BUTTERFLIES AND TSHIRTS AND MEMES! OH, MY!!!!!

An imaginary conversation with someone who doesn’t believe in rape culture… yet.

By Deanna Jarquin

When you type in rape culture on mirriam-webster.com the error page asks you “Did you mean rape butterfly?” Well, no… But because of my general curiosity I learned that it is a cabbage butterfly (Pieris napi) occurring in Europe and North America.

It looks like this:

Pretty!

The Gender and Sexuality Equity Center’s definitions of rape culture is defined as a culture in which rape and other sexual violence are common and in which prevalent attitudes, norms, practices, and media condone, normalize, excuse or encourage sexualized violence.

Usually, I witness this in men asking me where kitchens are and textbooks and professors only using male pronouns in examples, but this week I was confronted by a much more apparent (and appalling) example of rape culture. This shirt:

That can’t be a shirt!

Why yes, yes it is.

This weekend Solid Gold Bomb, a company selling through Amazon, issued an apology for these deplorable shirts. Michal Fowler, the founder of Solid Gold Bond, commented “Both myself and our company and it's associated Solid Gold Bomb brand have never had any intention of the spread of violent slogans or even poor taste humor t-shirts.” Adding, “This was a computer error of my creation and I accept my responsibility in the matter."

A COMPUTER ERROR!!!!!!!!!!

Were all of them computer errors?

As well as shirts that included the slogans: "Keep Calm and Choke Her" and "Keep Calm and Grope On."

… Good one, Michal. Needless to say, this shirt will haunt me to my grave. Just imagine. You have recently been sexually assaulted. You are in the supermarket getting fruit. You reach down to get a bag to put your apples in and glance up and see a man wearing a “Keep Calm and Rape On” shirt across the Fuji’s. You’re paralyzed. You backtrack out of the store and learn how to use Safeway.com to deliver your groceries. This scenario may be the creation of my overactive imagination, but it is not that far off from reality. According to the 2010 CDC report, an average of 1 in 5 women will be raped in her lifetime, and 1 in 2 will experience sexual violence victimization other than rape at some point in her life. These women walk around daily with media and social messages that devalue their experiences and now they have this shirt to look forward to.

Amazon has been asked to make a "substantial donation" to a woman's refuge on Saturday night after its UK website offered T-shirts for sale promoting rape and violence against women.” Amazon has made no comment on whether they will be making the donation.

Yeah, but everyone knows these shirts are wrong you Feminazi!!!

Okay, what about this one?

OR THIS ONE!!!!!!

OR MY LEAST FAVORITE!!!!!!!!!!

Those are all sold at Spencer’s Gifts. A store found in most malls across America. These shirts make me cringe much less than “Keep Calm and Rape On.” But why? They all have the same message: women are powerless to men and should carry six to seven sandwiches around with them at all times to give men after performing copious amounts of fellatio. Acknowledging rape culture means excepting the fact that almost daily women and men are normalized to the fact that women should only be valued for their bodies or sexual favors.

Yeah, but I would never wear a shirt like that you man hater!

Have you said that you raped a test lately? Are you thinking a woman is asking to be sexual assaulted if she is rocking a shear or tiny outfit? … Yeah, that’s what I thought. Sure, we can yell NO MEANS NO!!!!!! everyday, but as long as society perpetrates rape culture oppression will always surround us.

You really need to learn how to take a joke.

This is a funny: Why did the bison go to the bank? TO GET A BUFFALOAN!!!!

This isn’t funny:

 

We are all put in these tiny little boxes by society that hurt everyone, not just women. I am a big believer that we would have an emotionally healthier male population if there were more little boys in dance or art classes, if young men were taught that kindness and integrity was more important than toughness and aggression, and if men were allowed to cry in movies other than Brian’s Song and Saving Private Ryan.

Yeah, but Deanna, what can we do to help?

I thought you would never ask!

10 Easy Steps to Combat Rape Culture

1.  Have open, respectful conversations about rape and sexual assault issues absent of slut shaming and blame with co-workers, friends, family, etc.

2.    Define your own manhood or womanhood.  Do not let stereotypes shape your actions.

3.  Get enthusiastic about enthusiastic consent. There is nothing better than asking someone if they want to have sex and them replying HELL YEAH!

4.  Stop victim blaming. If you hear of someone who was sexually assaulted, do not ask what he or she was wearing, whether he or she was drunk, whether he or she had hooked up with the person previously, etc. None of it matters.

5.  Visit Project Unbreakable. A project created in October of 2011 by Grace Brown. Grace works with survivors of sexual assault, photographing them holding a poster with a quote from their attacker.  At http://projectunbreakable.tumblr.com/ *MAJOR TRIGGER WARNING!!!!!!!!!!!!*

6.  Stop teaching people to not get raped and start teaching people to not rape.

7.  Think critically about the media’s messages about women, men, relationships, and violence. Why do reporters/police officers mostly use the term alleged sexual assault? How can this possibly be an acceptable character on a television show that is a consistently top performer for audiences of ages 6–11?

