It hit me when my friend and I were sharing stories one night at school. We both realized we had too many accounts of guys acting aggressively towards us, even from a young age. There is a problem with the way women are often treated, and so there must be something wrong with the way that we are viewed. We are certainly not equated with males. The Brock Turner case proves that even the law is complaisant with men's desires over women's, no matter how unwanted and vial they might be. It's a disgusting notion to be subject to, and if you're a girl over the age of 13, you've probably experienced some form of sexual misconduct at least once.
I go to a university that receives a fair amount of attention on social media, ranking "top 10 this" or "number one that." We hold ourselves to high standards at Syracuse University; academically, athletically and socially. It seems odd to me then that the men of this university cannot seem to hold themselves to higher standards sexually or morally, for that matter. One article from syracuse.com, titled "Study: Campus Rape an 'Epidemic' for Freshmen at Unnamed Upstate NY University," revealed that 15 percent of women said they had been victims of rape or attempted rape during their first year at school. Even scarier, 37 percent of women polled had been the victim of rape or attempted rape beginning at age 14 and ending after their freshmen year of college. Though the university was not identified, the photo for the article ironically shows a picture of students at Syracuse University enjoying their annual Mayfest celebration. Additionally, SU has received quite a bit of media attention lately for the University's handling of reported sexual assault and rape cases.
"Rape" — the word should make anyone uncomfortable, and yet it's all too relevant in our society. A google search of the word that I hoped would result in some sort of legal definition instead revealed a news headline from two hours ago: "Georgia Policeman Charged With Raping Woman on Way to Jail," so I guess we can't trust the law anyways. Now I only wonder if he'll serve his full sentence... While the legal definitions of sexual assault and rape vary from state to state, I think we all can agree that any nonconsensual, sexual act should be prohibited and is just plain wrong.
More than anything though, I find it to be incredibly frustrating and unfair. Think about it this way: your buddy offers you a plate of beets. You're not hungry and you don't like beets either so you politely decline. You're confused when he offers again. "No, I don't want any beets," you tell him, wondering what he doesn't understand. He comes back with the beets, except this time they're chopped, or sliced, or maybe he only brings back half of one for you. He tries to hand you the plate. You feel insulted and become increasingly annoyed, repeatedly tell him "no." But he keeps pushing the plate at you and you don't know why. You start to wonder if this guy is really your buddy at all.
Insert any gamut of sexual activity in the place of beets and thats sexual harassment. Now, imagine that this guy starts to forcibly feed you the beets against your will—obscene right?— that's rape. Only the beets probably won't bring you physical or emotion trauma. The beets won't scar you for the rest of your life. It's unfortunate that this analogy isn't enough to properly verbalize the fear, helplessness and shame you really feel when faced with sexual harassment, assault or rape. But hopefully, it can give you perspective on just how heinous these scenarios are.
Words aren't merely enough to make change, however, and we know this because "no" so often fails us. We have a problem across our college campuses, across this country and across the globe. The solution clearly isn't within the law, or within the educational system, it is within us. We must hold ourselves accountable and raise our expectations of ourselves (or please lower them if you're a perpetrator). Don't be that guy shoving his beets everywhere. Have some respect for yourself and for others, because the real world isn't full of hypothetical vegetables, its full of real people who look and feel just like you and me.
