High School Teacher Writes Letter Denying Rape Culture, Enrages Students - Sensationalist Headlines

[QUOTE]A recent letter written by a Grant High School history teacher argues rape culture doesn’t exist. He distributed it to a fellow teacher and his freshman students, one of whom posted it online. Parents and students who contacted KATU were outraged. “It kinda makes your heart jump out of your chest when you read it, because it’s so aggravating and frustrating,” said Violet Summersby, a senior at Grant. She said she was floored after reading the letter. In the letter, the teacher explained why he thinks rape culture is dubious. “There are girls at our school who’ve been sexually assaulted and even raped,” Summersby said. “We’ve had issues at our school, and so the fact that he’s denying this and denying rape culture exists is absolutely absurd.” The teacher handed out the three-page letter the day after he interrupted a class discussion about rape culture.[/QUOTE] [URL="http://katu.com/news/local/grant-teachers-letter-denying-rape-culture-outrages-students-parents"]the article[/URL] I go to this school and everything that happens is very publicized, I call bullshit on that person that said there are cases of sexual assault and rape here. Also, most of all the teachers here are very liberal and are constantly telling us their opinions in class, and even changing the curriculum to fit them.

You know where rape culture actually exists? The Middle-East.

Let me start off by saying that there is no rape culture in the Western World. There is the oversexualization of everything, but there isn't rape culture. His only crime is that some of his argument is garbage (personal anecdotes!) and the way he provided this argument. I wasn't there but the article paints him as a dude who just walked into a class and talked about rape culture. [quote]He distributed it to a fellow teacher and his freshman students, one of whom posted it online. Parents and students who contacted KATU were outraged. The teacher handed out the three-page letter the day after he interrupted a class discussion about rape culture.[/quote] Everyone has a right to argue of course, especially in an educational facility, but I'm really curious as to how this whole thing even resulted into handing out a letter to his freshmen students. [editline]3[/editline] Hell even the guy admits that he wrongfully barged into class and took over a conversation from another teacher and "throw bombs", which I'm assuming is being rude and god forbid not "truth bombs".

Can someone define for me "rape culture"?

[QUOTE=da space core;52194649]Can someone define for me "rape culture"?[/QUOTE] [quote] rape culture noun a society or environment whose prevailing social attitudes have the effect of normalizing or trivializing sexual assault and abuse.[/quote] Which is nowhere NEAR the truth in the western world.

[QUOTE=BuffaloBill;52194663]Which is nowhere NEAR the truth in the western world.[/QUOTE] At least in the U.S. rape is seems more heinous than murder often. (anecdotally speaking)

[QUOTE=bord2tears;52194670]At least in the U.S. rape is seems more heinous than murder often. (anecdotally speaking)[/QUOTE] it does until it actually happens and then somehow a large portion of the west feels sorry for the perpetrator. Just look at recent cases and tell me this isnt true. We may villify the archetypal idea of a disgusting shadow realm type forest dwelling creepo rapist, however when recognizing that the rapist is in most cases a normal middle class tax paying seemingly stand up dude, then thats when we trivialise it, and thats rape culture.

[QUOTE=bord2tears;52194670]At least in the U.S. rape is seems more heinous than murder often. (anecdotally speaking)[/QUOTE] Only by the US definition of rape, which varies by region and can be incredibly narrow. What one area finds horrific and show-stopping is the utter norm in another. If the LA Times reported all in-county legally-defined alleged sexual assaults in its Sunday print edition, the reports of sexual assaults would likely outweigh the news even in the smallest readable font. They garner very little regional or national attention unless there is a) racial controversy b) religious controversy or c) a major age difference involved. The quality of law enforcement also varies highly from not only state to state, but department to department. The way certain departments and officers handle taking reports of sexual assaults can disenfranchise victims from pressing charges, resulting in many reports not being taken as seriously as they could. As an example - an officer fixating on the admission of being intoxicated or under the influence of drugs as being evidence that all claims are probably untrue or highly distorted, and as a result making the victim feel as if they are not and will not be believed against the word of their relatively sober assailant.

I wouldn't say there's a US rape culture but the US still has some crappy views towards women. If you want proof, the US president boasted about sexually assaulting women and it was brushed off as locker room talk and he escaped with zero consequence. And that's ignoring all the past horrible shit Trump has said about women over the decades. Oh and the fact the US government is currently battling tooth and nail to fuck with abortions, an issue which should have been sorted decades ago. There's certainly no rape culture ultimately, but there is big issues.

