The Other McCain

"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up." — Arthur Koestler

‘Pervasive Culture of Sexual Violence’

Posted on | March 19, 2014 | 46 Comments

No, that’s not a description of the Republican Party. It’s about one of the most famous bastions of liberalism in America:

Thirty-one current and former UC Berkeley students filed two federal complaints against the university [Feb. 26] alleging a decades-long pattern of mishandling sexual assault investigations by campus administrators.
The complaints allege that officials for years have discouraged victims from reporting assaults, failed to inform them of their rights and led a biased judicial process that favored assailants’ rights over those of their victims.
The reports were filed with the U.S. Department of Education, which investigates violations of Title IX, the federal anti-discrimination law, and the Clery Act, a federal law that requires campuses to accurately report incidents of serious crimes, including sexual assault. . . .
“Neither the Department of Education nor UC Berkeley have made the efforts necessary to address the pervasive culture of sexual violence on our campus,” said Sofie Karasek, a third-year student who is among those named in the complaints. “This is not only disappointing; it is also dangerous for the students who attend college here, and is representative of a larger problem: the federal government is not adequately enforcing its own laws.”

Is this elite liberal institution really Rape City, U.S.A.? Far be it from me to defend Berkeley, but K.C. Johnson is skeptical:

Anyone who follows the contemporary media closely is doubtless familiar with the suddenly ubiquitous phrase “rape culture.” In the context of higher education, the phrase implies two interlocking beliefs. First: despite crime statistics showing sexual assault (as well as all violent crimes) to be very uncommon on campus, colleges and universities are, in fact, hotbeds of rape (but not, it appears, of all other violent crimes). Second: despite the fact that most college faculties and nearly all administrations are extraordinarily sympathetic to the activists’ position on gender issues, the campus culture over which these figures preside nonetheless–somehow–actually encourages the prevalence of rape at college.
That little, if any, evidence exists to sustain either of these beliefs has not deterred the “rape culture” believers; if anything, the lack of evidence for their claims appears to have emboldened them.

(Hat-tip: Donald Douglas at American Power.) This touches on a point I made last year about “Slut Walk”:

What people used to mean by the word “rape” has been revised in recent decades because of college women complaining about date rape. The rhetoric of SlutWalk activists — “No means no!” — is obviously not directed at the lurking sociopath, the knife-wielding career criminal who pounces from ambush in darkened alleys. Rather, feminist harangues about the meaning and importance of consent are directed at otherwise law-abiding men who don’t cope appropriately with sexual rejection.
Nowhere is this problem more widely decried than at America’s colleges and universities. Date rape is an apparently common campus crime that usually involves two drunk young people, one of whom has an erect penis, and the other of whom is unable to avert what the erect penis typically does. In addition to drunkenness and erect penises, college campuses are also the natural habitat of feminists, who control Women’s Studies departments. The rhetoric of the SlutWalk movement is familiar to anyone who has paid any attention to the rhetoric of campus feminists about date rape, which has now become official dogma.

If you subtract alcohol from the equation, you’d have a lot less of this problem, but the simple fact is that morning-after regrets about drunken sex almost always involve a he-said/she-said situation where it is practically impossible to prove rape. Yet if you offer the best possible advice to prevent such occurrences — “Stay sober and keep your britches on, darling” — this is denounced as “slut-shaming” and “victim-blaming,” and you’re a hateful misogynist.

“Rape culture” hysteria is “mostly man-hating agitation . . . the forefront of the radical feminist agenda,” as Donald Douglas notes, pointing out that a Ms. magazine article on the topic is written by two lesbian professors at Occidental College, Caroline Heldman and Danielle Dirks. Are lesbians really best qualified to advise us on rape prevention? Aren’t they against all PIV? Oh, wait . . .

 

Category: Crime, Education, Feminism, Sex

Comments

46 Responses to “‘Pervasive Culture of Sexual Violence’”

  1. Political Rift » ‘Pervasive Culture of Sexual Violence’
    March 19th, 2014 @ 6:35 pm

    […] Robert Stacy McCain No, that’s not a description of the Republican Party. It’s about one of the most famous […]

  2. EyesOnPolitics
    March 19th, 2014 @ 6:47 pm

    Someone has to say this. Thank you for saying it.

  3. marew
    March 19th, 2014 @ 6:49 pm

    Wait, Ms. magazine is still in print?

    WTF reads it?

  4. K-Bob
    March 19th, 2014 @ 7:07 pm

    The classic, western handshake soon to be filed under rape, no doubt.

    Sodomizing your roommate after slipping him some roofies will of course remain as “artistic expression.”

  5. MominNV
    March 19th, 2014 @ 7:08 pm

    FUCK YOU, atwin!

  6. Chemman01
    March 19th, 2014 @ 7:21 pm

    31 current and former UC Berkley students file a charge of a decades long pervasive culture of sexual violence on campus.

    The 2013 total enrollment was 35,900 students. Assuming a someone lower enrollment average of 30,000 per year for at least 20 years (decades) that is 600,000 students. I don’t see the pervasive in 31 out of 600,000 students.

