In light of the recent event with Brock Turner, the Stanford swimmer who raped a woman, many opinions are swarming the internet. With this event occurring, it has brought rape into daily Facebook posts and tweets. There are constant posts about prevention for women, numbers to call for help, rape statistics, and many other topics regarding sexual assault floating around social media. With all of this around it makes the question pop up, Why are women still being sexualized in a supposedly "equal" culture?
Women are sexualized on a daily basis: walking in the street, in class, at work, going shopping, and essentially everywhere they go. This has become a normal part of our culture, but why do we accept it? Sexual assault against women is the only crime that we question what the victim did to provoke it. The questions such as did she accept a free drink from him, were her clothes provocative, did she lead him on, did the “no”actually mean yes. It is dependent on the women to prevent their own sexual assault. Women are judged on their clothing and if it is revealing, she is often "asking for it." This is sexualizing a woman who may have just worn that dress because she felt pretty in it, not because she was asking for it. We have to be vigilant at all times when out because if we are assaulted we’re asked why we were walking alone and become another statistic.
Upworthy recently posted a video on their Facebook page regarding sexual assault. In the video two people are discussing the murder of James. While the two are talking it is asked what he was wearing, was he drinking at the party, and if the family was ashamed that it happened to him. It is brought up that if he wasn’t wearing such a revealing outfit he might not have been attacked. “Whether its sexual assault or murder it’s not the victims fault” (Upworthy). We do not blame murder victims for what happened to them, we do not say they were definitely asking for it, or blame the victim. Although, murder and sexual assault are in entirely different categories the message is the same: The victim is not to blame. Yet, in sexual assault we still often blame the victim.
In schools women are not allowed to show their shoulders because it distracts the boys from their education. What about the woman’s education? She is often pulled out of class asked to change, call home for a change of clothes, or even sent home because it is too distracting to show your shoulders in an educational environment. Shoulders are too disruptive for boys when trying to learn, but it’s not disruptive to the woman’s learning when she is ripped away from the classroom because of her shoulders. No, this is totally not disruptive at all.
I want to be able to show my shoulders in a learning environment, I want to be able to walk alone without the fear of being attacked, I want to be able to walk in a public space without men slurring sexual comments at me, and I do NOT want to be sexualized because I am a woman. We are so concerned with teaching women to be careful, walk in pairs, dress appropriately, but what about teaching men to respect women. We put it all on the women, it’s about damn time it is taught to the men not to attack women, not to make inappropriate comments about them, to know that YES means YES and NO means NO. It’s time to stop sexualizing women and it’s time to teach the men not to take the things we do as sexual.