8.  Don’t laugh at jokes about rape.

9.  Share pictures like this on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc:

10.  Come to Take Back the Night! March 14^th at 6PM on Chico States Campus.

Until that day that I don’t have to carry my keys as a weapon while walking to my car after dark or take on characteristically male traits in boardrooms to be taken semi-seriously I will live off of Ryan Gosling Feminist Meme’s and a strict Spencer’s gift boycott.

Sources in order of appearance:

Rape Butterfly:

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&client=safari&rls=en&q=pieris+napi&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_qf.&bvm=bv.43148975,d.aWc&biw=1280&bih=664&um=1&ie=UTF-

Original Article on “Keep Calm and Rape On” T-Shirts:

http://shine.yahoo.com/healthy-living/critics-demand-donation-from-amazon-for-selling-t-shirts-that-promote-abuse-171433415.html

20 Example that Spencer’s Gifts Hates Women

http://www.buzzfeed.com/donnad/20-examples-that-spencers-gifts-hates-women

Heather, Total Drama Island:

http://www.google.com/search?um=1&hl=en&client=safari&rls=en&q=island+cartoon+networktotal&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_qf.&bvm=bv.43148975,d.aWc&biw=1280&bih=664&ie=UTF-8&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi&ei=yKI1UcLdF8j1ygGlvYHYAg#um=1&hl=en&client=safari&rls=en&tbm=isch&sa=1&q=island+cartoon+network+heather&oq=island+cartoon+network+heather&gs_l=img.3...15107.17327.3.17434.11.2.9.0.0.0.150.231.1j1.2.0...0.0...1c.1.5.img.YiDosaDZ5fY&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_qf.&bvm=bv.43148975,d.aWc&fp=81b96436dbf96c69&biw=1280&bih=664&imgrc=G5Rf0nWkP-YPBM%3A%3B5kpoJym0cEXWnM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fimages4.fanpop.com%252Fimage%252Fphotos%252F21400000%252FHeather-3-total-drama-island-21419920-1024-768.png%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.fanpop.com%252Fclubs%252Ftotal-drama-island%252Fimages%252F21419920%252Ftitle%252Fheather-3-wallpaper%3B1024%3B768

How to Combat Rape Culture:

http://www.hercampus.com/school/bu/putting-end-rape-culture

http://www.marshall.edu/wpmu/wcenter/sexual-assault/rape-culture/

http://www.thenation.com/article/172643/ten-things-end-rape-culture#

Picture of "My Strength is not for Hurting"

http://24.media.tumblr.com/a397294c2c08b60d2b90a7ac1e6042e3/tumblr_mj5kx1SSry1s6ma4oo1_500.jpg

Ryan Gosling Feminist Meme:

http://feministryangosling.tumblr.com/page/2

Total F'ed Move

            In the world of Greek Life, the popular website “TotalFratMove.com” is more than just a website; it is considered by many as our bible.  The website primarily allows members of fraternities to post stereotypical actions followed by “TFM,” indicating that it is a “Total Frat Move.”  The popularity of the website led to TotalSororityMove.com, where stereotypical actions by sorority girls are posted as well.  To students not involved in Greek Life, these posts can be assumed to represent all organizations involved in Greek Life. Members often idolize the websites and share posts with other members of the Greek community.  I, however, do not support either website. 

Although many of the posts are intended to be jokes, most of them are extremely offensive to women and I hate that they are considered to represent Greek Life.  Not only does TFM cause fraternity members to seem sexist, but also severely disrespectful to women.  TSM causes the public to expect all sorority members to be concerned solely with her “fratdaddy,” her father’s money, and her sandwich making skills.  For example….

“No sex on the first date, technically makes it the last date. TFM."

“No. I am not concerned about my future. I am a 34D and bake cookies like you wouldn’t believe. TSM.”

I came across an article on TFM entitled, “50 Things Sorority Girls Should Know about Fraternity Guys” that I found particularly awful.  I could go on and on to point out exactly what is offensive about each post included in the list, but this blog entry would end up being an extensive essay.   So instead, I’ll let you be the judge.  Listed below are my least favorite posts from the list.

3. There are very few things you can do that are better than a morning blowjob.

24. If you’re under 21, GET A FAKE ID. If you’re pretty enough it doesn’t matter if the picture is of a 200lb black woman, you’ll still get in.

31. If you’ve hooked up with multiple brothers, we already know about it. If we’re still talking to you, then we clearly don’t mind.

40. If you order more than us during a late night drunken Taco Bell run, we’re going to be a little concerned.

43. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with leaving SportsCenter on in the background during sex.

45. If you’ve already sucked one dick that night, please don’t try to hook up with another one of us. I’ve seen it happen, nobody likes a snowballer.

To view the entire list, you can visit http://totalfratmove.com/892122

Written by Elise Porter

Media Stories

Is your story being told in the media?

Because mine isn’t.

Beware, you’re about to enter a rant…

I want to have children. Probably just one because I plan on having a career, but if I have a daughter I am very worried about the media she will encounter every day. Some may believe that children shows are innocent and safe for little girls to watch, but the statistics are alarming.

