www.theotherpress.ca

OPINIONS.

 

Did we forget that rape still happens?

   

S] ‘g

Frosh chants Just graze
the issue of rape culture

 

By Angela Espinoza, Arts Editor

uring the week of

September 2, known as
Frosh week for many Canadian
schools, an incident at the
University of British Columbia
(UBC) occurred where Frosh
leaders led students in a pro-
rape chant. Since then, faculty
and students have commented
on how appalled they are with
the situation, and how it’s never
going to happen again; but
while researching for this story,

I discovered that an almost
identical incident happened
in Nova Scotia at Saint Mary’s
University in the same week.

At Saint Mary’s, the chant
occurred openly on a crowded
football field. Saint Mary’s
Students Association President
Jared Perry has stepped down
following multiple interviews.
In a press conference on
September 5, Perry said that
he'd taken part in the chant
before and that, while he regrets
his participation in the chant,
some students “are confused,
some have said they don’t think
the chant is wrong or that they
didn’t think twice about saying
it.”

At UBC, the chant occurred
on a crowded bus—only the
Frosh leaders were stern with
students to not let anyone
know the chant took place, as
a disturbing article from the
campus’ student newspaper the
Ubyssey pointed out.

All students who partook
in these chants—male students,
female students, and especially
the leaders—should be ashamed

of themselves. I don’t feel like
I’m some nagging finger-wagger
saying that; I am absolutely
shocked and disgusted
something like this would

take place anywhere, let alone
multiple university campuses.
Apparently both chants at both
campuses had been going on for
years; the case with UBC is more
unsettling given that the leaders
wanted to do the chant, but in
secret.

I understand if the students
involved felt peer-pressured to
join in, and J also understand if
students convinced themselves
that because the chant might
have been a joke, it justified
the wording. I understand
because up until two years
ago, around the time J turned
20, I didn’t start to really hear
what I was saying when I made
sexual assault jokes—and I’ve
made many. There eventually
came a point where I would
make a joke and instantly feel
disappointed with myself; “Why
did I just say that?” was always
the first thought. The jokes were
a bad habit I brought with me

from high school, and the main
reason | stopped I can attribute
to maturity, but also fear.
“What if this happened
to me?” was a thought that
crossed my mind often as I got
older. Although I would prefer
to not go into detail, I have
experienced sexual assault since
then, and it’s something that I’ve
had a lot of trouble coming to
terms with. But if nothing else,
I’m glad I began thinking about
how assault or rape would
affect me before anything of that
caliber happened, and not after.
Going back a few years,
justifying sexual assault jokes
was a way for me to convince
myself the issue wasn’t that
prevalent, and I’m sure a
number of those students, and
maybe even the leaders, felt
the same way. In the last year
though, from discussing the
topic of sexual assault and rape
with various women in my
life, I’ve been heartbroken to
hear just how many, especially
now, have been subjected to
sexual violence. Verbal abuse
from strangers, outright sexual

abuse from family and friends,
assault in the form of aggressive
grabbing, and rape, sometimes
repeated. What hurt most

about learning all of this is that
I’ve heard these stories from
multiple women, not just one
who “was in the wrong place at
the wrong time,” or some other
bullshit excuse.

The issue with these chants
is not that every student who
partook will go out and start
raping young women. The issue
is that we are currently living
in a culture that’s willing to tell
people rape happens, and that
it’s wrong, but not what defines
rape and just how traumatic the
experience can be. A passerby
of either sex will frequently tell
you rape is “wrong,” but that’s
about as specific as people get.
Rape is any form of one person
being subjected to unwanted or
non-consensual sex by another
person. Rape doesn’t always
happen in some gritty alley
where rat-like men grab women
in the night, and people need to
get that stereotype out of their
heads.

 

Twisted masculinity

A response to ‘Toxic
Masculinity

 

By Idrian Burgos, Columnist

The problem isn't too much
masculinity, but a mistaken form of
masculinity.

here are a few things the

August 6 article “Toxic
masculinity” gets right. It’s
true that the current masculine
stereotype does more harm to
men than good. It confines them
to an image that takes most
of their energy to maintain,
and which may harm them
in the long run. It’s also true
that social, economic, cultural,
and educational factors play
important but underrated roles
in the maintenance of this image
and the patriarchal system; one
can even include the media as
an important factor. While the
article is correct in identifying
some of the causes behind
destructive forms of masculinity,
it left out a few details.

The article argues that
present gender imagery
prevents males and females
from expressing their true
selves. The image of the tough

and self-reliant male inhibits
men from expressing sensitive
and caring characteristics, while
the image of the caring and
loving female stops women
from showing strong and hardy
characteristics. Such images
help in shoring up patriarchy,
which still affects society today,
for all the advances in gender
equality. The solution to this
problem is to challenge these
stereotypes; we need to reinvent
the masculine image to give it

rise and prevalence of liberty
and individualism, and the
consequent decline and erosion
of traditional collectivist norms
and beliefs that guided and
instructed humanity before
modernity.

Pre-modern society was
of a collectivist nature where
social-oriented beliefs and
practices guided the actions
of people, men and women
included. People adhered to
values such as honour, duty,

the community when tragedies
happen. While it’s true that
social and gender inequality
existed during those times and
men used their higher position
to the disadvantage of women,
it’s also true that emphasis
during those times wasn’t

on equality itself but on the
“common good.” Society was
seen as an organic entity, where
each position in that society
serves the good of everyone
there. “Macho” characteristics

Ihe truth is that neither the popular macho stereotype nor the prescribed
compassionate image really helps in dealing and resolving the issue of
contemporary masculinity.

a more humane dimension and
start a wide discussion that will
help in creating a more genuine,
healthier, and more equal
gender binary.

The truth is that neither the
popular macho stereotype nor
the prescribed compassionate
image really helps in dealing
with and resolving the issue
of contemporary masculinity.
Both the problem and
solution presented in the
article are products of the

devotion, courage, and loyalty.
Men led their households and
communities for the welfare and
benefit of their households and
communities, just as women
served in the latter for the

same reason. Males believed in
principles that emphasized the
welfare of all and responsibility
to others. Male strength and
stoicism served as important
tools for the maintenance

of a healthy and thriving
community, and for helping

were oriented to common
welfare.

This old-fashioned concept
of masculinity changed with the
beginning of the modern period
in the 16th century. The ideas
of personal liberty, individual
responsibility, and self-reliance
came into importance. People
saw unwritten customs and
codes as chains to be destroyed
in the journey to individual
freedom; social constraints on
individual action were thus

overturned. Strength and
fortitude remained values, but
their purpose had changed.
Men will no longer exercise
their toughness for others’ good.
Males won't use their stoicism
for community survival in
difficult times. Henceforth, men
will utilize masculinity for their
own benefit. Showing courage
now means getting involved in
unnecessary fights. Toughness
corresponds to participation

in the glamorized criminal
lifestyle. Being a man now
equates to doing everything to
become the coolest man that
ever lived on Earth. Equality
was attained, but individually-
instead of collectively-directed.
The solution given by the article
doesn’t offer a real alternative to
the issue. Instead, it relativizes
male and female characteristics
as dependent on the individual,
only reinforcing individualism’s
importance and ignorance of
the common good. Any true
alternative to toxic masculinity
must question not only the
causes of the latter but also the
liberal foundation that underlies
both versions of masculinity.
Only then will a radical
alternative to the current state of
gender affairs appear.

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