I found the topics discussed last week really interesting, that of gender blending, but the genderfuck panel ready caught my attention. I come from a close-minded, religious family that bites into society’s expectations. They remain living in the binary world that has taught us that there are only two acceptable genders, male and female, and as a result everything we do is shaped by that idea. Therefore, my parents reinforced the gender expectations by the way they raised me. They taught me how to act, what I can and can’t say or do and even what to wear. My toys, my clothes, my girl friends all influenced what it meant to be a girl. Growing up I never questioned it, since that was the norm for me; my parents set the perfect example of what …show more content…
Caroline Heldman’s lecture, Confronting Campus Sexual Violence, really opened my eyes. The shocking statistic that one in five college women face assault/rape was a lot to take in. As she stated, college for us women is a risk factor, we face a higher risk that our non-college peers, and that frighten me. After sitting and lecture and taking in all of the statistics, I reflected upon on myself, and everyone I know on this campus, and I could not leave behind the idea that perhaps one of them have gone through that. Nonetheless, as captured in Sexual Assault on Campus: A Multilevel, Integrative Approach to Party Rape by Elizabeth A. Armstrong, Laura Hamilton and Brian Sweeney focus on the high rates of sexual assault on college campuses. Based on their study, they show that sexual assault is a predictable outcome. They focus on the gendered process such as fraternity control every aspect of their parties, in terms of themes, admission, access to alcohol and even the movement of guests (617). On the other hand, women are expected to be nice and grateful guests. Therefore, this demonstrates the idea of power, and how is in control of who and this is what generates room for sexual assault. From a personal experience my freshmen year, I went out with a group of friends, nonetheless, once we got to the fraternity party they only allowed my female friends and I in, and the …show more content…
Nonetheless, it seems like they are contributing to sexual danger by allowing these individuals to do that, and simply ignoring the consequences. Going back to Heldman’s talk, she also brings up the idea the institution have a lot to do with reporting rate, and how they deal with such violent acts. However, she made it clear that institutions tend to underreport rape incidents as a way to not damage their reputations. This got me upset, because it already takes a lot to come out and describe/relive what happened and for the institution not to do anything about it makes me question if they really care about us, or if we are simply our tuition, that does not allow them to help those in need. Furthermore, exploring the topic of domestic violence and sexual harassment, in Gendering Violence: Masculinity and Power in Men’s Accounts of Domestic Violence by Kristin L. Anderson and Debra Umberson study examines the construction of gender within men’s accounts of domestic violence. This study characterizes gender as performance and how man attempt to construct their masculine identities through violence. This once again this reinforces the gender expectations that society has socialized us to believe that, one that paints men are dominant figures and
In the book Unsafe in the Ivory Tower; the Sexual Victimization of College Women, it is discussed how establishing one dedicated prevention method for sexual assault on college campuses may be difficult. This is due to not having accurate statistics on sexual assaults and also the assaults occurring behind closed doors with offenders being known to the victims. Establishing policy, awareness, and prevention programs may look good on paper and ease a parent’s mind about their kids going to college. However, these programs may be ignored or do not reach men who statistically are the violators. In the book the Unsafe in the Ivory Tower, the author states:
When it comes to sexual assault on college campuses there is also the question of what can colleges do to decrease the amount of sexual assaults. Bradford Richardson and Jon A Shields wondered the same thing, so they conducted an ...
“I felt his hands start to move down towards my shorts as if he was trying to unbutton them or pull them off. I was still crying at this point and felt so scared that I couldn’t move” (Henneberger, 2012). These are words written by a college freshman after she had been raped, but they are true for many others as well. According to the Rape Crisis Center of Medina and Summit Counties, “every two minutes someone in the US is sexually assaulted” (Get the Facts). “Girls ages 16-19 are four times more likely than the than the general population to be victims of sexual assault” (Get the Facts). These women may be described as slut, cheap, or ready for action, rather than victim, sufferer, or survivor. Rape myths encourage these demeaning terms for women and conceal the reality of rape culture. I will describe the pervasiveness of sexual assault on college campuses as well as the systems and procedures in place to address it. Power plays a role in this issue, including the powerful men on campus such as athletes and fraternity members as well as the administrators in power who regulate the punishments and actions that are taken against the perpetrators. The influence of those in power often goes overlooked in our society because it has become so intertwined with our culture.
To date, “between 10 to 40 percent of female students [. . .] have been raped while [. . .] up to 60 percent of males students [have] commit[ed] actions that meet the legal definition of sexual assault” (Bretz 19). This percentage demonstrates the ineffectiveness of university policies and signifies a drastic change to procedures is in order if educational institutions want to see improvement. In order to see an effective change, policies must “explicitly define key terms such as “‘consent’, ‘force’ [,]‘incapacity’ and cover [a] range of sexually violent behavior” (Gunraj 9). Furthermore, since the age of fourteen 58.7% of females “ha[ve] experienced one or more forms of victimization[. . .] 35.0% ha[ve] experienced at least one completed or attempted rape and 23.5% ha[ve] been raped” (Senn et. al. Results). First-year female students are not prepared for the perpetrators they will face on campus, and as a result, are more vulnerable to sexual violence. Universities need to develop effective policies and procedures to not only prepare women for the challenges they may face but to reduce the overall number of sexual assaults and make school a safer environment for
In "Fraternities and Collegiate Rape Culture" Ayres Boswell and Joan Z. Spade analyze the social perspective of the gendered relations in male fraternities that add to the high rate of violence against women on many college campuses. They list a host of factors that distinguish higher-risk from lower-risk atmospheres discussing the rates of rape in colleges and state how "1 out of 4 college women say they were raped or experienced an attempted rape" (217). Additionally, "1 out of 12 college men say they forced a woman to have sexual intercourse against her will" (Boswell, Spade 217). In other words Boswell and Spade indicated that the rates were high when it came down to women getting raped in colleges by men who also attended those colleges. In addition, Boswell and Spade specify in how most people are aware of rape but know very little about rape culture (Boswell, Spade 217).
