After the numerous class discussions regarding the recent local rapes, I thought everyone might be interested in reading a related article published in the Tulane newspaper entitled “TUPD, Gibson Respond to Rape”. As implied by its title, the article talks about the ways Tulane is reacting to the current situation and the threat it poses to its students. One thing the school is doing is extending the hours of Saferide so it is available until 6 am on Tuesday through Saturday. Additionally, the school is hosting several sexual awareness activities such as “Walk a Mile in Her Shoes” where male students walk a mile in high heels. I’m sure some people are going to disagree with me here, so I’m writing this post to hear the other opinions on this topic. While I personally commend Tulane for promoting sexual awareness, I’m not exactly sure how the aforementioned event will do anything to prevent future rapes from occurring. In fact, I’m not sure I understand what aspect of female sexuality with which it will familiarize male participants, other than showing them how hard it is to walk around in heels. This to me however, does not define or reveal anything about my sexuality.
In addition to which, the article later goes on to condemn students for not attending the Rape Aggression Defense Classes offered at the Reily Center. What the article fails to mention is that the classes are not free, and all those that I’ve seen advertised require students that students pay to attend said classes. Furthermore, Tulane University Police Sergeant Clint Rollin was quoted as saying, “I think students would rather spend the time doing other things instead of taking 12 hours to learn how to defend themselves… It all comes back to personal responsibility”. I was shocked that the officer would openly blame students, rather than the Police administration itself for its inability to keep students safe. As we’ve said in class, the issue should not come after the rapes occur, it should be the environment in which rape is made possible that is most problematic.
I actually just saw the facebook event for the Walk a Mile in her Shoes event and I wondered the same thing as you. I’ll post the link here so that everyone can see what the intent of the program allegedly is, but I’m not sure if I agree with it. They claim that by raising awareness in a humorous way, men that wouldnt otherwise respond will be willing to participate and address the issue. While I fully commend the idea of getting men involved (and believe that educating men is the key part in preventing these assaults from happening in the first place), I’m not sure that having tulane guys run around in heels is the way to do it. Here’s the link to the event page:
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=54753328852&ref=mf
I do not understand the problem. Obviously guys running around in heels will not prevent rape, men wearing pink t-shirts during a breast cancer run do not cure cancer. I think using this as awareness and an effort to get men involved to admit the harsh reality happening to women on campus is not a bad idea. Every little bit helps. Hopefully the guys who do participate come to the realization that rape can happen to anyone, including their friends, sisters, moms, etc. Maybe after the event they will be one less likely to rape. Sometimes a little participation can really open one’s eyes.
What the hell, let them wear the heels for once!
it is interesting that high heels are meant to symbolize womanhood sooo much that a man wearing them for half an hour would be able to understand what, arguably, most threatens womanhood; rape. i do not think this will be anything but men further reasserting their masculinity by being so darn bad at being feminine (in heels). they’ll be hobbling, laughing, and joking about those silly females and their impractical footwear -and, thus, their impractical vanity. we’ve all heard it “girls are so dumb- just wear comfortable shoes.” what isn’t said is the cultural expectation of sexiness of women- which is the same expectation that leads to rape.
our bodies are not sexable. our bodies are not rapeable.
I agree. I spoke to my mother about this “Walk a Mile in Her Shoes” event, and told her about our debate in class about whether or not this would actually accomplish anything in terms of rape awareness. I told her that I aired on the side that it wouldn’t do anything because the boys would not take it seriously, and as was mentioned in the above post, just give the Tulane boys another chance to assert their masculinity. She agreed with me and said, “they should at least make them run in the heels” (which I thought was pretty funny). It’s true; walking around in heels for a half an hour will not change the whole meaning of rape and how it makes women feel. As a woman, whether I am in high heels or not, if I am walking at night in a city like New Orleans, I am afraid and nervous. Just wearing heels will not put the same fear in men as the culture of rape does for women.
As many of you have posted about your concerns over this effort of “Walk a Mile in Her Shoes” and after our discussion in class I decided to do some research on this project. As we decided in our activism work it is important to not only educate women on sexual violence but also men and this is exactly the focus of “Walk a Mile in Her Shoes” mission which states, “Co-creating a United Gender Movement, men will be a part of the solution to ending sexualized violence.” It began with Frank Baird when he first proposed Walk a Mile in Her Shoes in 2001. “The Men’s March started out small and has grown each year since, with larger crowds attending each March and Marches held in multiple locations benefiting multiple rape crisis centers.” As articulated on their website sexualized violence does not only affect women but also the men who care about them, their families, their friends, their coworkers, and their communities. In order to terminate this violence men must know they are powerful players and I believe Walk a Mile In Her Shoes is a “step” (pun intended) in the right direction.
Here is the link to the website:
http://www.walkamileinhershoes.org/index.html