What an ass. The PhD is “dismayed” that she thinks there’s a difference between rape and pressure to give oral sex. As if “rape culture” is a phrase we should know or care about.

No, Matthew. “Rape Culture” is nothing more than a term that some researchers coined to shock readers and gain some fleeting notoriety for their publication.

Great letter! The level of sexism in the UNC community (as demonstrated by DTH online comments) is appalling. Glad to see that some anti-sexist male allies are out there.

Thank you, Matthew, for your eloquent letter.

People have a right to disagree that we live in a rape culture, or even disagree that these incidents in question are a part of it. But please be informed about what you’re talking about before opening your mouth about it. Read a book, take a Women’s Studies class, or read a feminist blog. If you don’t understand the concept or the argument and do not care to, clearly the discussion is not for you.

@leefus & Jessica. Not buying into a horsesh!t line of reasoning /= sexism. This may come as a shock to you but social theories like the ones taught in Women’s Studies have no testable hypotheses. So your “Rape Culture” dogma rests on nothing more than the opinions of a group of academics who decided to agree with one another. If that’s all the evidence that you’re bringing to the table then you shouldn’t be upset when other thinking people challenge your assumptions.

Jessica,

When one is being accused of perpetuating a culture of rape, it is one’s right to defend himself, regardless of how many women’s studies classes that one has taken

@P. Morini. “Listen, I’m not joking. This is my job!”

The problem with rape culture is that it tries to box in what I see as general phenomena that negatively affect both sexes into a package that is completely one-sided. It has become increasingly apparent to me since coming to college that both sexes have unhealthy sexual philosophies and that there are widespread sexual views that damage each sex. For instance, how is all the fuss about penis size not sexually objectifying? As demonstrated by the Quote File, it is not only one sex that is vilified as a “whore” for sexual behavior outside of society’s accepted norms. For every joking comment that someone who gives frequent blow jobs in bed is a good girlfriend, there is a commercial advertising “medicines” for penis growth or male sexual dysfunction that ties a man’s self-worth to his sexual performance. Rape is probably one result of this sexual culture, but I think that one of the reasons why sexual assault is so one-way is simply the physical differences between the sexes. In my eyes, men have much more of an opportunity to express their negative sexual beliefs in an aggressive manner. For me, the Quote File, while also insultingly inane, is an indication that UNC students are not immune to this unhealthy sexual culture of today’s society, not that UNC students encourage rape.

@leafus alone Why don’t you try making a rational argument of your own, instead of just periodically decrying the “level of sexism in the UNC community” and accusing others of sexism while introducing absolutely no evidence for your claims?

Hi Matthew,

Great reply, but I think the point of my original letter wasn’t as clear as I had hoped and I’d like to clear that up.

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“Mainstream heterosexual pornography is but one example.”

interestingly enough, NO studies have found any positive correlation between pornography consumption and sexual violence. when a relationship is present, it tends to indicate that more porn actually leads to LESS sexual violence.

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PhD? Are you sure it’s not a B.S. degree? LOLOLOL

….you know what, I’m good. Let the academics use their proper definitions without regard to the social connotations of their words, and let the offend-menists use those same words as slurs against men. Let’s see how many men really want to help solve any of these problems after being antagonized for no other reason than having a penis and being born in a male-centric society. Feminists need to rethink their PR strategy because I think progress would be quite a bit quicker if they found a way to demonstrate the inequalities of society without simultaneously antagonizing the men who have never raped a woman nor viewed violence as sexy.

