A few nights ago, I found myself sitting in my favorite pair of sweatpants. I’ve owned these sweatpants since seventh grade and the material has stretched as I have. These pants are just another item in my life that I ‘ve owned longer than Brock Turner was in jail.
We’ve all seen the slew of Internet memes and articles going around in protest of Brock Turner’s ridiculously short sentence for the rape he committed. Internet users have taken to Twitter and many other social media platforms to come together and bring attention to a few things. 1. The fact that he only served three months for destroying a young girl’s life is absolutely absurd. 2. If you’re a white, middle-class, male athlete you can get away with anything and that needs to change. 3. The fact that it takes a bunch of people on the Internet pointing out that their mascara lasts longer than a rape sentence is a problem.
When I saw these Internet memes going around, of course I shared at least one to make a statement and point out to what is an obvious flaw to me. The fact Turner’s original sentence was six months, which was ridiculous, but also the fact that it was shortened to three months seemed so obviously wrong to my friends and I. How can you completely tear apart someone’s life, make them relieve a terrible experience over and over again, and then get out of jail in three months?
One of the answers to that question is simple. He’s white. Brock Turner is a white, male, middle-class, athlete who has privilege bleeding out of him. If he were a minority, I can guarantee you he would be serving a far longer sentence for even just selling marijuana, which is now legal in some capacity in 25 of our 50 states. Throughout the case, Turner’s privilege granted him a shorter sentence and sympathy. We can no longer allow this to be the norm: white privilege allowing people to float above the law. Additionally, we also need judges and people in positions of power to see all human beings as equal instead of putting a rapist’s “potential” before a women’s life.
I think that one of the most important pieces of this whole case is the memes. Why do we have to show the world that women keep mascara longer than this man’s jail sentence to make them understand how ridiculous it is? Shouldn’t we be more concerned with women’s safety? Shouldn’t we want rapists in jail for more than three months? Why is that when it comes to rape and many other women’s issues we have to point out extremes and absurdities to give them validation and importance? We shouldn’t need these visuals to be standing up for rape victims. We as a society should be making sure rapists are paying for the actions that they have done without question. How concerned about campus sexual assault are we if we create outrage by comparing jail time to a tube of mascara?