[QUOTE=silaz;52194533][URL="http://katu.com/news/local/grant-teachers-letter-denying-rape-culture-outrages-students-parents"]the article[/URL] I go to this school and everything that happens is very publicized, I call bullshit on that person that said there are cases of sexual assault and rape here. Also, most of all the teachers here are very liberal and are constantly telling us their opinions in class, and even changing the curriculum to fit them.[/QUOTE] Well given that Grant has around ~1600 students and the national average is rate of rape victimization is somewhere between 2 and 4 per 1,000 (likely more, especially in school spaces), statistically it's likely. Just because YOU don't personally know anyone who has admitted to you that they have been, doesn't mean there aren't students at your school who have been affected by this.

Regardless of his position, I don't think it was wise of a public school teacher to be using his capacity as a teacher to disseminate his political opinions

[QUOTE=BuffaloBill;52194663]Which is nowhere NEAR the truth in the western world.[/QUOTE] it's pretty situational, it gets especially flagrant when it's a teenage boy being raped by an older woman for example

[QUOTE=bord2tears;52194670]At least in the U.S. rape is seems more heinous than murder often. (anecdotally speaking)[/QUOTE] Maybe as long as it's an old rotten hobo raping a preschool girl. As soon as it's a star athlete or a husband of the abused, you immediately get a fuckton of "Well if they are both drunk it's not really rape." or, "Well, they have been asking for it with these slutty clothes." or just straight up accusations of it being lies whenever there's no bulletproof evidence. Don't tell me these opinions aren't real fucking common these days, everywhere in the west, not just the States. [B]Keep in mind not [I]everyone[/I], nor not even a [I]majority[/I] has to adhere to a culture for it to be [I]present[/I] and worth talking about.[/B]

I get catcalled and yelled at by strangers just by walking out in public in jeans and a tee shirt. I have been sexually assaulted at one of my previous jobs, I was groped and choked despite telling the person to stop and talking to my boss about it. Is there rape culture here? No I don't think so, but rape and sexual harassment happens here too. [B]Women in other countries have it so much worse off[/B], period sheds and whatnot, but that doesn't mean men should get away with shit here either.

The critical mistake people in this thread seem to making is believing that "rape culture" means "a culture that celebrates and/or openly allows rape to exist/thrive" when it actuality it's shorthand for the MANY ways in which cultural attitudes around sex, gender roles, and sexuality that [I]implicitly[/I] or tacitly allow perpetrators to get away with rape, to normalize terrible attitudes towards victims, and to allow beliefs about sexuality that inherently promote rape as an act. We REALLY need to move past this 'well IIIII don't see it or experience it regularly so it MUST not exist' mentality which is intellectually weak and inconsiderate of the vast swath of (especially feminine) experience of these pernicious and terrible attitudes. Also quit the 'whataboutisms'. Obviously there are many places in the world that have it worse off than the West but that doesn't mean that the problems arent present here, or that there aren't very serious issues we need to work through.

Oh by the way it happened in a mcdonalds drive thru where there was a camera and[I][B] nothing was done still[/B][/I], I was handling the transactions and he was taking the orders and he kept touching me and harassing me inbetween customers. I really fucking hate bad men but obviously not all men are like this.

[QUOTE=bord2tears;52194670]At least in the U.S. rape is seems more heinous than murder often. (anecdotally speaking)[/QUOTE] you can kill someone for noble reasons but rape can never be justified

[QUOTE=BuffaloBill;52194663]Which is nowhere NEAR the truth in the western world.[/QUOTE] The West is definitely better than some areas, but there are still major issues. Female rapists are barely addressed considering the severity of the crime, the upper-class can easily get away with it, and there's still a large majority of people who approach rape claims thinking "they're probably lying."

If you think there's no such a thing as rape culture in the west, just browse [url=https://www.reddit.com/r/TheRedPill/]TheRedPill[/url] for a few minutes, or go watch something [URL="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_pEfhgG3Ocw"]fun[/URL] about "pick up artists".

[QUOTE=silaz;52194533][URL="http://katu.com/news/local/grant-teachers-letter-denying-rape-culture-outrages-students-parents"]the article[/URL] I go to this school and everything that happens is very publicized, [B]I call bullshit on that person that said there are cases of sexual assault and rape here[/B]. Also, most of all the teachers here are very liberal and are constantly telling us their opinions in class, and even changing the curriculum to fit them.[/QUOTE] That's pretty naive to think that no one in high school is capable of rape or sexual assault or has been a victim of it. I don't live in a bad area at all, in fact I live in a pretty affluent county, but the amount of cases of sexual assault or rape that involve my classmates can't even be counted on two hands. And while I have knowledge of these events either secondhand or thirdhand, I have witnessed an attempted rape at a party and know of two other cases that involved friends of mine which I know for sure are not fabrications. It's usually embarrassing and harrowing for the victims to talk about these things and so don't be surprised if they don't advertise it. These things happen but not everyone hears or sees it.

