As members of the Advocacy Center peer theater troupe, e5m, we would like to express our concerns about an article published in Jerk Magazine in October 2012. We found this article to be problematic as well as a source of misguided information.

As volunteers of the Advocacy Center, we work as peer leaders to create opportunities for people to grow and explore how they function in relationships to diminish the occurrence of relationship and/or sexual violence. We promote meaningful dialogue on campus and hope that this will help lead to a safe and caring community that will not tolerate violence.

The title of the Jerk article “F*** Me, Maybe?: ‘No’ doesn’t always mean ‘no’” is misleading. Unlike it is stated in the article, “no” does not mean “try harder.” “No” is not up for debate. The only way to give consent is with a “yes,” and if there is an absence of such, one should not assume that consent has been given. Sexual assault is never the fault of the survivor. It is the responsibility of the person initiating sexual contact to make sure he or she has consent. We encourage students to become informed about the true nature of consent.

The Jerk article also hypothesizes that men bow to their “unparalleled horniness,” and pressure and manipulate women to fulfill their sexual desires. Consequently, according to this article, if a woman is not affirmative enough, a man will take what he wants, and if he’s “smacked with a rape charge” in the morning, then he can claim that he just didn’t understand the woman’s wishes. We’d like to point out that a very small percentage of men commit this act of violence. The truth is, most men don’t commit rape.

The article implies that rape is an issue that only occurs between men and women. While most survivors of reported sexual assault cases are women, we’d like to make it clear that people of all genders and sexual orientations are survivors of sexual violence. Sexual violence is about one person using sex as a means to exert power over another.

For anyone with questions or concerns, the Advocacy Center is here for you, 24/7, confidential.

Sincerely,
The members of e5m peer theater troupe

 

Published on November 12, 2012 at 12:01 am