Your argument is invalid: Serious blog post is serious

I know this is a funny blog, but please read this post. It’s important to me to share this with you guys.

Allow me to give you a summary of what happened last night in my dorm. I heard roommate talking to this guy in the hallway about the board our RA had made regarding sexual assault. He asked what was up with it. She thought he was asking about RA boards in general, so roommate told him that every RA has to make boards. (These boards are basically like these big boards that the RAs decorate and choose some kind of theme and put information on it). Turns out he had his panties all in a twist because he didn’t think that there should be a board about sexual assault.

I was proud of myself for remaining calm and rational while he spat ridiculous arguments at me. But here is a rough account of what happened, with his arguments and my responses.

Argument #1: I’ve never heard about sexual assault so it doesn’t matter.

Response: The difference between the number of sexual assault cases that actually happen and the number that are reported is huge. People are sometimes not informed about what sexual assault is, and don’t know that it is something that you can report. He asked what sexual assault was, and I told him that it was any unwanted sexual contact.

Argument #2: Sexual assault is just when a man rapes a woman.

Response: It is considered ANY kind of unwanted sexual contact, whether a man assaults a woman or a woman assaults a man. It is not simply “intercourse.” Any kind of touching, grabbing, groping, etc. that the person receiving it does not consent to is sexual assault.

Argument #3: I never hear about it on the news so it doesn’t matter.

Response: The news is not and SHOULD not be the end all be all of what matters. Oftentimes there is no way to have evidence for a sexual assault case, so it won’t be advertised. There is so much in this world that matters that isn’t going to be on the news. Media is an often-corrupt information source that is going to talk about what makes them the most money.  He then responded with, “Well you always hear about murders. Or rape. Rape is a big deal.” And I told him that rape is the easiest type of sexual assault to prove or have evidence for. And murder is much more advertised because people know what it is, and they know that it’s wrong. But other kinds of sexual assault aside from rape may not be as well known.

Argument #4: It happened to them in their childhood so it doesn’t matter.

(He said this when he asked roommate if she knew anyone that had been sexually assaulted, and she said she knew several people that were assaulted in their childhood)

Response: Sexual assault, no matter when it happens, is something that will stick with you for the rest of your life. It can cause trust issues, problems in your sexual life, and mental trauma.

He ended up defacing the board by writing on it, “What is your ‘fucking’ problem,” and “You have issues.” I went over these in sharpie because they were rude and hurtful and completely unnecessary. Especially the “fucking” pun. That’s not funny at all. And this happened in a COLLEGE dorm.

The ignorance that this person displayed was truly astounding to me. And his opinion is invalid because he didn’t know what he was talking about. You can’t form an opinion on something without being educated about it. He didn’t even know what sexual assault IS. Also, I don’t know why he was SO riled up about it….

I really want to know, if this person became educated about sexual assault, if he could truly live with himself if he still thought that sexual assault shouldn’t be taken seriously. He probably doesn’t know, and I hope he never knows, what it feels like to be sexually assaulted. I hope I never know. But just because you haven’t experienced it doesn’t mean it doesn’t matter.

For more information on sexual assault check out these sources:

Office of Crime Victims Advocacy

The National Center for Victims of Crime

Here is a story about a man who received sexual abuse. It’s pretty intense, but more stories like this need to be shared:

Scott's Story