According to a statement addressing the sexual victimization of college women The Crime and Victimization in America states that, “ One out of four women will be sexually assaulted on a college campus.” This disturbing fact has not minimized throughout the years, instead it is continuing to worsen throughout college campuses. Sexual assault is not an act to be taken lightly. Society must stop pinpointing the individuals who commit these crimes one by one, but rather look at the problem as a whole and begin to understand the main cause of sexual assault and possible methods to reduce these acts of sexual coercion.
About one in four women are victims of sexual assault in college, but there are ways to prevent this problem. The consequences of sexual assault are harmful and long-lasting and affect not only the victims but also their families and communities. Solutions to this problem _______. But, as Richard Edwards, chancellor of Rutgers-New Brunswick college said, “Regardless of the number, it’s a major problem, affecting our students and people all across the country and it has to be taken seriously” (5). If people work together, the steps can be taken to stop sexual assault in colleges.
Walking down the busy streets of Tempe, I found myself at the local CVS located on University and Mills Ave. As soon as I entered the store, I immediately began my search for the aisle that haunted my childhood set the social construction of gender within my pre-adolescent mind. It took me a while to locate the aisle, due to the simple fact that I am not fond of asking for assistance, for that is something men do not do. I could not help but notice the bright florescent light that guided my vision to a purple sign which encrypted “TOYS”. While looking at this adequately small assortment of toys, I unconsciously started to pace back and forth and eventually found myself sitting on the floor. I was stumped. I kept thinking, “What is this lady talking about? What gender binary? I am so confused!”. This particular assignment not only puzzled
The problem of sexual attack on college campuses, mostly appears in an atmosphere where group performance and acceptance is essential for the men involved. Sexual assault on a campus has become a very thoughtful issue in today’s generation. College has become one of the most dangerous places for young women in America today. A Rolling Stone Magazine presents the story of Jackie brutal assault that she was raped by her own date; including seven guys at frat party.
When I was chosen as one of three girls from my high school to attend Buckeye Girls State, I was ecstatic. Girls State was something that I had been looking forward to since 8th grade. Once I received the packet of information a few weeks before Girls State, I filled out the application to attend Girls Nation. At Girls Nation, two girls chosen from every state’s Girls State come together for a week in Washington, D.C. as “senators” where they debate bills and create laws within the “nation.” This had my name written all over it. After searching through every possible forum on the internet that related to Girls Nation, I came to the conclusion that it was impossible to be chosen for this prestigious honor. I remember being upset when I realized that Ohio’s Girls State program was one of the largest in the country, making it even harder to be chosen. I was still
One report by the U.S Department of Justice estimates that in a given nine-month academic year, about 3% of college women will be victims of attempted or completed sexual assaults on campus (Karjane, Fisher, and Cullen 2005). Women are often told that in order to attend fraternity parties, they need to dress according to the “theme”. This puts an idea in a girls mind that they need to dress scandalous and wear sexy clothing. Many women have admitted to not wanting to say anything about sexual assault or
There is a debate about who should investigate these cases. Most women don’t trust colleges to do anything about their attacks. According to the information released by the Obama Administration, 55 universities are being investigated for not handling sexual assault cases correctly (Rubin, 2014, pg.86). Those who do not think the school is capable of investigating their complaints believe they should be handled by the police departments. “This is best left to the police specialists trained for this work.
Social Construction of Gender is a process, stratification system and structure. The day to day interactions emphasize gender as opposites. Take for instance, conversations, formalities of daily life, sayings, and so on. The social construction of gender is created through social interaction – through the things we do and say with other people. This means that gender it is not a fixed or inherent fact, but instead it varies across time and place.
Society has planted a representation into people’s minds on how each gender is supposed to be constructed. When one thinks of the word gender, the initial responses are male and female but gender may be represented in many additional terms. As defined, “Gender refers to the social expectations that surround these biological categories.” (Steckley, 2017, pg.256) Gender is something that is ascribed,
It will be one of the luckiest things in the world if people could just do what they love in their careers, and pursue their dreams without any fears or worries about how society and others judge them. However, women in this society do not obtain the same rights that men own; many inequalities hinder women to live and work. From this class, I learned a lot about gender affects work, and women and men’ roles can be very different in the work. In many industries, even though women get same education and professional degrees as men do, they are hired at lower rates than men are. Many women meet glass ceilings and find it is hard to attain the highest status in the profession, and this causes the society locks women out of higher level