The Badger Herald website was awash with comments, many angry, over David Hookstead’s most recent letter to the editor in which “The Creator” tells his fellow college-educated peers that “bad people exist.” He then proceeds to ramble about how rape isn’t bad, but it is, but smoking weed is bad too but no one cares, and women rape too. His structure is abysmal and his argument could easily be shredded, but I am not here to fight with David. (I’ve tried before. He blocked me on Twitter.)
I am here to defend the Herald. The anger at the editorial board many readers have expressed is misplaced. No matter how we feel about rape culture or Hookstead’s views, we must applaud Katherine Krueger and her team for choosing to publish something so controversial. As journalists, their job is, according to Wikipedia, to “write, collect and distribute news and other information.” They have done this for us. It is our job as readers to then vet the ideas we are given.
David has spoken about women’s issues in the past, often quite candidly. Instead of paraphrasing, I prefer to let his own tweets speak for themselves:
“I’ve noticed that the women that rag on me aren’t very good looking, and the ones that enjoy me are beautiful. Coincidence? I think not.”
“All these feminist women need to stop harassing me. Society doesn’t owe you anything or need to change for you. Read a history book.”
But my personal favorite?
“Worst/funniest pick up line I’ve ever heard: ‘How do I know we’re having sex later tonight? I’m stronger than you.’”
David Hookstead has made a name for himself on this campus by creating UW Confessions, a once-beloved social media phenomenon that has now grown tired. He subsequently used it as a platform to tweet his personal ideology, all while claiming to be a representative of the culture of the university. He has the right to his own opinions and the right to share them.
We also have a right to our own opinions — and the right to disregard his.
Quite frankly, it doesn’t matter what David Hookstead thinks about rape culture. His previous comments have shown us that not only is he sexist, tacky and cruel, he is someone who makes a mockery of rape, and is therefore a proponent of rape culture. It doesn’t matter what Hookstead thinks about rape culture, because he doesn’t know what rape culture is.
It’s time to stop getting so angry about the ludicrous things David is saying and start ignoring them. His attention-seeking rants have long overstayed their welcome. When he makes a legitimate contribution to campus, then we can start listening.
Ann Marie Steib ([email protected]) is a senior majoring in journalism and political science.
