Date Rape Essay, Research Paper

DATE RAPE

Today s, sad growing trend in America is date rape. We hear about date rape on the news, in classrooms, and through school rumors almost daily. But the main question on everyone s mind is, who do we put the blame on , or who s fault was it in the first place?

An author by the name of Camille Paglia believes that it is almost always the girl s fault for being raped, due to her own lack of basic street smarts. She states, Rape is an outrage that cannot be tolerated in civilized society. Yet feminism, which has waged a crusade for rape to be taken more seriously, has put young women in danger by hiding the truth about sex from them. By this statement she is saying that in today s society young women are not taught the truth about sex, which in turn causes them to be more vulnerable to date rape. She also states that, In dramatizing the pervasiveness of rape, feminists have told young women that before they have sex with a man they must give consent as explicit as a legal contract s. By saying this she is saying that every woman is certain that they have been raped every time that they have sex with a male without being married to them.

On the bathroom stalls of Brown University women have written on the stall doors their alleged rapist to warn other women of their potential. It (rape) has been a severe problem for women all of recorded history, She continues. A long time ago the penalty for rape was death. Now rapists only serve jail time.

Paglia then goes on to explain that, College men are at their hormonal peak. They have just left their mothers and are questing for their male identity. In groups, they are dangerous. A woman going to a fraternity party is walking into Testosterone Flats, full of prickly cacti and blazing guns. If she goes, she should be armed with resolute alertness. She should arrive with girlfriends and leave with them. A girl who lets herself get dead drunk at a fraternity party is an idiot. Feminists call this blaming the victim. I (Paglia) call it common sense. She also believes that women today don t know what they want, and in turn, they send mixed signals causing confusion with young men. Young men do not know or understand that by flirting with them that the young woman doesn t automatically mean that they (the girl) wants to have sex with him, or his clan of men for that matter. She says that it is the girl s fault for sending those mixed signals in the first place. She believes that if a young woman shows up at a fraternity party by herself that she is basically asking to be raped, because that is what the young males think is the reason why she came by herself in the first place.

In her passage she gives, in my opinion, some great advice. She states, The Italian philosophy of life espouses high-energy confrontation. A male student makes a vulgar remark about your breasts? Don t slink off to whimper with the campus shrinking violets. Deal with it. On the spot. Say, Shut up, you jerk! And crawl back to the barnyard where you belong!

To conclude her passage she leaves you in great thought by saying, The only solution to date rape is female self-awareness and self-control. A woman s number-one line of defense against rape is herself. When a real rape occurs, she should report it to the police. Complaining to college committees because the courts take too long is ridiculous. College administrations are not a branch of the judiciary. They are not equipped or trained for legal inquiry. Colleges must alert incoming students to the problems and dangers of adulthood. Then colleges must stand back and get out of the sex game.

Personally, I am sick and tired of men, in general, automatically assuming any woman, for any reason, wants to have sex with them or all of them, for that matter. In my opinion date rape should not even exist! No one should have sex with anyone just because they assume that the other partner wants to have sex. Why are they even having sex before they are married, anyway? But whatever their reason is, young women should be smart when it comes to young males and their raging hormones. All it takes is a little common sense and they won t be raped for any reason. As long as young women go in groups to fraternity parties and leave together, there should not be a problem. And a young woman, no matter what, should never get drunk at a fraternity party! That is just asking for it.

With the same token, young males should be able to control their hormones until the appropriate time! Men should never take an advantage of any girl, no matter what the situation is. Even if the male has been dating the young woman for years, he should never just assume that she wants to have sex with him. If any male has any respect for himself, he should respect others in return, including females! I also believe that men who do commit rape should have stricter punishment. In my opinion that punishment should be for the male to be sexually fixed so that they can not have kids in the future, along with a longer jail sentence. I know that may seem a little harsh, but you have to put yourself in the woman s shoes What would you want to happen to him? I am one who believes in the eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth punishment system, but in this case the system would not really be effective. The bottom line is rape of any sort of shape or form is wrong, and those who commit rape should face strict consequences!