Just two weeks ago I wrote an article about the gravity of sexual assault. If you thought that a man dressed as a bottle of Roofies wasn’t enough to show that joking about sexual harassment is prominent in the United States, here is some more proof.
A great friend, Kappa Delta sister and fellow a cappella singer tagged me in a very concerning post on Facebook. The post was a rant from this friend about a festive holiday towel that she found in the storefront of a local (Charleston, S.C.) boutique. The towel featured a cute graphic of mistletoe and some not-so-cute words underneath: "Implied Consent."
Her post explained why the towel was so offensive, especially to a young woman like herself. She expressed that she wanted the store to remove it, as sexual harassment is nothing cute or funny to gain profit from. Many friends supported her -- some of which being victims of sexual harassment/assault. It was really reassuring seeing so many men and women maturely discussing the continuous issues of sexual assault. That is, until an Anthony Proia gave his input:
“In my humble opinion you gals just want something to be offended over. There is no rape culture.”
Seconds after that comment was posted, the post exploded into a firestorm satirizing Proia. People started making memes consisting of his face and continuously ignorant comments:
It is sad to see that people think that rape culture and sexual assault are some kind of opinionated topic. Facts are facts; the sad truth is that rape happens every day, but instead of living with it and having it “always happen just like murder will always happen just like theft will always happen just like crime will always happen,” we should spread the message to end it. It’s not a written rule that the world should accept sexual assault, murder, theft, or crime in general. In fact, all listed are immoral and illegal. I could go on and on about each of Proia's quotes, but I think that everybody reading them can analyze for themselves and realize how cringe-y each are.
Mr. Proia: I wish to live in a world someday where all of the things I listed do not exist. I hope that we can think of all of sexual assault, murder, theft and general crime as something as unreal as a leprechaun. But before that happens, we all need to realize how real issues like sexual assault are, and instead of embroidering and promoting it on a cute Christmas towel we should attempt to end it.