I appreciate the courage it took to publish David Hookstead’s letter “‘Rape culture’ does not exist.” I also appreciate your thoughts on Twitter that the letter is “a pertinent reminder that there’s still much work to be done” and your invitation for responses. You are right; there is much work to be done, but please allow me to offer some history as a former student on where we used to be.
In 2005, Wisconsin was the only state in the nation where alcohol was not considered an intoxicant for sexual assault. A victim could be stumbling, falling or blacking out, but, if not completely unconscious, a sexual attack at that point would not lead to sexual assault charges. Luckily, the Wisconsin Legislature was considering a bill to close this gap, and as a fraternity man and a student leader, I appeared at an informal legislative briefing in support of the change.
On the way to the state Capitol for the briefing, I stopped by a poster store on State Street, hoping I’d find some cultural examples I could show at the briefing. Among the delicate mix of humor and objectification (e.g., “Beer: helping ugly people have sex since 1862!”), I sadly did find some “gems” that tied alcohol to sexual assault. The one that I unrolled for the legislature was a poster with a picture of a woman being handed a shot with the caption, “If at first you don’t succeed, give it another shot,” (the “it” being the woman in the picture). Another essentially copied the mathematical quip “50 No’s + 1 Yes = Yes.”
The culture these posters highlighted was shocking. These posters hung in University of Wisconsin dorm rooms and apartments and exemplified the culture that existed. Compare that culture with UW being named the #1 party school, and the issue rose from significant to urgent. Luckily, within the year, Wisconsin would pass 2005 SB 526, classifying alcohol as an intoxicant for sexual assault.
Fast forward to today, and ask yourself if the culture is any better. Websites, media and entertainment constantly make the joke that a good way to get laid is to give a girl more booze and occasionally this “joke” becomes reality. The culture this promotes is one where it is acceptable for men to keep aggressively pursuing sexual dominance over women, even if that entails intoxication (and, let’s be honest, men are overwhelmingly the perpetrators here.)
Despite Mr. Hookstead’s thoughts, this culture does exist. I hope the effect of this culture is dwindling, but we owe it to ourselves to recognize it, accept it and change it rather than deny its existence. Mr. Hookstead’s arguments that other crimes occur or that women sometimes assault men are red herrings that deny the true issue (for note, his argument that a close male friend was assaulted read like an “I have a black friend” excuse.) We need to be aware of the culture we promote, because only then can we constructively work to correct our societal ills.
Austin Evans ([email protected]) is a UW alumnus (BA ’05).
