I’m sure I am not the only one who has seen the video from Huffington Post featuring University of Arizona Student, “Brother” Dean Saxton.
If you couldn’t stomach the bigotry, here is a little synopsis: Brother Dean is a well-known “open-air” preacher at UA. He spends his time slut-shaming students on street corners with cleverly made signs. Brother Dean has a personal vendetta against not only “whores,” but also sorority girls, anorexic females, strippers, frat rats, and my personal favorite, “camel-toes.”
He truly is the next Shakespeare.
All jokes aside, his main gospel? Women in modern society, especially young college women, deserve to be raped.
“I believe that there are certain qualities that may be worthy of rape. If a women dresses provocatively, gets blackout drunk, and is wearing really revealing clothing, then I would say she is partially responsible for the rape.”
Let me start by saying two things. The first thing is that, thankfully, at least 99% of the people on the University of Arizona campus hate this guy already. The only part of the video that made me smile was when a buff football player knocks the sign out of poor Brother Dean’s butterfingers. Another brave woman also expertly targets him with her Jamba Juice.
Though, getting everyone on the hate-train for Brother Dean is not the point of this article.
Secondly, it’s obvious to most of us that Brother Dean might want our hate. He thrives on it. Does Brother Dean really strongly believe that “Yoga pants are sin?” No, he doesn’t, because most sane men and women love yoga pants (albeit, for different reasons.) This article isn’t about giving Brother Dean attention either.
So, what is my point? My point is that Brother Dean’s ideas, although extreme, are not entirely new.
After picking my jaw up from the floor, I realized this isn’t the first time I had heard this line of thinking before. How many times have we heard “Oh, that girl was asking for it,” after she was sexually assaulted? This victim blaming was not Brother Dean’s brainchild.
She was wearing a revealing outfit? Asking for it.
She accepted your kind offer of buying her a drink at the bar? Asking for it.
She stumbled back to your dorm or apartment and fell asleep in your bed? Asking for it.
The part that really stuck with me in Brother Dean’s rant was that women deserve to be raped if they are black out drunk. This is what many women on college campuses, especially at the University of Wisconsin, do for fun: we go out and drink. Ignoring the health factors associated with binge drinking, no one can argue the fact that we are a party school. More than 65% of University of Wisconsin students reported being “binge drinkers,” 44% higher than the national average for United States colleges.
Some women on this campus may drink and engage in consensual sexual activity. And that is okay, as long as you are being and feel safe.
According to RAINN (Rape, Abuse, and Incest National Network), 1 in 6 women and 1 in 33 men have been victim to an attempted or completed rape. Alcohol is considered the number one date rape drug, and over 90% of sexual assaults that occur on college campuses involve alcohol (Center for Family Justice).
However, a man or woman taking advantage of you in your inebriated state is not your fault. Drinking is not an invitation for sex. Drinking a lot is not an invitation for sex. Drinking to the point of blacking out is STILL not an invitation for sex. If you are too drunk to even speak, this is especially not an invitation for sex, because consensual sex requires a firm and clear “yes” from both partners.
I am not advocating that drinking to the point of blacking out is acceptable. For many reasons, it is extremely unsafe. But realistically, it will happen to the best of us.
But ladies, do not let anyone convince you otherwise that being a victim of rape or sexual assault is your fault. I don’t care if you were walking down State Street in a bikini and high heels. No one has the right to take advantage of your body, and no one has the right to blame you for “allowing” them to do it. Never let another man or woman blame you for being the victim, no matter the circumstances. Don’t ever let anyone make you feel that you deserved any harm done to your body. No one deserves to be a victim, and don’t let anyone attempt to convince you otherwise.
If you have been a victim of sexual assault, or need someone to talk to:
National Sexual Assault Hotline: 1-800-656-HOPE
University of Wisconsin Police Department: 608-264-2677
http://uhs.wisc.edu/assault/assault.shtml