“(P)lease drop the ‘rape culture’ label because it’s an ugly label that our campus doesn’t deserve. At the very least, back up the use of this term with some evidence and convince me that our campus is as dangerous as these letters make it out to be,” Ohio Universty Senior Seth Miller asked in a letter published in Monday’s Post. On Wednesday, OU Senior Molly Risola responded, arguing that the events of Homecoming Weekend illustrated campus’ rape culture to her: “Ohio University is known for our community-based and family-like student body, yet … (s)tudents immediately jumped to slut-shaming, survivor-blaming, refusal to take rape accusations seriously.” Although Risola clarifies many aspects of the term “rape culture” about which Miller seems confused, I think there is still more to be said about this letter, as well as the wider misunderstanding of human rights, I feel, it represents.
My biggest problem with Miller’s letter, actually, is the last paragraph, in which he promises to “always stand by the golden rule of treating others the way you would like to be treated.” What Miller is saying, I assume, is that he does not consider himself to be a perpetrator of rape culture — someone who catcalls, makes rape jokes, touches people without their consent, disbelieves the stories of survivors, victim-blames, commits acts of sexual violence — and would not wish any of those evils upon anyone else.
Good for Miller. He’s passed Human Decency 1010.
The golden rule, although theoretically noble, is a flawed and incomplete ethic for those who truly believe in equality. To believe in meaningful social justice means that I must renounce my arrogant assumption that I know best for others and instead, treat them the way they would like to be treated.
Anti-rape culture activists are not simply demanding that people stop raping others. They ask that we expand our definition of sexual violence to realize that, although I might not think a rape joke is offensive, it can trigger real trauma for survivors and cast sexual violence as an acceptable punchline. F--k Rape Culture, like any other social justice movement, asks that we measure the consequences of our actions not by our own intentions but by those actions’ effects on those most vulnerable. Those who have been threatened by sexual violence get to decide whether rape culture exists or not — not Miller or anyone else privileged enough to not have noticed a problem.
Thanks for the suggestion, but I’ll keep using the phrase “rape culture,” whether it’s an “ugly label” or not. Stop staying gold, Ponyboy, because it’s time for the rules and language of privilege to change.
Bekki Wyss is a junior studying English literature and a columnist for The Post. Do you have thoughts of your own about the “rape culture” term? Email her at rw225510@ohiou.edu.
