More “campus rape crisis” weirdness came from the White House
today, where President Obama and Vice President Biden announced the
launch of a new initiative called “It’s on Us”. The campaign will feature
celebrity-studded public service announcements aired during college
sporting events and promotions from the likes of MTV, BET, and
video-game company Electronic Arts.
In explaining the initiative
on the White House blog, Jeffrey Zients—Obama’s economic
adviser (because nothing about this makes any sense)—wrote that
“It’s on Us” is “not just a slogan or catchphrase”:
It’s the whole point. Because in a country where one in five
women on college campuses has been sexually assaulted— only 12
percent of which are reported—this is a problem that should be
important to every single one of us, and it’s on every single one
of us to do something to end the problem.
Reading Zients’ post, I was reminded of author and professor
Joel Best speaking on the hallmarks of how media hype (and
the attendent bogus statistics) get promulgated: First there is
a high-profile tragic event, then the need to define the event as
part of an identifiable Problem (“the heroin epidemic”), and then a
desire to quantify the problem so as to place it in a larger
context. I put “campus rape crisis” in quotes not to diminish the
seriousness of sexual assault but because I think the phrase is a
prime example of the phenomenon Best describes. Rape is a problem
wherever it happens, which is sometimes on campus and more
frequently not. The “campus rape crisis” is a thing perpetuated by
people interested in profiting from the fear in various ways.
When you make up a problem—and again, let’s be clear that I’m
not saying rape, the underreporting of rape, or the way campuses
handle rape is a made-up problem, but rather the idea that college
campuses are some sort of rape epicenter—it is much easier to get
credit for solving that problem. The White House doesn’t actually
have to impact rape rates or rape prosecution rates or anything
tangible, because that’s not how it has defined the problem. It’s
central concern is raising awareness about rape on
college campus, a goal both amorphous and measurable in Facebook
likes.
What’s “on us”, according to the newly-launched campaign
website, is the imperative “to recognize that non-consensual sex is
sexual assault”, “to identify situations in which sexual assault
may occur”, “to intervene in situations where consent has not or
cannot be given,” and “to create an environment in which sexual
assault is unacceptable and survivors are supported.” If you agree
with these vague statements, you can take The Pledge: “a personal
commitment to help keep women and men safe from sexual assault” and
“a promise not to be a bystander to the problem, but to be a part
of the solution.” I took the pledge and received the following
message:
Thank you for your commitment to stopping sexual assault. Turn
your profile photo into an It’s On Us badge to show your pledged
commitment to helping stop sexual assault.
The It’s on Us site also offers sexual-assault prevention tips,
which range from the banal (“keep an eye on someone who has had too
much to drink”) to the oddly aggressive. “If you see something,
intervene in any way you can”, says one. “Get in the way by
creating a distraction, drawing attention to the situation, or
separating them” says another. The focus on “bystander
intervention” comes across unsettling—less an insistence that
friends help friends avoid creeps than a world where one’s to be on
the lookout always for ways to stop strangers from serving each
other drinks.
It’s not a terrible campaign, all-around. Some of the tips are
sensible. And a sexual-assault prevention initiative aimed equally
at men and women that explicitly eschews victim blaming and
highlights the importance of consent is actually pretty radical. If
this were a campaign run by MTV or a private foundation or a
network of college campus-groups, I might be more applauding of
their efforts. But I reject that this is a job for the President
and Vice President.
And I reject the larger premise of the It’s on Us campaign: that
all societal problems require federal government action, and that
college sexual assaults in particular are an area in need of
“bystander intervention” from Uncle Sam. Zients says “this new
initiative will help move (the Administration’s) work forward
by creating a new energy and awareness around these issues on
campuses across America.” I’m convinced this campaign is designed
to advance the White House’s goals, just not in the way Zients
suggests.
from Hit & Run http://ift.tt/1tyrImR
via IFTTT