YES. This Letter To Women Entering College Is PERFECTION. Share This With Every College-Aged Woman You Know!

This column in the Wall Street Journal is a MUST READ.

We’ve talked a lot about how women need to use common sense to protect themselves against assaults/attacks, and we’ve also talked about how ridiculous it is that some feminists insist that the solution to sexual assaults is to simply tell men not to sexually assault.

Yes.  In an ideal world, you could just say, “Hey dudes – don’t rape women” and that’d work.  We don’t live in an ideal world.

Jennifer Braceras’s column, called Straight Talk for College Women, is a common sense article, so naturally feminists will probably hate it.

It’s a letter addressed to the female members of the class of 2021, and right off the bat, it explains that the commonly heard stat of “1 in 4 women will be sexually assaulted on campus” is a big fat lie:

The assertion that nearly a quarter of all college women are sexually assaulted is based on surveys that ask vaguely worded questions about behavior ranging from an unexpected kiss to rape. In analyzing the responses, those who lump all such conduct into a catchall category of “sexual assault” deliberately create a false impression in order promote their view of the campus as a “rape culture.” The truth is, you are far less likely to be raped than women your age who are not in college. The Justice Department estimates approximately 1 in 53 college women will be victims of rape or sexual assault—an unacceptable number, but hardly an epidemic.

She then goes on to explain that universities’ solution to the problem has been to develop ridiculous bureaucracies to investigate assault claims, which do very little to actually keep women safe or punish offenders, because the university’s main concern is always to protect the university.

College victim advocates and Title IX coordinators may have an interest in appearing “tough on assault,” but they also have an interest in avoiding bad publicity, which means limiting your options and discouraging police involvement.

And she also puts some blame squarely where it belongs – on today’s “hook-up culture.”  Progressive feminists want to have random sex with strangers because it’s their prerogative, but they take no responsibility whatsoever for the outcomes that are largely predictable whenever you mix alcohol and partying and horny young people together.

No one wants to sound like a prude, and no one wants to “blame the victim” so universities don’t give you the Actual Guidelines that could Actually Keep You Safe.

Guidelines like these:

• Do not get drunk and go home with someone you don’t know. Anyone who has followed the recent turmoil knows that binge drinking is the common denominator in reported incidents of campus assault. A drunken stupor never justifies criminal behavior, but staying sober can help avoid dangerous or compromising situations.

 

• There’s safety in numbers. If you are out for a night of revelry, stay with friends. Don’t leave the group to go home with that cute guy you just met. If he is really interested (and worth your time), he will contact you tomorrow—when you’re both sober.

 

• Reject the hookup culture. Sex without trust and commitment often ends poorly. It may sound old-fashioned, but it’s really common sense: If you don’t know someone well, and you are unsure whether you can trust him, is it really a smart idea to be alone with him in a state of partial undress?

 

• Be self-confident. It’s OK to meet a guy around the keg or at the pong table, but hold out for a real date. You deserve it.

 

• Buyer beware. If you do decide to participate in the “hookup” culture, go in with your eyes open. Promises made in the heat of passion are meaningless. Suitors will promise the moon to get you into bed. Many of them will want nothing to do with you the next day, which will (understandably) leave you feeling humiliated and exploited. That doesn’t make you a rape victim. It makes you naive.

 

• Be clear about your wishes. If you do not want to do something, say so clearly. You are an adult, and you have free will and moral agency. You have a right to say no at any stage. But do not expect your partner to infer reluctance from your demeanor. Only you know what makes you uncomfortable, and it is up to you to articulate it.

 

• If you are assaulted, seek immediate help from someone you trust who is not affiliated with the college. Remember, the college’s interests are not your own. Call your parents or another trusted adult, call 911, seek medical attention, or call a rape hotline. Do it as soon as possible.

I can’t applaud this enough.

It drives me absolutely bonkers when people get mad at suggestions like those.  They’re all, “Why should women have to pair up or be in groups in order to freely walk on campus?  Why shouldn’t they get to drink at parties without fearing a potential assault?”  I’ll tell you why.  Because we live in a world where people suck.

It’s the reason we lock our homes when we leave for work.  We SHOULD be able to go to work and trust that our fellow humans won’t rob our homes, but just in case, we lock the doors.  Maybe we have security systems, even.  If I suggest to you that you lock your home or get a security system, I’m not victim blaming.  I’m asking you to employ some common sense to help protect yourself, because unfortunately, people suck.

This reminds me of when I had fights with people about Zerlina Maxwell saying that the solution to rape was to tell men not to rape. I had the weirdest email exchange ever with a lawyer chick who simply could not get through her giant, elitist, lawyer head why it was so absurd for Zerlina Maxwell to say something like that in the context of disarming women. Do you remember that? If not, you can catch up right here.

Let me break this down again so that I don’t have to deal with a bunch of progressive feminist wackjobs sending me more emails.

Women shouldn’t have to buy guns or other defense weapons to protect themselves against rape. They shouldn’t have to be afraid to walk alone at night. They shouldn’t have to worry about what messages they’re sending with the clothing they wear.  They shouldn’t have to worry about being assaulted if they want to enjoy some liquor at a party.

We shouldn’t have to be afraid of people robbing our homes or cars.  We shouldn’t have to fear evacuating our cities during hurricanes because people might loot our homes while we’re gone.

But here’s the thing, y’all. We don’t live in some sort of fairy tale utopia.  We live in the Real World, where people suck.  So – given that reality, it’s not wrong to suggest that people do basic things to protect themselves.

That’s why I was so glad to see Jennifer Braceras’s column.  Common sense is so lacking these days, that when I see it, I have to praise it.