From Trenton Jerrod Edwards

Wednesday, Sept. 28, 2011

Dear editor of The University Press,

I am writing in regards to your article titled “Case of the Girl Who Cried Wolf…or Rape,” in the September 20, 2011 issue of the University Press. As a reader and a student, I am very disappointed in your stance on this issue. The position the writer took was basically that this girl somehow deserved to be raped because she allegedly was promiscuous and liked to drink. Yes, under-age drinking should by no means be condoned, but that does not give you the right to determine that because of it she deserved to be raped. You automatically assumed that because she likes the company of guys, that she wanted to have sex and enjoyed having it with this particular guy. That certainly does not warrant her being raped. You even went so far as to say that she had “a serious psychological problem.” This is an example of medicalization. Her having sex is not a medical issue that needs to be treated. What is a problem is the fact that this girl could have possibly been raped and you and your writers think it is okay.

You didn’t even include any information on the alleged rapist. From the article, I get the idea that for some reason it was okay, or didn’t matter, that he was having sex, might have had sex with plenty of girls, and could have possibly raped the girl mentioned in the article. This is a socially constructed/scripted view. It is okay for a guy, but never for a girl is the view that permeates in society and is evident in this article. This also presents a binary. Because she possibly chose to invite him over, you paint a picture of her being a whore or a slut. He came over, had sex with this girl, possibly even raped her, but no information or blame was placed on him, as if he’s above her or exempt in some way. You completely ignored the males place in all of this and went straight to criticizing the young lady. This reinforces so many negative gender and sexuality issues in our society today. These views should not be in our university newspaper!