The Rush Effect

So in the past month there have been two reputable university newspapers (Princeton and American University) that have published articles by rape apologists.  The focus of both articles are that when women go out and get drunk, flirt, kiss, perhaps go to a guy's bedroom that they are sending signals that they want sex and if they didn't want to have sex with a random guy they should not have gone and done any of these things.  The author's make claims such as, we take precautions with our property and avoid things that would cause them to be lost/stolen/broken , why don't women do that with their bodies?  There is also the perspective that not all women in this situation would feel violated...that they subscribe to "rules" of anonymous sex in which they would not feel violated having drunken sex with a stranger...so why do the ones who don't feel this way get to call this rape and how can men tell these women apart?  I think these articles don't need the time and energy to warrant a lengthy response...as one of the authors says in his own article,

Feminism envisions a bedroom scene in which two amorphous, gender-neutral blobs ask each other “Is this OK with you?” before daring to move their lips any lower on the other’s body. 

I'm going to ignore the condescending tone and actually agree with what he says. Before you have sex (especially with a stranger) you should assess your partner's comfort and ask outright if they are ok with having sex...anything other then a definite, outright yes (no hesitation) means that you should stop and let the horomones chill out.  If this makes sex with strangers less thrilling...well...too bad.  Even fetishes like S&M have safe words for a reason.

I'm obviously angered by rape apologists and victim blaming whenever it happens, but what I'm also angry about is the attention that these articles receive on the internet.  The claims in the article are so outlandish that it seems obvious the writers are attention seekers trying to get their name out there.  And why not?  There are a whole bunch of conservative outlets that would love to have Alex Knepper (writer for American University newspaper) work for them...look at the attention he got from one article in a college newspaper.  He's a little mini-Rush Limbaugh in the making.  And that's what get's these guys off...he wants to piss off Liberals...he wants the comments on the online news story to go on and on about how horrible what he has to say is.  He wants the attention and the future ratings.  I feel like most the audiences for these Conservative shows don't really take the hosts seriously, they enjoy the inflamatory, tounge-in-cheek nature of what they are saying and the rise that it will get out of "liberals" (for the record I hate the terms liberal and conservative, but I'm lacking better terms at the moment...I feel like that is for another blog post).  They are like big brothers picking on their sibling for no other purpose than to see them squirm.  While I'm sure the authors agree with some of what they are writing, I also believe they don't completely disagree with what others believe either.  They just like to hear themselves talk.  It's a new generation of celebrity ...look at Speidi and other reality stars who are just famous for being ridiculous.  I don't think Alex Knepper really cares about date rape, he cares about Alex Knepper, and that I, random blogger know his name.  And the fact that he succeeded, pisses me off!