Rape Culture at the University of Guelph

Today, I had the worst pedagogical experience I have had in a long time.  It makes me question the value of my teaching and it has forced me to reassess my goals as an educator.

I am a member of a Facebook group called “Overhead at Guelph.”  The purpose of the group is, ostensibly, to share the stupid/funny/crazy things you hear people saying as you go about your life on campus.  Recently, there have been more efforts to police the group from within, not in terms of keeping offensive language and material off of the group, but instead to keep material that questions dominant gender expectations off of the site.  That is, a recent comment by a student at Guelph who expressed disbelief at a rape apologist statement delivered in class by another student garnered well over a hundred responses as students argued both rape apologist and anti-rape positions.

The thread petered out – as all things will on the internet – yet the take away from the discussion was not to shame the rape apologists, but to embolden them.  Those who expressed views that were not in line with conventional gender norms were invited to take their views elsewhere as the group was “for joking around.”

                I was proud that there were enough students in the group who would stand up to the asinine commentary of rape apologists and trolls (those who comment to online forums merely to get a rise out of their opponents) to largely shut down the group and make people think.  As a teacher who deals with rape and mutilation in my classes, I was exceptionally happy to see some of my students fighting the good fight.  Sadly, last night a post was put up in that same group that was reciting a chant that had been overheard on “the drunk bus.”  The chant is a violent male fantasy about rape and I quote it in full:

Guy:I wish that all the women
Group: I wish that all the women!
Guy: Were statues of Venus
Group: Were statues of Venus!
Guy: Cuz then they`d have no arms
Group: Cuz then they`d have no arms!
Guy: To push away my penis
Group: To push away my penis!

 

I am not removing or obscuring the names of those who commented because the page is publicly accessible and it would be pointless to attempt to keep the privacy of those who did comment either which way.

 

 

What saddens me is not that the commentary that has followed has not been equally disruptive as last time, nor is it the fact that there are dozens (literally dozens) of students who approve of that message.  No, what saddens me is the fact that one of my own students… one of the students whom I taught Titus Andronicus with its graphic images of rape and mutilation… not only did he approve of the message, he decided to add to the song.

Wish that all the women were pies on the shelf, and I was the baker so I’d cream em all myself.

Wish that all the ladies were bells in the tower, and I was quasimodo so i’d bang em every hour.

 

 

 

What have I been doing in these classes that one of my own students does not have the presence of mind to make the connection between such statements and a culture of gratuitous violence and rape?  What has the point of my teaching been if I can’t get my own students to recognize the most fundamental rights of other human beings?  What is the point of teaching these kids about sexual violence when they can only rabbit back the party line and then go off to use their creative energies to further a rape culture?

                I’m teaching Shakespeare again in the spring.  I had planned on using the lectures that I have prepared on Titus Andronicus, but now I don’t know.  Now, I recognize that for at least a few of my students, such lectures, with their balanced, academic approach to what is an inherently difficult topic, just didn’t work.

 I can already hear the cries of many who may read this – that you can’t reach all students.  This, however, is a topic on which it is impossible that one doesn’t at least try to reach every single student.  This is a topic where we can’t afford, as a society and as pedagogues, to let any single person continue to promulgate fear and hatred.

                This weekend is St. Patrick’s Day and, knowing the propensity of students to binge drink on that day coupled with the correlation between alcohol consumption and sexual assault, a lot of students I know or have taught are going to be raped this weekend.  Or if not one of my students, then perhaps someone they know. It will happen.  It is a statistical guarantee.  What saddens me is that one of my former students is participating in a culture that begets that statistical guarantee.

                What do I do?  How am I supposed to react?  How am I supposed to stop this culture from continuing?  I’ve approached the Human Rights and Equity Office at the University of Guelph, though because the site is privately run, there’s probably very little they can do about it.  I will bring this topic up at the feminist round table later in the month, to be sure, but what more can be done?

I’m a teacher.  I like to think that that means that I can help students to understand themselves and situate themselves in the world in an ethical and reasonable manner.  Any suggestions?