The College Fix

OPINION: Rather than attacking the so-called rape culture, feminist organizations need to preach common sense solutions

Have you ever heard of SlutWalks?

It’s when women dress up in bras, panties, high heels and little else and parade around the streets demanding “no means no!” They’re very popular on campuses across the nation, and it’s one of feminists’ favorite ways to take on the problem of rape.

And while feminists rally against the objectification of women leading to a rape culture, they are the first to condone, and even create, pornography.

The hypocrisy of the left never ceases to entertain.

While there is a strong focus on changing the so-called campus “rape culture,” there is little offered in the way of creating or supporting innovative solutions or smart precautions to help prevent rape.

Feminists appear to believe that the only focus should be combating the “rape culture” to stop rapists from raping. To me, this is the same as saying we need to change the “murder culture” to stop criminals from killing. A nice sentiment, but woefully naive at best.

We should never blame the victim, but we should also focus on empowering women to make smart choices and utilize common sense, something many feminists groups fail to do.

In Germany, if you are driving with alcohol in your system and you get rear-ended, you are partially responsible for the accident. Here in the United States, if you choose to get belligerently drunk at that frat which is known to roofie and has 17 rape allegations that semester alone, you are partially responsible. Actions have consequences. There is no denying that.

Rather than attacking the so-called rape culture, feminist organizations need to preach common sense solutions.

The strongest growing segment of the National Rifle Association is young women. Feminist groups should be wholeheartedly embracing this. They should be bringing in shooting experts to train young women, and lobbying for more concealed-carry laws, especially for college campuses. There are many brave female students fighting for such rights – where’s the National Organization For Women or womyn’s studies professors fighting for those students?

I recall the terrible story of Amanda Collins, who was raped by gunpoint in a gun-free zone on her college campus. She owned a gun and had a concealed-carry permit, but her school was a gun-free zone. So she followed the law, and got raped.

The only organizations defending her and promoting her story were the National Rifle Association and conservative media outlets.

What’s worse is when Collins was, more recently, called out by a female Colorado state lawmaker, state Sen. Evie Hudak, who chided the rape victim and said a gun would not have made a difference.

Collins responded by saying, “Respectfully Senator, you weren’t there. Had I been carrying [a concealed weapon], he wouldn’t have known that I had my weapon. I know without a doubt in my mind, at some point I would have been able to stop my attack by using my firearm.”

Girl power!

Hudak represents a large segment of women who believe a call box is more empowering than a Glock. I will never understand why leveling the playing field and bringing power to the victim is bad. After all: “God created Men [and women], Sam Colt made them equal.”

Equally puzzling is the reaction from feminists when someone creates a preventative anti-rape measure.

Take AR Wear, for example, a line of shorts and workout pants that have a special dial on them which allows only the user to remove them. They’re made of a rip-proof and cut-proof nylon material.The line was meant as a measure to empower women and make them safer.

Feminists attacked the company for everything from not using plus-sized models (Feministing: “Are these thin, able-bodied, cis women the only kind of people who deserve not to be raped?”) to stating it would create a blame-the-victim type of mentality (Slate: “Then again, it beats explaining to mom, dad, and the local public defender why you failed to strap on your rape-deflecting bootie shorts”).

Sure, anti-rape wear may not appeal to everyone, but it’s great for those who find it helpful. Attacking and criticizing someone offering an honest preventative measure isn’t beneficial to a cause. If an organization is truly committed to combating rape, wouldn’t they welcome and support any measure, no matter how large or small?

And if they wanted to lessen the objectification of women, wouldn’t they be strongly fighting against pornography, especially child pornography (which to this day is a big problem), or at the very least – ceasing to create their own pornography?

College Fix contributor Annica Benning is a student at Arizona State University.

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