Bright college days I went with my son to his college orientation on Saturday. He has enrolled at the local state university as a premed student, majoring in Psychology.
Yes, I'm proud.
But the reason I bring it up is not to praise him, but to damn the weakwilled pantywaisted sexist twerps running our college campuses (campusi?). During the orientation, there was a question and answer session for the parents. One woman asked about the incidence of sexual assault on campus. First, the campus security representative answered, saying that it was fairly rare, with approximately one incident per semester. He went on to say that although only one was reported, given the nature of the crime, he was certain that more went unreported. The rep for the campus counselors spoke next and got into the date rape discussion, saying that violent attacks were very rare, but date rapes were far more common. He said that they tried very hard to educate all of the students how to avoid that situation. He said specifically that they tried to teach the boys that "no means no" and that they should try not to get so drunk that they couldn't understand "no." Then he said, and this is as close to an exact quote as I can make it,"We also try and teach the girls, not that it is ever her fault [emphasis mine], to try and stay sober enough to be able to say no."
I was livid! Talk about a double standard! Basically, what he was saying, and what I explained to my son that night, was that if two kids got together, went out drinking and decided to have sex, if she decided the next morning that it was a bad idea, he was guilty of sexual assault. So when drinking, he is still held accountable for his actions, while she isn't. Somehow, this seems to violate equal treatment under the law.
Don't women realize how degrading this kind of crap is? I mean, look at it. What we are saying is that women are not as capable as men of being responsible for the decisions they make.
This whole thing is rooted in sexism because it views the sex act as something men do to women, rather than something men and women do together. Shouldn't we have grown out of that crap a long time ago?
Anyway, I've warned my son that, on the ETSU campus anyway, not only does NO mean NO, but YES can also mean NO if she decides later that she regrets her decision. I also warned him that, in the event that he decides to have sex anyway, to get her consent in writing, duly witnessed and notarized, followed by a three day cooling off period.
Safe sex is developing a whole new meaning......
Posted by Rich at April 22, 2002 2:58 AM