
ing” any more defensible. Looking through garbage is an
ugly habit, and it’s illegal! That’s right, these so-called
“harmless Dumpster divers” are engaging in criminal activi
ties by trespassing and stealing!
Luckily, some businesses that help waste 100 billion
pounds of food have the common sense to lock their Dump
sters, ensuring that their waste gets wasted. Here’s an obvi
ous suggestion for lawmakers: Mandate that Dumpsters be
locked to guarantee that wasted food never feeds anyone but
ends up in landfills, where it belongs!
In the meantime, local businesses should follow the trend
of pouring bleach on the food they waste. That way, caring
Eugeneans can rest assured that any criminal tempted by
free, edible food will pay with their lives.
Lucas Spiegel
... . • Eugene