Welcome and Overview

As of January 2020, I'm finishing my Master's degree in English Rhetoric and Composition at Ball State University. There, I study writing centers, sexual assault rhetoric, and trauma-informed pedagogy. With all of these realms, I want to enact change—to make writing centers more inclusive, braver spaces; to help rape culture go away and a society where survivors are believed; to create classrooms that are proactive and treat any student with care and respect. I, however, realized that all of these goals are idealistic as well as only work inside the academy, which is a microcosm of the racism, sexism, homophobia, ableism, classism, etc. that permeate the world. Therefore, I want this blog to be something not for the Ivory Tower, but instead something that discusses life and our culture for everyone living that life and in this culture. With that, I will be writing semi-regularly to analyze popular culture that inundates our lives and how it may be more problematic that one may first think. In order to do these analyses, though, I want to start our with an overview of sexual violence and rape culture in the United States so that we can have a basis from which to go. 

Sexual Misconduct and Violence in the United States
Sexual misconduct is a non-legal term that can include stalking and sexual harassment. Sexual violence is also a non-legal term that includes sexual assault, rape, sexual abuse, incest, etc. Statistically, in the United States, every 73 seconds, another person is sexually assaulted. These people can be those that surround your daily life. Here's just an overview of some of the many statistics available: 

• 1 out of every 6 cisgender women will be sexually assaulted in their lifetimes, with women 18-24 the most likely out of the general population to be assaulted 
• 1 out of every 33 cisgender men will be sexually assaulted in their lifetimes, with 1 out of every 10 rape victims being male
• 47% of transgender people will be sexually assaulted in their lifetimes 
• Lesbian, gay, and bisexual people are at higher risk of sexual violence compared to heterosexual people
• People of color are at even higher risks of sexual violence compared to white people
• Disabled people twice as likely to experience sexual violence compared to those without disabilities
• Poverty also greatly influences not only one's chance of being assaulted, but also the aftermath of one's assault

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Myths of Sexual Violence
There are many, many myths surrounding sexual violence, and subsequent posts will begin to unravel them even more, but let's start with an overview of some of the more ubiquitous ones: 
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Myth 1: The survivor was asking to be assaulted based on their clothes, appearance, demeanor, alcohol/drug consumption.

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Reality 1: No one ever asks to be assaulted. One's clothes or how much they have consumed does not invite violence upon them. If someone is stoned, drunk, or passed out, they cannot consent to sexual conduct.

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Myth 2: Strangers are usually the ones to sexually assault people. And, it's in dark alleys with a weapon. 
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Reality 2: Over 80% of sexual assaults are committed by someone the survivor knows, usually in private dwellings. Also, weapons are used in only about 11% of ​reported cases.

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Myth 3: If someone doesn't report their assault, then they weren't really assaulted. Or, if they don't act upset, it didn't happen.

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Reality 3: 3 out of every 4 instances of sexual violence go unreported. This is for a variety of reasons, including, but not limited to, fear, lack of trust in the police/institution, etc. Also, responses to sexual violence range greatly, and there is no one right way a survivor should act—any way they react is normal.

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Myth 4: If someone doesn't fight back against their perpetrator, they must have wanted it.

Reality 4: The physiological reactions to stress are fight-flight-freeze. Never blame a survivor for doing anything they could do to stay alive in that moment.