General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: The college class on avoiding rape. Please move on, nothing to see here. [View all]ElboRuum
(4,717 posts)I've been watching these threads with some interest, and finding myself puzzled with what is actually being argued about. Student safety should be something that should be discussed during orientation, so really, what's the issue here. I think I see the disconnect, finally.
I think the contention of all of this is that some people felt that a "how to avoid rape" portion of orientation is, in and of itself, a sensible thing. So would a "how to avoid the theft of your personal property", "how to avoid a physical attack", etc. However, the picture seemed to convey the message that her safety wasn't her specific responsibility, that the offense exists in that there was a suggestion in having a "how to avoid rape" portion of orientation indicates that somehow the university is prepared to accept rape as a part of campus life.
I think that's what started this whole fracas.
The problem with all of this is, those who say that her registering offense at having the "how to avoid rape" education rather than having the boys take a "Don't Rape" course have a point insofar as misdirected anger. The reason for that is singular.
That reason is that rape is a crime.
And that's where the disconnect is occurring.
The problem is that a rape awareness class conveys no information meaningfully, anymore than a "Don't Steal" class would. We fully expect people to know that theft is a crime, and we certainly wouldn't expect to have to tell a group of incoming freshmen not to steal things under the guise of a "theft awareness" class. People who are not thieves won't steal, and those who are will. A class would therefore be completely useless, conveying no information and having no effect on the amount of campus theft that occurs.
People who don't rape won't rape under any circumstance. They don't need the class. Rapists are fully aware of their criminal behavior and aren't given to caring about their victims. They are a waste of the class.
Of course people can control themselves, and "hormones" aren't nearly the coercive force that some people imagine them to be. That prefrontal cortex can put the kybosh on any undesirable primitive behavior no matter how strong, and a good thing too, otherwise we wouldn't have civilization.
Criminals just don't care to control themselves and care little for or believe that they won't be held accountable for the consequence. Criminals don't care that they hurt, and don't care to be responsible partners and friends.
This is the disconnect. Men aren't remedials. Rape has nothing to do with some mystical "uncontrollable impulse". All men know that rape is a crime. A criminal (rapist) just doesn't care. You aren't going to reduce rape by trying to educate a rapist any more than you are going to reduce murder by educating murderers or reduce theft by educating thieves.
The picture is, to some, a head shaker because of what I've presented here. It shows on the part of the subject a lack of understanding of the cause and effect of the situation. She actually got the best possible outcome by having the "how to avoid rape" tips during orientation.
Whether we choose to accept it or not, crime, not just rape, but all forms of crime, will always be a part of the human experience. The best we CAN do as a society at large is prosecute those who break the law after the fact, and forearm ourselves against becoming victims of said crimes before the fact.
Hope this does a little to clarify things, because quite honestly the amount of vitriolic disagreement and emotional invective with regard to this one picture is quite confounding.