  7. slp
    March 19th, 2014 @ 7:39 pm

    Occidental College?

    Its such a small, small world.

    Monday Patterico had a report about a LA Times reporter and sexual assault reporting at Occidental.

    http://patterico.com/2014/03/17/l-a-times-reporter-is-fired-was-previously-criticized-by-patterico-for-repeated-false-characterizations-in-dna-articles/

  8. RS
    March 19th, 2014 @ 7:53 pm

    I have printed off a raft of articles about college kangaroo courts involving alleged sexual improprieties and handed them to my son. Aside of advice similar to “stay sober and keep your pants on,” I’ve basically told him to trust no women, especially drunk women, while he’s in school and avoid anything which can be deliberately misconstrued against him. The good news is he heading to an engineering school and darned few of the females in attendance there are going to be the subject of Rule 5 posts anytime soon.

    (I await denunciation for the last sentence in the preceding paragraph.)

  9. Bob Belvedere
    March 19th, 2014 @ 8:01 pm

    I will not denounce you, but I will mildly chastise…

    While many of the gals who attend engineering schools might not be attractive, I bet many are beautiful.

    ‘Beauty is Truth’, said the poet, with all the implications that statement brings.

  10. Zohydro
    March 19th, 2014 @ 8:14 pm

    I think we have a plan…

    http://legalinsurrection.com/2014/03/california-seeks-to-redefine-consensual-campus-sex-as-rape/

  11. Dana
    March 19th, 2014 @ 8:19 pm

    Reading the article, it’s clear that men will have to videotape each and every sexual encounter, to insure that they can prove that the young woman in question did indeed say “yes,” verbally. The regulations presume guilt unless it can be proved that unambiguous verbal consent was obtained.

  12. Quartermaster
    March 19th, 2014 @ 8:21 pm

    A guy I work with is a grad of UM Rolla. One of his classmates he describes “anatomically female.” That’s about the best he could do. I had three female classmates in Engineering School. Only one was what I would classify as attractive. The unattractive women had fiances at graduation. The other was a year behind me, so don’t know what happened to her, but she was quite attractive physically. She, however, was an exception in my experience.

  13. Quartermaster
    March 19th, 2014 @ 8:24 pm

    So, I guess, you’re saying women should say “we’re all Belle Knox?”

    Denunciation in abeyance until investigation complete.

  14. Dana
    March 19th, 2014 @ 8:24 pm

    Consider yourself thoroughly denounced! The women who choose engineering majors are almost exclusively white and Asian, which means that you have made a raaaaacist statement!

    But your advice to him is excellent, especially the stay sober part.

  15. Dana
    March 19th, 2014 @ 8:34 pm

    A male and female student go out and consume some quantity of alcohol, before retiring to her dorm room. Both being of completely normal sexuality — phraseology used to annoy Anamika — they begin to come physically active, at which point the young woman, unaware that all penis-in-vagina sex constitutes rape, gets on top of her male companion, guides his one-eyed trouser snake into her tender feminine orifice whilst screaming, “Fornicate me, big boy!”

    However, while it is obvious that she has said yes, there is no record that he gave verbal consent. Both being somewhat intoxicated, they neglected to use contraception, and the intoxicated young lady, some three weeks later, is saying, “Oh, feces!” as she looks at the symbol on the device she just held in her urine stream.

    Now, because she failed to get his affirmative, verbal consent, she cannot initiate legal action for child support, because she would have to admit that she raped the young man in question.

  16. RS
    March 19th, 2014 @ 8:35 pm

    UM-Rolla: f/k/a Missouri School of Mines & Metallurgy. My dad was a graduate of the Class of 1942 in EE.

  17. RS
    March 19th, 2014 @ 8:37 pm

    I don’t disagree with you. I just want him to focus on his studies and eliminate extraneous distractions.

  18. Dana
    March 19th, 2014 @ 8:38 pm

    Shush! Doing the math is sexist, and I denounce you!

  19. Dana
    March 19th, 2014 @ 8:43 pm

    Whilst we’ve all heard of LUGs (lesbians until graduation), enabling collegiate women to enjoy sex without having to worry about the interactions with men, pregnancy and what not, I’m certain that young men would not be as willing to become FUGs, to avoid the complications with women.

  20. Dana
    March 19th, 2014 @ 8:45 pm

    Quartermaster wrote:

    One of his classmates he describes “anatomically female.”

    Just how closely did he check?

  21. Quartermaster
    March 19th, 2014 @ 8:45 pm

    MY son got his BSEE from UMR, but his MSEE from MST. They changed their name again, and didn’t ask anyone. Just did it. Made my son and a lot of the alumni mad and they’ve been refusing donations since.

  22. Dana
    March 19th, 2014 @ 8:47 pm

    I might denounce this, if only I could understand it.

  23. Quartermaster
    March 19th, 2014 @ 8:49 pm

    He showed me a pic of her in his alumi mag, and I wouldn’t have wanted to check very closely. I seriously doubt he did either.

  24. RS
    March 19th, 2014 @ 8:58 pm

    Well, I know. My Dad was ticked off when they changed it to UMR. My son will just have to deal with MOS&T.

