EDITOR
Erin Gibson
OPINION
EDITOR
Cliff Hicks
EDITORIAL
BOARD
Nancy Christensen
Brad Davis
Sam McKewon
Jeff Randall
Bret Schulte
Our
VIEW
Not asking
for it
Rape article is insult
to women, men
Women, if you are worried about rape
and sexual harassment, Cheryl Lavin has
some advice for you.
Her article “The Politics of Skin,” which
ran in the April 18 edition of the Chicago
Tribune Magazine encouraged women to
dress and act modestly as a way to protect
themselves.
Keaa me paper, Lavin aavisea women.
“Rising instances of date rape, stalking, sex
ual harassment. Do you have to be an old
timer to wonder if it’s time for women to
cover themselves up?”
Lavin doesn’t think it’s fair of women to
flaunt their skin and body parts in front of
men because men, of course, cannot help but
stare. And if they don’t want to be assaulted
by men, they shouldn’t entice them.
Well, she can try to present this modesty
“movement” as some friendly advice to
women, but it’s really the same story women
have been hearing for years. And offering it
in the fashion section of the Chicago Tribune
Magazine doesn’t suddenly make it trendy.
Blaming the victim is tired. Sorry, Cheryl
Lavin, but men don’t rape women or harass
them or stalk them because they become so
turned on by them that they just can’t help
themselves. And if you can find some kind of
relationship between the way women are
dressed and their chances of being sexually
assaulted, then you’re probably the first.
Women can cover their bodies, cross their
legs and shut their mouths, but that won’t
make rape go away. Rape and sexual harass
ment are about power and control. And it is
time to stop presenting them as women’s
issues and start addressing the source of the
problem, which is the men who commit these
crimes.
It is common knowledge banks are
packed with money, but just try to rob one
and then use the defense that the bank was
asking for it because it presented too much of
a temptation. No jury would let an excuse
like that slide. But it sure seems to work well
in rape trials.
Like Lavin, many people think men just
can’t control themselves once their hor
mones start raging, and women should know
exactly what kind of behavior and way of
> dressing will arouse men too much.
It’s about time we start giving both
women and men more credit. Lavin implies
that all men are capable of this kind of behav
ior if enraptured enough by women’s flesh,
but most men don’t rape. Obviously, men are
capable of a little more thought and compas
sion than Lavin gives them credit for. At the
same time, she makes excuses for the men
who are raping, Sexually harassing and stalk
ing women.
Cheryl Lavin may think she has stumbled
on a new concept for women to advance in a
patriarchal society, but, no matter how she
dresses it up, she is really just reinforcing the
status quo.
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the Spring 1999 Daily Nebraskan. They
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. Horsey’s
VIEW
Where blame is due
Violent teen-agers are responsible for own actions
A.L. FORKNER is a junior
news-editorial major and a
Daily Nebraskan columnist.
Aren’t the 1990s wonderful? No
one does anything wrong. Ever. Oh,
’tis truly a joyous and magical time.
There are no bad people that commit
crimes against their fellow human
beings.
There’s still crime, just no crimi
nals. There are just victims. Victims of
the crime, and victims that commit the
crime.
Take, for example, the two students
police say committed the murders in
Littleton, Colo.
Were they vicious cold-blooded
killers? No, video games made them
pull the trigger on innocent classmates.
Did they plan and plot everyone’s
deaths? Uh-uh, that would be violent
movies and TV shows that made them
do it.
Was it deliberate research that pro
vided those kids with the information
to build pipe bombs? Fugheddaboutit,
it was the Internet that made them pro
cure the supplies.
Did they work within the system to
obtain the weapons they used? No way,
the gun manufacturers made them load
up and kill.
Obviously, I was being factitious.
However, that was the impression that I
got from listening to the news this last
week. Blame was a word bandied
about like a comma.
“The parents were to blame...”
“Marilyn Manson is to blame...” “The
media are to blame...”
No. The two dead kids are to
blame. They planned it, prepared for it
and went through with it. They are to
blame, simple as that.
Am I disputing all of the above as
influences? No, I’m not that naive. Yes,
the world is a violent place. TV is
rough, music is violent and arcades
make for pretty good shooting gal
leries.
It doesn’t matter. The final decision
in anything belongs to the individual.
Outside forces can try to sway my
decision, but the final say is mine and
mine alone.
Look at me. I can recite “Dirty
Harry” and “Die Hard” movies verba
tim. I am damn good at shooting
games. I read books from “The
Executioner” series in grade school.
Hell, I make it a point to fire a real gun
every now and then just to reassure
myself I can.
Have 1 ever killed anyone / No.
Have I ever thought about it? Yes.
Seriously? No.
Want to know why I have never
really thought about it any further than,
“I’d like to kill that guy”?
It’s wrong. Two words, a whole
lotta meaning. My parents never
specifically said, “A.L., you can’t kill
people. It’s wrong.” I never got the
good vs. evil talk after a particularly
bloody game of “guns.” My folks
bought me G.I. Joes and toy guns for
birthdays and Christmas.
Yet, I still know it’s wrong.
Therefore, no killings on my record.
Am I oversimplifying things too
much? I don’t think so. I believe that
things have been over-thought. Instead
of hearing those children were messed
up in the head, people want a more
complex answer. You can’t go in front
of a news conference and say, “These
two suspects were messed up.”
I had a personal experience with
school violence when I was a junior in
high school. One of my childhood
friends, Ryan, walked into his math
class, pulled out a sawed-off shotgun
and held his classmates hostage for
eight hours.
I was sitting in the newsroom at my
high school across town. Meanwhile,
another of my good friends, John, was
sitting in that classroom for the whole
ordeal.
After the standoff ended without
violence, the media and the experts
spun the blame onto a Stephen King
novel. Others tried to blame his par
ents.
I knew Ryan and his folks. His par
ents were attentive and active in Ryan’s
life. Ryan, on the other hand, surprised
none of us when we heard the news. To
be honest, when it happened I turned
to a mutual friend and jokingly said,
“It’s probably Ryan.”
In retrospect, it was pretty obvious.
Ryan was dark and sullen in a loving
home environment. He had no real
problems, he only thought he did. The
standoff was his attempt at suicide-by
cop.
I’m sorry, but the blame m Ryan’s,
and all the others’, cases can only be
placed in one spot - the kids. Sure,
maybe their parents didn’t sit them
down for the “Don’t kill people” talk,
but that’s a lesson that is learned in life.
A 4-year-old might not get it, but a 17
year-old damn better.
When they don’t, it’s no one’s fault
but their own.
My opinion does nothing to dimin
ish the horrible acts, nor does it try to
explain their actions. It’s just that until
we cut out the finger-pointing, we’re
never going to be able to deal with
another tragedy. Without dealing with
this problem at its roots, students will
be needlessly harassed and others
needing help will continue to be
ignored.
It’s not about trenchcoats, Korn
videos or Kenny getting killed every
week. It’s about kids with problems not
knowing how to deal with them. These
kids are usually recognized and helped.
Sometimes, however, they slip through
the cracks. Instead of blaming the
Rocky Mountain News, we need to get
past the blame and get to the cracks.
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