Radical Notions

cobblestone—whispers:

Hi, everyone. I am a sophomore at Northeastern University.

As many of you may have heard, the Northeastern Barstool Blackout Tour is taking place on Thursday, an event sponsored by the website Barstool Sports, which focuses more on the objectification of women than it does sports. The site is rife with inappropriate rape jokes that degrade women and normalize rape culture (even more than it already universally is on college campuses by rape apologists who like to ‘fuck drunk sluts’ every weekend). In one of many reprehensible and misogynistic posts the site has made in regard to the Blackout event and its well-deserved backlash, “El Presidente” David Portnoy writes: “Just to make friends with the feminists I’d like to reiterate that we don’t condone rape of any kind at our Blackout Parties in mid January. However if a a chick passes out that’s a grey area though.”



I am absolutely sickened by the amount of cruel, negative, and generally misinformed backlash that the organization Knockout Barstool is getting — just for standing for something real, something other than getting trashed at a party, which seems to be one of the only recognizable passions of many of Barstool’s supporters — for standing against this pervasive rape culture of ignorant victim-blaming.



Being raped is not a joke. Rape is a traumatizing experience that ruins lives. And what makes it worse is people who blame the victim; what makes it worse is people like the writers at Barstool Sports and many of its ostensible supporters, who make rape into twisted humor (“If you’re a size 6 and you’re wearing skinny jeans you kind of deserve to be raped right?”, writes Portnoy; “Best part about this thing is that I’m totally comfortable with saying that I’d rape the fuck out of the chick in the KO Barstool picture,” writes commenter The Hiphopopotamus). What makes it worse is a society that teaches “don’t get raped” instead of one that teaches “don’t rape.” What makes it worse is those who say that it was her fault, because she was drunk, because she was alone, because she was dressed promiscuously, because she was a slut, because she was flirting, because she was asking for it.

Enough with the backwards jokes. Enough with the excuses.



I am appalled by girls who refuse to open their eyes — girls who behave in a patently anti-feminist manner (read: anti-equality, because to quote the beautiful Kate Nash, “FEMINISM is not a dirty word. It does not mean you hate men, it does not mean you hate girls that have nice legs and a tan, and it does not mean you are a ‘bitch’ or ‘dyke’, it means you believe in equality”) — and for what? In order to impress the very pigheaded men perpetuating this drivel. In one of Portnoy’s blog posts entitled “Does This Look Like the Face of a Guy Who Would Ever Need To Rape A Chick to Get Pussy?”, he writes: “Honestly I can’t tell you how many emails I’m getting from girls who say they are feminists apologizing for these broads. ” Just being like I’m so embarrassed that girls like these exist.  Maybe we should just stay in the kitchen after all.  Can I suck you dick Thursday to make up for it?”

If that statement even has a shred of truth in it, then I am completely embarrassed that girls like THAT exist; girls who embrace objectification and degradation in favor of attention from masochistic “bros” who often have no reservations about taking falling-down drunk girls back to their apartments for a little weekend fun. Yeah, she wasn’t in the place of mind to give any true consent, but who cares? She made the decision to get drunk: her problem, not yours! And girls, then he’s a stud, you’re a slut, he says so, you say so, society says so!



I am appalled by the insidious amount of rape apologists and victim blame that goes on my college campus.



I am seriously re-evaluating my friendships with males that I once considered my friends, because enough is enough. Enough is enough when they feel absolutely no sympathy for female friends that have been raped, because date rape isn’t REAL rape, and besides, she’s a slut, remember? Enough is enough when they make jokes about women standing up for themselves, because only ugly broads care about sexism, right? Enough is enough when you see these things happening every weekend, when you witness clearly blacked-out girls being led into bedrooms that she won’t remember in the morning and that she’ll be too scared to tell anyone the truth about, because society has told us that she’s the problem, that it’s no big deal, that she’s a slut who should be ashamed of herself.

Feminist girls who fight against these things seem to be one of two things in the eyes of the Barstool writers and supporters: bitter sluts, or fat dykes who, according to commenter Sweener15, apparently just need someone who “might stick his dick in [their] hairy twat”, and then they’ll go running right back to the kitchen like the perfect future housewife should.



I am sick and tired of this. I am sick and tired of keeping my mouth shut; I am sick and tired of standing idly by and watching my peers get harassed, degraded — and even assaulted.

I stand with KO Barstool: Rape is not funny, and sexism is still clearly flourishing here in 2012.



If she was asking for it, why couldn’t you?