From 2006 to 2009 not one female character was depicted in G-rated family films in the field of medical science, as a business leader, in the law, or in politics. 80.5% of all working characters are male and 19.5% are female, which is a contrast to real-world statistics of women comprising 50% of the workforce.

Even among the top-grossing G-rated family films, girl characters are outnumbered by boys three-to-one.

Female characters continue to show dramatically more skin than their male counterparts, and feature extremely tiny waists and other exaggerated body characteristics.

So I guess I will have to write my own film… while maybe starting a psychology practice and having a child.

My film would be a cartoon, a la Disney Fairytale with way less stereotypes. It would be about a twenty-something starving female student studying to become a research scientist. She would spend much of her time in the library at her prestigious research university that she worked her butt off to attend by receiving Valedictorian status in her high school. She would be a size eight and have frizzy brown hair that she never had time to do. She would wear sweatpants and eat too much fast food. Her name would be Alex. She would graduate with honors and go on to receive her PhD. Her parents would be very proud of her because she is the first woman in their family to go to college. She would be a minority too. Maybe Mexican mixed with some Middle Eastern. There would be some conflict between her father wanting her to settle down (you know, to create some tension) but he would come around when he saw how happy she was. She would maybe meet a couple guys along the way but they would be extremely minor characters. They would all be very nice but she just wouldn’t have time to fit them into her schedule. Then she would move up the ranks in her company until she was offered an opportunity to start a branch in a different country (maybe Tokyo, they do a lot of stuff their). She would jump at the opportunity and carpe diem the shit out of her early thirties. Then she would meet the man of her dreams, Devon. He would sweet and charming. He would let her split the bill on their dates without getting all pouty. He would do half of the chores and love to cook. He would be Japanese. While working Alex would have a child with Devon. Their child would be named Haru. They wouldn’t be married. She would keep working and kicking ass and taking names. Alex would be a great mother instilling a hard work ethics and acceptance for all. She would still have tons of friends that she would go out with. Eventually, they would all return to the States. Alex and Devon would fight sometimes but they would always make up (or leave passive-aggressive notes for each other later on). Haru would grow up biologically as a female but at age six would begin to show signs of presenting her gender as male. I mean this could go on and on. Maybe a series called “Positive Role Models.”

There are so many stories that aren’t being told. A white, heterosexual women in her 30’s struggling with AIDS. A little transgender boy persevering in grade school. Lesbian scientists bringing much needed medicine to sub-Sahara Africa. Women changing history without a man in sight.

The fact is that only 7% of directors, 13% of writers, and 20% of producers are female.

Until more women are making films this problem will never be reconciled. If media producers don’t hear women screaming to be better represented they won’t change. Let’s make our suffrage sisters proud and finish up some of their work. I am a strong believer that if you can’t see something you can’t be something. We need to show young girls that they are more than their recipe book and babysitting skills

Can every women become a superstar writer or director?

Well, probably not. But as a parent one can be careful what they present to their children. As a consumer one can purposely support female writers and producers.

For alternatives and suggestions see:

http://blogs.indiewire.com/womenandhollywood/films_by_and_about_women

All statistics taken from http://www.seejane.org/research/

This is also a great sight about the lack of children’s media geared towards strong female characters. Funded by Geena Davis.

Analyzing Ads

Analyzing Ads in the Media 

      In this series of Ralph Lauren “Romance” ads, the man is depicted as strong, aggressive and dominant, while the female is shown as weak, passive and submissive towards the man. This is shown in the first image, in which the man is basically holding up the woman as she appears to be too weak to hold her own weight. In all of these images, the man is either holding up the woman or being the dominant one on top. The man has a strong position, while the woman’s grasp is weak. 

   The woman also appears to be very trusting, open and available as she allows the man to hold her. Her body and face are more turned towards the camera, such as in the second  and third image in which she is looking straight at the camera. In contrast, the man is very closed and shows no real emotion besides anger. In all of the images, his head is down and you can’t actually see inside his eyes. 

     In these images, the woman is sexually passive and submissive, while the man is aggressive and dominant. This is especially shown in the first and the third image. In the third image, the man is over the woman, kissing her and the woman seems to care less and is very passive and submissive. The woman is also sexualized in these photos, while the man is not. The woman has a decent amount of skin showing and in some of the images her dress strap is falling down or her dress is pulled up to expose her legs. This contrast between the man and the woman shows the meta theme that females and males must be separated and seen as radically and profoundly different. 

      Because of these ideologies, society accepts these masculine and feminine traits as “natural.” This reinforces the status quo and sets expectations for both males and females. This sets the expectation that guys should be aggressive and dominant physically and sexually. They should also show little/no emotion and be closed. Women should be passive and submissive both physically and sexually. Women are expected to  be very emotional, trusting, open and cooperative. Because an ideology is not reality, most people cannot live up to these expectations and don’t live their lives this way, but still feel pressured by society to fit into these little boxes.

-Mallory Holt