By: Amelia-Rose Williams
Growing up, I learned two things very quickly. As a black woman, proud of my Jamaican heritage and how hard my family worked to get into this country. I learned that no matter how hard they worked to get here, there is an ignorance beyond our comprehension, where our worth isn’t valued beyond our skin and “appearance”.
I learned that as a woman, I have to live my life in fear that someone is going to violate everything I stand for, just because I appear to be sending them an “invitation” to do so.
Our worth has always been measured by what we can do for the patriarchy. With the “Cornell 7” incident, it raises the question, “What does it take for us to be respected?” Currently, women make up 54.5% of undergraduate students, compared to our male counterparts, who make up 39.7%.
If you thought that difference changed for graduate school? Think again: women make up 61.0% of graduate students, versus men, who make up 39.0%. With these statistics out of the way, the question remains. “What does it take for us to be respected?”
As a whole in the United States, our education is under attack, but to make matters worse, we as women are left vulnerable STILL, even behind the “protection” of our institutions. For some of us, we feel exhilarated to leave our strict households to begin our journey into adulthood.
Just to jump straight into the belly of the beast. That false sense of security of being behind those school walls while our predators stalk us in secret behind a mask, attempting to hide their true selves, leaving our bellies bare and open, ready to gut us as they please.
“Jane Doe” is not the first woman this has happened to; nearly 1 in 5 women have and will experience this in their lifetime, whether it was a complete attempt or just an attempt. 51.1% of that is from an intimate partner, versus 40.8% being from an acquaintance.
No matter how hard we fight as women, we continue to be violated. We go into school believing that if we work hard enough and climb the ladder, maybe it will all pay off. Just to be disrespected at our jobs, still having to advocate for our rights, feeling the need to create female-only spaces and live our lives in constant fear that we are going to be added to those statistics.
These men aren’t as concerned about their future as women, because they have means to escape the scrutiny. Many, if not all, women carry this weight with them for the rest of their lives. For example, Emma Sulkowicz literally carried that weight with her all the way until she graduated.
Now, as more news comes out, men are scrambling to the idea that the men are innocent. Seeing videos saying, “Oh, she consented to a few of them.” Now, whether that is true or not, most victims crumble under the weight of a case as public as this one becomes.
Even if the case wasn’t so public, they would still feel an immense weight of pressure just speaking out in the first place. Now imagine just how many women haven’t spoken out in fear of this. Not to mention, if she was under the influence of substances, how could she, in a cognitive state, consent?
As things continue to play out, the question remains: “What does it take for us to be respected?” And we, as women, await the answer.