Every year around the commencement of summer, magazines and online blogs publish content for college women, encouraging girls to start carrying pepper spray, telling them to keep a close eye on drinks, and advising women to get acquainted with getting out of uncomfortable situations. These publications flood the shelves of convenience stores and Internet sites, but seem only to drown girls with the idea that they are the ones responsible for avoiding unwanted scenarios.
Why is that?
How is it that we put full responsibility on college women for their safety? Would it be so crazy to instead condemn the heinous acts that some college guys commit rather than telling women to cover up and watch their cups? Often, females are overwhelmed by the scolding of promiscuity and told to be wary of their sexual conduct while most college guys are only warned about unwanted pregnancies and avoiding STDs. The divide in this advice is absolutely unreasonable and not to mention, sexist.
Women furthering their education should not HAVE to worry about being taken advantage of. No woman should. Women should not have to know the feeling of a guy being too aggressive. Women should not have to feel the need to bring their cups with them everywhere they go. Women also should not feel obligated to seek materials about being alert and safe on a college campus.
We should be telling women that they deserve better. We need to reprimand the college men that take advantage of the girl who has been drinking or even a friend. We should be providing information to BOTH genders regarding appropriate and inappropriate behavior, what “no” means, and not only the seriousness but also clarification of what rape and sexual assault really are.
We may think that providing safety tips for women in universities is merely helping but our “tips” only further the bias that already exists between men and women. Obviously, this irrefutable divide is extremely discriminative. It’s time to take that double standard and subtract one. Some say that society should not set any guidelines for how men and women should act; however, one standard should exist. Both sexes should be treated equally and be issued equivalent accountability for their actions.
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