Amanda Taub defends California’s new “Yes Means Yes” law, arguing that it “emerged as a response to a status quo that has proved to be an all-too-powerful tool for sexual predators, because it enables them to claim to see consent in everything except continuous, unequivocal rejection”: This week, a Detroit man murdered a 27-year-old mother of three … Continue reading Codifying Consent, Ctd
On Sunday, Jerry Brown signed California’s controversial affirmative-consent bill. Amanda Marcotte welcomes the news: This means that during an investigation of an alleged sexual assault, university disciplinary committees will have to ask if the sexual encounter met a standard where both parties were consenting, with consent defined as “an affirmative, conscious and voluntary agreement to engage in sexual activity.” … Continue reading “Yes Means Yes” Becomes Law
More reactions are appearing to new efforts to combat campus rape. Megan McArdle writes of a new affirmative-consent law proposed in California: It seems to criminalize most sexual encounters that most people have ever had, which (I hear) don’t usually involve multistep verbal contracts. It appears designed to be unequally applied to men and women or, alternatively, … Continue reading Choosing “Yes” Ctd
Freddie responds to Vanessa Grigoriadis’s piece on campus rape: I think that it’s a mistake to create different standards of consent for college students. The potential unforeseen consequences scare me, and besides, a central aspect of the fight against sexual assault is to insist that rape is rape. I think it sends a retrograde message to suggest that … Continue reading Choosing “Yes”
A reader throws up his hands: We must congratulate you on lulling us in to a false sense of security. This is quite possibly the hardest “view” you’ve ever posted. Our best guess is my dad’s: Williams County, North Dakota. We base this on the mountains, and the look of the buildings, which seem to resemble an … Continue reading The View From Your Window Contest: Winner #223
Katie Zavadski flags a new White House campaign to raise awareness about sexual violence on college campuses: Officials are hoping the new ads will be screened on youth-oriented television networks and shown at sporting events. In order to appeal to the collegiate demographic, the White House recruited celebrities like Questlove, Jon Hamm, Rose Byrne, and Cleveland … Continue reading “It’s On Us”
A reader of Andrew W.K.’s Village Voice advice column wrote in frustrated about being asked to pray for an older brother diagnosed with cancer, describing it as “kneeling on the ground and mumbling superstitious nonsense.” W.K. responds this way: Prayer is a type of thought. It’s a lot like meditation — a type of very … Continue reading Andrew W.K. Teaches Us How To Pray
by Dish Staff A Columbia student and alleged rape survivor has come up with an powerful way to dramatize the aftermath her assault: [Emma] Sulkowicz has devised a senior thesis rooted in performance art that will allow her to protest the fact that her rapist continues to study on campus. She has committed to carrying around a twin-size dorm mattress everywhere … Continue reading Weighty Art
by Phoebe Maltz Bovy College may be experienced almost exclusively by (legal) adults, but the decision if and where to go is, for a traditional-age student, one made while still living at home, often as a minor, with tremendous parental input. And when you fill out that roommate-matching form about your lifestyle, mom, dad, someone … Continue reading “I was punished because a man had touched me.”
by Dish Staff A reader shares a horrific experience: I was a 20-year-old virgin when another college student raped me. Twice. Twice in one night. I’ve felt the urge to tell my story a hundred times before. It took me years before I decided to tell anyone what had happened, and it’s taken me over a decade … Continue reading “No. No. No.”
