Make Some Fucking Noise, DC!

The District of Columbia is up to its knees in disrespectful young men, and when college women complain, the authorities laugh. But can we really be surprised? Since when has anyone in this town respected us? Washington D.C. is the biggest boys’ club in America!

And yet, there isn’t much to laugh about.

The two incidents which I’m referring to are the “Georgetown Cuddler,” with his sweet and affectionate name (that hides his danger and disrespect), and the travel-to-unravel UMD freshman Seth Rudnitsky, who entered a GWU dorm and attempted to sexually assault sleeping female students. These two incidents share:

1. The presence of a perpetrator and a survivor, if not multiple survivors, of sexual assault
2. The pre-existing atmosphere of hookup culture
3. The presumption of male intent as “immaturity” or “fun”, and
4. Sexual Assault. (Can we be clear on that?) SEXUAL ASSAULT.

Seth’s lawyer, though, insisted that he was just a silly drunk kid, and therefore shouldn’t be seen as criminal or as a sexual offender. (Being drunk seems to be less incriminating when we’re talking to the rapist and not the raped.) The law loves judgment, and the law also loves when men aren’t held accountable for theirs. And then there’s the Georgetown Cuddler (read: rapist, scumbucket), a young man who’s been sneakin’ into rooms and making himself comfortable. He earned his nickname through student media, a reminder that sexual crimes never seem to be all that bad- or horrific- to anyone but the survivors.

Why do we claim young people are more progressive, laying praise on each new class of undergrads as more ambitious, more egalitarian than others, in a country where date rape is still perceived as an exaggeration of bad sex, where a punch bowl is still a basin for victim-blaming, where “Greek” is an excuse for coercion, where women participate in a culture that takes pleasure and replaces it with reputations and booty calls?

I used to think it was the structures of another generation that did a disservice to my “young” and “fresh” ideals of equality (though they should be antiquated already!), but now I am beginning to see that we’re doing this to ourselves by allowing this behavior to exist on our campuses, sidewalks, and country. It’s time for young people to do what we do best- make some fucking noise.

Tags: activism, college, men, rape, wasted, women