If you’ve ever been in a bathroom stall on campus, chances are you’ve seen a SpeakOut sign. Intended to be both informational and thought provoking, the signs are a concrete example of our abstract goal: to raise awareness about sexual harassment and assault on Princeton’s campus. The signs are educational, but more importantly they are meant as a daily reminder of a serious issue that too many Princeton students brush off as irrelevant to our community. As a member of the organization, I can gratefully report that most members of the Princeton community have received us warmly. To our dismay, however, we have become aware of some strongly negative reactions to our literature or — we have been left to infer — to our message as a whole, manifested in the routine disappearances of the bathroom signs in a few buildings on campus.
No matter how often we replace them, within a matter of hours the signs vanish again. The lack of explanation for the thefts leaves us to assume that the students who take them are doing so in protest, but what and why they are protesting is unclear. The choice of these students to voice their opinion is something we appreciate and encourage, but their disrespectful and underhanded method is not. With no explicit request for a debate about the methods or rationale of SpeakOut on the horizon, we are left to make clear our own position with the hope of sparking an open and respectful dialogue.
We formed SpeakOut because we were outraged. Outraged to learn that one in 12 college-aged men had committed acts meeting the legal definition of rape. We are outraged that 98 percent of rape victims will never see their perpetrator tried, convicted or imprisoned, and that nine out of 10 victims never report assault out of fear of retaliation or loss of privacy. These problems trouble our community and our peers, and we protest the horrible situation that these statistics suggest, as well as the culture that enables it. We are also outraged at the misconception that rape and sexual assault aren’t problems within Princeton, especially when statistics point to exactly the opposite (recent numbers of reported sexual assault at Princeton are steadily rising). As an organization, we want to raise awareness about a real — if uncomfortable — problem on a campus that can be so unfriendly and indifferent to activism.
While the sensitivity of this issue prevents any wide acknowledgement of the fact, we believe elements of University culture contribute to this problem. One of the most frustrating examples we see is the commonplace sexual remark that is excused as a joke even as it objectifies or humiliates its target. (“That test totally raped me.” “You’re such a slut!” “I’d hit that.”) While commonly excused as jokes, these kinds of comments perpetuate and, worse yet, legitimize the mindset that treats misogyny or sexual assault as anything less than serious problems. We are not arguing that a joke can directly lead to sexual abuse or assault, but rather that they contribute to the rhetoric of an unhealthy sexual environment. Graver still are popular myths associated with sexual assault: that alcohol erases blame, that a girl can be “asking for it,” and the absurd notion that rape or harassment could ever be the victim’s fault. We seek to end these problematic elements of Princeton’s culture.
Most of all, we want to end the deafening silence that surrounds this issue and the harm that it causes. The inability in our culture to openly acknowledge the existence and effects of sexual assault and harassment enhances the feelings of shame, isolation and guilt that victims already cope with. The conspicuous lack of dialogue at Princeton about these issues hurts our community — it hurts the victims and it perpetuates the pattern of violence and sexual objectification. Our collective habit of silence must end, and it must end now. As we look forward to this new semester, we believe now is the time for Princeton students to take ownership of our community and affect change. SpeakOut will be attempting to do this by continuing our table-tent campaign, hosting film screenings and panel discussions on sexual politics within relationships, and contributing to the Take Back the Night event. The engagement of the wider Princeton community with these issues through open and honest discussion, however, is the first step toward the more widespread change we seek.
Jordan Kisner is a member of SpeakOut. The group can be reached at speakout.princeton@gmail.com.
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