  25. RS
    March 19th, 2014 @ 9:04 pm

    The delicious irony of this is that the Biblical Injunction against premarital sex is now confirmed to be the smartest course of action for young college students. Thank you Left Wing Nihilists for confirming my parental admonitions!

  26. Dana
    March 19th, 2014 @ 9:10 pm

    Maybe she’ll grow up to be First Lady!

    http://ionehellobeautiful.files.wordpress.com/2009/01/michelle-obama-teenager1-11.jpg

  27. RS
    March 19th, 2014 @ 9:11 pm

    Oooh, oooh! I get to denounce someone!!!!

  28. Quartermaster
    March 19th, 2014 @ 9:23 pm

    Sadly, the pic was from her younger days and was in her obituary.

    I denounce you for that pic! What cruelty to foist that upon us unsuspecting victims.

  29. Quartermaster
    March 19th, 2014 @ 9:24 pm

    The change to UMR made some sense at least. They changed the name this time giving an excuse that was a lie and really didn’t make much sense either. At least UMR reflected the fact that it was mostly geology and mining training.

  30. Wombat_socho
    March 19th, 2014 @ 9:26 pm

    Nice theory. 99% sure it won’t hold up in court.

  31. Zohydro
    March 19th, 2014 @ 9:32 pm

    Wombaticus Rex! Where’ve you been, old bean?

  32. Cube
    March 19th, 2014 @ 9:35 pm

    Of course it won’t hold up. When dealing with government, anything that is in your favor didn’t happen unless you have it in writing that it did. However, anything that is against you happened unless you have it in writing that it didn’t. Heads government wins, tails you lose. Quite a racket, eh?

  33. RS
    March 19th, 2014 @ 9:35 pm

    Wombaticus.

  34. maniakmedic
    March 19th, 2014 @ 9:58 pm

    “If you subtract alcohol from the equation, you’d have a lot less of this problem…”

    You know what would also make this problem far less likely? If people would keep their respective junk in their firmly buttoned and zipped pants and weren’t constantly humping each other like rabbits in a mating frenzy. But hey, what do I know? I’ve been assured repeatedly by my “intellectual betters” that abstinence is a fantasy and that teaching kids not to throw their crotch at the first (or even second!) person that smiles at them when they hit puberty is somehow keeping them from learning about their sexuality. I guess my whole life has been one big lie if that is the case, as abstinence has worked well for me (look ma, no STDs!). And oddly enough, I didn’t need to go around experimenting with anybody at all to figure out what I find incredibly attractive and desirable in a mate. One important characteristic being that they haven’t introduced their “boys” to every skirt their beer goggles rated a 5 or better.

  35. Dave R
    March 19th, 2014 @ 10:00 pm

    Eh. Most healthy young women can look pretty good to your average engineering school student if they want to (I say this having acquired a computer science degree from an engineering school some fifteen years ago), and young women smart enough to be studying engineering or a hard science may well be worth getting to know.

  36. JeffS
    March 19th, 2014 @ 10:19 pm

    Being an engineer, I must point out that women like engineering students, especially as they get closer to graduation and employment, IYKWIMAITTYD.

    Oh, and stay away from the frats with a reputation for partying.

    Other than that, sound advice.

  37. Chemman01
    March 19th, 2014 @ 10:24 pm

    what do you expect from a middle aged white male science major. 🙂

  38. Rob Crawford
    March 19th, 2014 @ 10:41 pm

    Oppression.

  39. G Joubert
    March 19th, 2014 @ 10:57 pm

    And that’s at Berkeley, a liberal bastion. I wonder what we’d get if we ran the same numbers on Hillsdale College for the same time period.

  40. darleenclick
    March 19th, 2014 @ 11:41 pm

    “Rape culture” is a meme in support of Female Supremacy. Note that actual rapists will not be deterred by demonstrations, college kangaroo courts, speech codes, etc; any more than criminals are deterred by the “gun culture” Leftists trying to strip law-abiding citizens of their power of self-defense.

    This isn’t about anything but raw power.

  41. Chemman01
    March 20th, 2014 @ 12:52 am

    You’d be lucky if you could count it on one finger.

  42. Chemman01
    March 20th, 2014 @ 12:55 am

    🙂

  43. librarygryffon
    March 20th, 2014 @ 9:04 am

    It’s even more likely that the girls are just as attractive, but don’t see any reason to spend half (or more) of their money and energy on trying to look and behave like a Kardasian.

    Right now I’m trying to explain to my 12th grade aspie daughter that you can wear make up with out looking “made-up”, something she is actively interested in NOT looking like.

  44. Quartermaster
    March 20th, 2014 @ 1:22 pm

    Tovarisch! You would denounce mom? I bet you’d denounce Apple Pie too! Just so long as you don’t denounce Vodka.

  45. Bob Belvedere
    March 20th, 2014 @ 7:27 pm

    Power and Control.

  46. FMJRA 2.0: Voting 4 Chikin : The Other McCain
    March 22nd, 2014 @ 10:12 pm

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