Salon.com > date rape

Fox News host doesn’t believe rape happens on college campuses

Wed, 20 Feb 2013 20:09:00 +0000

Sometimes Fox News is like Christmas, conveying an endless array of gifts. And as such, it would be ungracious to ignore its many pearls of wisdom, like this latest gem, in which four people discuss a piece of Colorado legislation that would ban concealed weapons on college campuses in an effort to prevent sexual assault:

Greg Gutfield throws down the gauntlet thusly: "It's the rapist who should be crapping -- not victim. And that means being armed."

Then, pondering the crapping of rapists, Dana Perino says (I'm paraphrasing here): Uh, I don't know. Maybe but I don't know! What do I know? I don't know anything!

Next, Bob Beckel wakes up from his grandpa sleep and things get really lively.

He mumbles, "When was the last time you heard about a rape on campus?

The hosts share a rare moment of united lucidity, informing Beckel that sexual assault on college campuses is rampant, using date rape to make their point.

The lasting trauma of rape

Mon, 18 Feb 2013 01:00:00 +0000

Dear Cary,

 I have written this letter to you many times … although almost exclusively in my imagination. I am continuously waiting for someone else to write a letter to you that speaks to this specific moment in my life; and although there has been some overlap over the years, I continuously come up with general similarities rather than meaningful personal guidance. I am not the sort of person who asks for help. And I am not the sort of person who solicits advice without acknowledging that I am exposing myself to a peculiar (and scary) brand of naked vulnerability. But here goes …

I am a 28-year-old woman. I currently live in a big, although continuously struggling, metropolitan area that I love for its bizarre complexity. I grew up in a rather small community that I ached to get out of even as I found myself repeatedly returning to it throughout my life. I was sexually assaulted when I was 18 years old (and far away from home) during my freshman year of college. He was a rather popular and extremely successful athlete on my college campus. This event occurred two weeks after I lost my virginity to a different man whom I wholly adored and who quite suddenly left me for an ex-girlfriend. I was quite naive and extraordinarily heartbroken. Without this precipitating circumstance, I would not have been selected, not have been vetted out, by the man who would change the course of my life. I was, and this is hard to admit, selected as a target by someone who felt the need to take from me what I wasn't willing to give at a moment when he knew I was the most vulnerable.

Is “Baby, It’s Cold Outside” a date-rape anthem?

Mon, 10 Dec 2012 21:14:00 +0000

Each year, we’re deluged with the same chipper songs desperately persuading us to embrace the holiday spirit, and each year they seem to hit radio earlier and earlier. We hear “Deck the Halls” while we’re throwing out jack-o'-lanterns. We hear about chestnuts roasting on an open fire while we’re carving the turkey. Pretty soon we’ll be hearing “Baby, It’s Cold Outside” when it’s 80 degrees. That might actually be the only way that particular song could get worse.

Always a popular duet since its creation, “Baby, It’s Cold Outside” has become a fresh chestnut in recent years. It was written in the 1940s by Frank Loesser, who performed it at parties with his wife. He wrote the male part as the “Wolf” and her part as the “Mouse.” Eventually Columbia Pictures bought the song and debuted it in the 1949 Esther Williams vehicle “Neptune’s Daughter,” co-starring Ricardo Montalban and Red Skelton. The film features the song not once but twice, sung by two different couples. “Baby, It’s Cold Outside” won the Oscar that year for best original song, and since then it’s been sung by anyone who knows a few chords on the piano or who knows someone who knows a few chords on the piano.

Can this cup stop date rape?

Mon, 10 Dec 2012 18:19:00 +0000

A start-up called DrinkSavvy is hoping, with a little help from crowdfunding site IndieGoGo, to help stop drug-facilitated sexual assault right where it starts -- in your cup. The tech company is currently seeking funding to complete a prototype for a line of cups, straws and drink stirrers that can detect "date rape" drugs, instantly.

The new line of cups is designed to change appearance, from clear to red stripes, when they detect the presence of predator drugs like Rohypnol. This discreet color change technology might seem simple, but could be a breakthrough in prevention since a majority of these drugs are odorless, colorless and tasteless. It's not a silver bullet, but it probably doesn't hurt, either.

And according to DrinkSavvy founder Mike Abramson, the company's mission isn't just financial -- it's personal.

"Why do I care about this topic? Within the past three years, three of my very close friends -- and myself -- have been the unwitting victims of being drugged. ... And I want to prevent it from happening to anyone else."