What if bear attacks killed one in five people?
That is the premise of a recently released public service announcement video as a part of the "It's On Us" campaign put forward by the White House.
The video, produced by College Humor, uses the reality of the statistic that one in five female students will experience sexual assault by the time they graduate, and puts it in to a less likely and seemingly ridiculous situation: a bear attack.
The video centers around five male friends, all star-studded actors appearing in the television series "New Girl," hanging out in a garage. Everything appears to be normal, until eventually, Rob Riggle's character discovers that an angry bear has been locked inside of the house.
Jake Johnson, who plays the owner of the house, does not appear to be bothered by his friend's panic about the bear, making claims such as "just pretend it's not there," "I don't know what to do about it so I just ignore it," "it's not going to eat all of us, it only eats one in five," "bears will be bears," and "what happens between you guys and the bear is none of my business," playing off of the similar excuses that are often heard in the case of sexual assault.
After the chaos of the video ensues, the clip ends with the statement "you wouldn't put up with that. So don't put up with this: 1 in 5 women will be sexually assaulted by the time they finish college. Do something about it." Leaving the viewer with a chilling end to a normally funny College Humor video.
The creators of this video have brought an incredible amount of light to a situation that needs to be addressed. Time and time again, college campuses that have a history of a 'rape culture' turn to victim blaming as an explanation for the assault. Victim blaming happens nearly every day on campus. I am told that I should not walk home alone after dark and should not listen to music, because I am more vulnerable if I do. Am I to blame if someone attacks me?
I am told that I should not wear certain things or drink too much on a night out, so I am to blame if someone slips something in my drink?
Every time I go to the bathroom in Ballantine Hall, I see a flyer giving me tips on how to avoid getting raped. Is it my fault if I end up getting raped? I mean, I was well-informed by those bathroom flyers.
This is all wrong. The problem lies not with the one in five college women who are victims of sexual assault, the problem is with the predators inflicting this harm on those women. We need to stop blaming the victim and letting the predator go with a shrug and saying "boys will be boys."
Rape culture has become such an expected part of college that people often disregard it, normalizing it as something that is inevitable and out of our hands. However, it doesn't have to be this way.
I'm tired of being told what I should and shouldn't do to avoid being sexually assaulted. I'm tired of being fearful to go anywhere or do anything without thinking about the risks it may hold. Instead of teaching girls how to lock themselves in a bubble so that they are never touched, maybe we should be teaching boys why it is so wrong to touch them in the first place.
Until we all become responsible for the rape culture and make an effort to change it, one in five women will still be sexually assaulted in college.
If one in five people were victims of bear attacks, there would be a national crisis and a bear population control would be put in place.
Take the pledge against sexual assault at http://itsonus.org.