Mystic- Thank you for bringing up this point of alienation of men. I think it is vital to the success of the anti-violence movement.
I know that there are many male allies as well as people of all gender expressions who respect their partners and other individuals and do not condone violence. There are plenty of men who “never raped a woman nor viewed violence as sexy.”
In the past, feminists and anti-violence activists have not always discussed the issues of sexual assault and rape in beneficial ways. Gender differences were stressed, there were closed minds on both sides, and often space and language for real discussion was not available. As a feminist, I can tell you that one of the most important goals of my activism is to make feminism accessible and important to all people because changing our society to not support sexual assault and not participate in sexual violence mandates the involvement of everyone.
There are gender issues within sexual violence that must be addressed, however. Overwhelmingly, victims of sexual assault are women. Also- and often polarizing- overwhelmingly perpetrators of sexual violence are men. This is NOT to say that there are no survivors who identify as other than “female” and certainly NOT to say that all men are perpetrators. Obviously neither of these things are true. But, if we ignore the gender imbalance, we cannot address the power dynamics underneath the issue of sexual violence.
I know there is a long way to go on both sides- more feminists organizations could use language carefully, be more inviting instead of polarizing. More men could stand up as allies and announce publicly that they understand the need for consent and are against violence towards people. If you are concerned about the feminist voice, join the movement and be a liaison for other men! No one will tell you that the movement is perfect, but I think it is moving in a more positive direction by targeting potential bystanders instead of grouping men as potential perpetrators and women and potential victims. By addressing EVERYONE as a bystander, we can all understand the part we must play to end violence in our community and hopefully everywhere. Thanks again for your comment. I urge you to disregard any slurs that you might have heard and listen again for the changing words and voices of those seeking to end violence at UNC and the world.

@toxicfeminism God, I hope you are one of the people either on the Hill or talking to the people on the Hill because the movement towards equality requires by its very nature the kind of I-can-think-about-and-understand-both-sides-of-a-situation-without-insulting-the-other-side-while-still-maintaining-my-own-beliefs mentality that your post demonstrates. I’ll admit I am a little bit on the polar end of things, but when you start in the middle and the other polar end pushes on you, it is kind of hard not to head in the other direction. I mean people like Matthew, leafus, and Jessica make it so easy to not care at all about this issue. Frankly, I continue on with this issue because I do consistently vote for officials who have plans for stricter penalties and legislation to be enforced against rapists and sexual criminals, I do consistently treat the women in my life with respect, and I do keep up with a fair amount of the literature on both sides (despite being a scientist who has no practical use for this knowledge). However, in this spirit, I also don’t like to see the movement for the equal treatment and respect of women to be tarnished by poorly-developed and sophomoric arguments that rest upon the assumption that the people reading it either agree and are automatically right or disagree and are automatically evil. I respect Matthew’s perspective in a purely academic sense because as an academic myself, I fully recognize the need and power of using the correct words for correct situations. However, to underrate the connotations of a word, particularly one as strongly-charged as ‘rape’, seems a bit too reckless for my taste (For those of you crying hypocrisy, I don’t considered ‘freshman’ to be, by any measure, a strongly-charged word). Anyway, when a Prop or official stands out for taking action in the direction of greater equality, make sure to write a letter to the editor about it. It wouldn’t take any painted cubes or three-fold poster boards to get me out to vote for that.

I love the anti-intellectualism here. How dare professors broaden our understanding of society. Its like they think they have expertise or something!

The word feminism has been corrupted by conservative pundits, and not by the actions of feminists themselves. Sometimes rights movements make us uncomfortable. But the important thing is to learn about new ideas, and not reject them out of instinct. Abolitionists had the same language spewed at them, as did those for civil rights, and those for supporting workers and farmers, and its the same here.

@John Brown. LMAO.

@John Brown:

its = possessive
it’s = it is

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Jebus, who knew asking people to be informed about the position they are arguing against would cause such an outcry? I don’t think anyone that mentioned my comment even read it, beyond evaluating whether or not I agreed with the original letter.

i share your frustration jessica. i provided peer-reviewed research debunking the only concrete piece of evidence provided supporting the writer’s point, but to no avail. it’s a shame no one’s really interested in the facts.

Jessica, your comment assumes our opposition to the letter stems from ignorance of the topic, instead of an informed difference of opinion. The outcry against your call for understanding comes from the antagonistic way in which you make their implication, particularly when a fair number of us among the opposition (probably not LOL) have taken a Women’s Studies class and read studies/books on gender relations (blogs have a little ways to go before their legitimacy in academic dialogue can be seen).

Indeed. Feminist blogs? Don’t even get me started. SNARK SNARK SNARK

I HAVE A RAPE FETISH!

…Is there something wrong with me?

Mystic, while I also agree that those on the polar end tend to create animosity and disdain for feminism, I think you’re taking the value of women’s studies and its important social theories too lightly. While I am not attacking you, I find it disturbing that you “as a scientist, have no practical need for the subject.”

Even if you don’t use the information you learned in your women’s studies class in your particular field or career path, it is put into practical use for you.

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@BB. You’re right. Some things are not testable. That’s what makes the way that self-described “feminists” cling to their rape culture dogma so laughable.