Student organization Promoting Awareness, Victim Empowerment hosted two feminist bloggers Wednesday to discuss sexual assault prevention as part of its sexual assault forum.
“Feministing” bloggers Zerlina Maxwell and Chloe Angyal, along with PAVE Communications Coordinator Maggie DeGroot, formed the panel and talked about sexual assault prevention and awareness.
Maxwell, a political analyst who speaks about her own experience as a victim of sexual assault, said she believes the United States should teach men not to rape rather than blame victims.
“I think the entire conversation of rape is wrong,” Maxwell said. “The actions of the victim are not relevant compared to the question of the choices that men make when they rape.”
Angyal, a freelance writer and blogger from Sydney, Australia, focused on the role of popular culture in promoting sexual assault and stalking behaviors in our culture, especially in romantic comedies. According to Angyal, these movies portray the persistent advances of men despite a woman’s objection as romantic, and condone ignoring a woman when she says “no.”
“Men are taught to believe that if you just push hard enough and long enough, she will eventually come around,” Angyal said.
Angyal also said she believes the media and popular culture have a significant impact on the way people view sexual assault.
DeGroot, a University of Wisconsin-Madison senior, discussed the UW Confessions page, and how many sexual assault victims who have spoken out on the page have been accused of “asking for it.” She said these views support a victim-blaming culture where rapists are not held accountable for their crimes, which is what PAVE attempts to eliminate.
The panelists also discussed how to prevent sexual assault by educating teens on consent and bystander intervention. According to Maxwell, many bystanders do not know how to step in to help victims, which she said needs to change.
The panelists all agreed the best way to handle sexual assault prevention is to teach men not to rape, rather than to tell women how to dress, to avoid drinking alcohol or to carry a gun.
