Dear Editor,

Although I do agree that currently in the United States we have a rape culture and tend to blame the victims, it is not the fault of “joking” around. As comedian, Louis C.K., said, “Any joke about anything bad is great.” Only a person who has immoral values or no values at all, who is also psychotic, can hear a joke about rape and have his psychology changed so much as to influence his behavior and make him think that rape is acceptable; the same way in which a joke about the holocaust will not cause someone to kill a Jewish person, and a joke about blondes will not cause society to undermine the intellectual capacity of blonde-haired females.

Daniel Kolosovski

Dear Editor,

I found Kaley Andrew’s article “University study highlights prevalence of rape culture,” to be quite interesting. While 35 percent might seem like an insignificant number, I think that for this survey this number is incredibly high and appalling. I’m sure that not every single male on campus was surveyed and that’s what makes it even more atrocious. Thirty-five percent of a smaller proportion of men at this university revealed that they would commit rape under certain circumstances (if they could get away with it)! I think the result is absolutely horrifying. Over a third of the men surveyed admitted that they would commit this inexcusable crime. I am completely disgusted by this finding.

I especially appreciated how Andrews quoted Professor Nyenbeku George to explain why this terrible phenomenon that is rape culture exists in our society. Rape culture has destroyed the meaning of the word and the crime and has instead made this crime seem somewhat rational. It’s incredibly disgusting how society and media (television, movies, advertisements, and music) has manipulated us into looking at rape lightly and not the serious issue that it really is. We have become desensitized to this crime by continuing to portray and think of women as sexual objects. I think this comes primarily from what we see and hear on our televisions, movie screens, magazines, and billboards. This idea of rape becomes rationalized when we use women to sell products. We think it is okay to sexualize a woman’s body to sell a hamburger. These types of portrayals of women make it appear that women are aware and inviting sexual attention.

I commend you for running this article and bringing into light how desensitized we are becoming towards rape. Although rape is still considered an atrocious act, we need to be aware that desensitizing ourselves to rape can make it considered okay. It is never okay.

Salwa Mikbel