[QUOTE=Paramud;52194844]The West is definitely better than some areas, but there are still major issues. Female rapists are barely addressed considering the severity of the crime, the upper-class can easily get away with it, and there's still a large majority of people who approach rape claims thinking "they're probably lying."[/QUOTE] I think the biggest issues are in college and small towns, where authority figures will go out of their way to protect athletes accused of rape, in some cases gang rape where the entire local football team is involved.

[QUOTE=Cone;52194810]it's pretty situational, it gets especially flagrant when it's a teenage boy being raped by an older woman for example[/QUOTE] Reminds me of every damn thread where SOMEONE says "I wish I was that boy!" I mean good god a kid was fucking raped

[QUOTE]"Well if they are both drunk it's not really rape."[/QUOTE] Non-forced sex between two drunk people is most certainly a gray area. It has nothing to do with apologizing for a rapist. [QUOTE]"Well, they have been asking for it with these slutty clothes."[/QUOTE] I've never actually seen anyone say this. They generally say something like, "Maybe it would be smart for women not to do X in order to decrease their likelihood of being assaulted (like walking along down a dark ally)," and then people call it victim blaming as if the person was saying the attack was their fault. [editline]6th May 2017[/editline] The defending of actual, clear, rape I've seen is in the context of sports or high powered business and it has nothing to do with defending rape; it has to do with defending the person in question.

[QUOTE=sgman91;52195026]I've never actually seen anyone say this.[/QUOTE] I used to not see this until I joined a Facebook group for my city that was largely conservative. Then I saw it fucking everywhere and I realized that the only reason I wasn't seeing it was because I really only surrounded myself with people who gave a shit about women's rights up until that point.

[QUOTE=millan;52194846]If you think there's no such a thing as rape culture in the west, just browse [url=https://www.reddit.com/r/TheRedPill/]TheRedPill[/url] for a few minutes, or go watch something [URL="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_pEfhgG3Ocw"]fun[/URL] about "pick up artists".[/QUOTE] I just browsed that and I got really really mad. How can some people [I][B]THINK[/B][/I] like this?! What sick twisted reality do those people live in?!

[QUOTE=Snickerdoodle;52195038]I used to not see this until I joined a Facebook group for my city that was largely conservative. Then I saw it fucking everywhere and I realized that the only reason I wasn't seeing it was because I really only surrounded myself with people who gave a shit about women's rights up until that point.[/QUOTE] I'm pretty conservative and am surrounded by tons of conservatives and have never heard anyone say that. Can you post a real example of what you're talking about? At MOST I've heard someone say, "Women should be more modest in how they dress. The rape may not have happened if they had done so." But again, they aren't saying that they are at fault for the rape. They would still say the rapist is a horrible person who deserves the consequences.

Oh and people who say "they shouldnt be dressing like sluts!": girls get catcalled wearing big puffy parka jackets and jeans, I've been catcalled wearing baggy sweats and a stained hoodie like some sort of bum. Jeans and a tee shirt, Arm's length shorts and a tee... doesn't matter, women STILL get catcalled. Even if you take precautions men still do bad shit. (I carry a small switchblade even if its illegal to protect myself because I have to take public transportation sometimes)

a lot of the things I've seen are girls who've worn tank tops or shorts during the summer then told to go home and get changed because it will "distract the boys", although it doesn't promote rape it does trivialise the fact these 12-18 year old girls are being unwillingly sexualised and then having it held against them as if its their fault, plus I don't know about now or in america but when I was still in hs, there where some creepy fucking teachers and we had to wear a uniform.

[QUOTE=millan;52194846]If you think there's no such a thing as rape culture in the west, just browse [URL="https://www.reddit.com/r/TheRedPill/"]TheRedPill[/URL] for a few minutes, or go watch something [URL="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_pEfhgG3Ocw"]fun[/URL] about "pick up artists".[/QUOTE] By that logic you could point to antifa videos and claim the western world is a culture of leftist facism

[QUOTE=sgman91;52195048]I'm pretty conservative and am surrounded by tons of conservatives and have never heard anyone say that. Can you post a real example of what you're talking about? At MOST I've heard someone say, "Women should be more modest in how they dress. The rape may not have happened if they had done so." But again, they aren't saying that they are at fault for the rape. They would still say the rapist is a horrible person who deserves the consequences.[/QUOTE] I would but I left the group because they were a bunch of shitheads. I don't have access to it anymore.