Rape and College Sex

This article and the article that it dissects brings up an incredibly complicated topic. When does drunken sexual mistakes become rape? Let's face it: most of these occurrences take place during the college years. There is entirely too much drinking going on, and there is a lot of peer pressure to have sex.

So where is the line between rape and a sexual mistake drawn? Personally, I don't have the answer. There are a couple of points that need to be made though.

1. No matter how you look at the whole issue, the entire system is stacked against men. What happens when a man feels sexually used and abused? I have a feeling that there are quite a few men out there who are afraid that rape charges will be made against them if they come forward. There are two sides to every story.

2. There is entirely too much pressure on young men and women to have sex and to drink in college. It is pretty much expected of everyone, and it takes a strong person to make those decisions for him or herself. There needs to be more room for individual decision-making. As much as everyone claims that college is all about independence, the peer pressure to conform can easily overwhelm people not accustomed to making decisions on their own.

3. Personal responsibility is not stressed nearly enough. All too often the wrong people are punished and the worst users and abusers are running around free. We need to get back to a deep sense of personal responsibility in our culture, but currently, it is almost non-existent. Personally responsibility would go a long way to prevent the drunken sexual mistakes made in college.

The three issues mentioned above may seem obvious to some, but no one seems to be doing anything to rectify the situation. I dare say that it is getting worse each and every day.

Pajamas Media » Blog Archive » Common Sense and Double Standards in ‘Campus Rape Myth’

Lindsey

PS - I may share a personal story on this topic later.