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Judgement In College

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In college culture, drinking laws are thrown out the door, and replaced with the hurriedness of adult situations, that a student may take advantage of. Journalists Emma Brown, Steve Hendrix, and Susan Svrluga of The Washington Post find that, in a student poll, “...dozens of students who responded in the poll...had experienced unwanted sexual contact while in college, most said they had been drinking before the incident.”2 Alcohol is truly a vice to the college student; often loosening one up, but “blurring the lines” between consent and rape. The “Yes Means Yes” law takes away the ambivalence of what is or is not consent; if they are not sober enough to willingly agree, they simply do not consent. This takes away the idea of someone continuing an unwanted sexual act, simply because the partner does not protest. In an interview with student victims of sexual assault, “Some said they had been too drunk to know or articulate what they wanted and what they didn’t want...”.3 To avoid miscommunications in inevitable college drinking situations, it is easiest to take all interpretations away from consent, and have there only be one single keyword, that is understood by all. Although indeed precarious circumstances, the victim should never have to be blamed and burdened with an attacker’s malicious …show more content…

An all-too-common response to sexual harassment on campus is to somehow blame of the victim; proclaiming they “asked for it” in some subtle way. The “Blame the Victim” style of movement enforces that women should sit down, shut up, and cover up in order to not seemingly “invite” a perpetrator's attention. The “Yes Means Yes” law takes away the oppression of sexual assault victims, and begins to put the blame on the offender for their crimes, rather than a victim for their skin-tight dress and stilettos; it denounces the ignominy that coincides with existing as a sexual being, and instead, propels justice. Vice President Joe Biden4 elaborates upon the issue, stating that , “No matter what she’s wearing, no matter whether she’s in a bar, in a dormitory, in the back seat of a car, on a street, drunk or sober — no man has a right to go beyond the word no.”5 The “Yes Means Yes” law further explains the rigidity of dual consent, no matter what someone may imply, the only way to know is through permission. It also takes away the excuses of “not knowing” if a member is not complying, because they did not protest. Yale Law Student and feminist Alexandra Brodsky explains that, “We cling to a faith that respectability is protective, comforted by the myth that with longer skirts and fewer drinks we can differentiate ourselves from those vulnerable to rape.”6 In reality, no change in appearance or attitude can prevent rape, but the new law applicable in California schools can provide comfort to those who fear false allegations, and impaired motives. Nothing is longer open to interpretation, through any sort of excuse or

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