Research Blog #7: Your Case

I am exploring Emma Sulkowicz's sexual assault case which took place at Columbia University and ensued in a mattress performance art protest. This case will act as a prime example for the issue of consent that exists in sexual violence at American universities. It will also demonstrate the effects rape culture and hookup culture may have had on this particular case as well as the sexual violence that occurs daily, and will also act as an example of the poor and/or insufficient manner in which universities handle sexual assault cases.

Research Blog #6: Visual

This visual is a good demonstration of the uprising that occurred after Emma Sulkowicz made her endurance performance art statement, which is the case I have chosen to examine in my paper as it relates to the issue of consent in sexual violence at universities. This image illustrates that in everyone's hands are signs with anti-rape chants and phrases written upon them, but most importantly are the mattresses on which some of these chants and phrases are written. The significance of the "mattress signs" stands for the mattress that Sulkowicz claimed she was raped on and that she carried around in protest against rape and the school's unjustifiable response to her case and Nungesser. This piece of performance art was the beginning of a set of protests across the nation. Here at Rutgers University there was a commemorative protest where students would carry around pillows to signify the rape, with words stitched into the fabric, or mattresses like Sulkowicz's.

Research Blog #5: Bibliography with Five Scholarly Sources

• Armstrong, Elizabeth and Laura Hamilton and Brian Sweeney. "Sexual Assault On Campus: A Multilevel, Integrative Approach to Party Rape." Social Problems, Vol. 53, Issue 4, pp. 483–499. Web. 23 February 2015. <http://www-personal.umich.edu/~elarmstr/publications/Armstrong%20Hamilton%20and%20Sweeney%202006.pdf>

• Lowell, Gary (2010). A Review of Rape Statistics, Theories, and Policy. Undergraduate Review, 6, 158-163. <http://vc.bridgew.edu/undergrad_rev/vol6/iss1/29>

• Ottens, Allen J. and Kathy Hotelling. Sexual Violence on Campus: Policies, Programs, and Perspectives. New York: Springer, 2001. Print.

• Smith, Merril D. Sex without Consent: Rape and Sexual Coercion in America. New York: New York UP, 2001. Print.

• Thornhill, Randy, and Craig T. Palmer. "Why Men Rape." The New York Academy of Sciences 40.1 (2000): 30-36. Why Men Rape. The New York Academy of Sciences, Jan. 2000. Web. 09 Mar. 2015. <http://iranscope.ghandchi.com/Anthology/Women/rape.htm>.

Research Blog #4: Research Proposal

Topic
Using the Emma Sulkowicz case based at Columbia University in the fall of 2014 and linked to several other readings, I intend to explore the blurred lines between consensual and non-consensual activity as well as the social, emotional, and legal repercussions of sexual violence on college campuses. This paper will especially touch on how gender plays a role in rape culture and the way college campuses might handle non-consensual sexual activity. Connecting this topic to privatization is delving deeper in the way universities handle such scandals, whether it is self-serving or in the interest of the victims.

Research Question
Where is the line drawn between consensual and non-consensual sexual activity in social situations, specifically on college campuses, and what are the repercussions of such when those lines are blurred or manipulated?

Theoretical Frame
Coined in the 1970's by second-wave feminists was the theoretical term Rape Culture, in which rape is normalized due to societal attitudes about gender and sexuality. Commonly associated with rape culture are victim blaming, sexual objectification, denial of rape, refusing to acknowledge the harm and consequences of sexual violence, and trivializing rape. In the article "Why Men Rape," published by The New York Academy of Sciences, evolutionary psychologists Thornhill and Palmer wrote that "rape is viewed as a natural, biological phenomenon that is a product of the human evolutionary heritage." They go on to make comparisons to natural disasters, like tornadoes, to claim that not all things found in nature are good. Another theory that feminists claim is the “control theory,” the idea that rape is something that happens not as a sexual matter but as an expression of control. I think these theories can be useful in examining and analyzing both the specific case I have chosen to look at as well as my research question, specifically pointing to the way sexual violence is viewed on college campuses by students and faculty members or authority figures.

Case
As I mentioned, I will be attempting to use the Emma Sulkowicz case and examining all components of it: the claims of what happened, the reactions from the alleged victim and perpetrator, the media response, the way it was handled, and the effect of the performance art on Columbia University as well as college campuses nationwide.

Working Bibliography

• Thornhill, Randy, and Craig T. Palmer. "Why Men Rape." The New York Academy of Sciences 40.1 (2000): 30-36. Why Men Rape. The New York Academy of Sciences, Jan. 2000. Web. 09 Mar. 2015. <http://iranscope.ghandchi.com/Anthology/Women/rape.htm>.
• Ottens, Allen J. and Kathy Hotelling. Sexual Violence on Campus: Policies, Programs, and Perspectives. New York: Springer, 2001. Print.
• Armstrong, Elizabeth and Laura Hamilton and Brian Sweeney. "Sexual Assault On Campus: A Multilevel, Integrative Approach to Party Rape." Social Problems, Vol. 53, Issue 4, pp. 483–499. Web. 23 February 2015. <http://www-personal.umich.edu/~elarmstr/publications/Armstrong%20Hamilton%20and%20Sweeney%202006.pdf>
• Smith, Merril D. Sex without Consent: Rape and Sexual Coercion in America. New York: New York UP, 2001. Print.
• Lowell, Gary (2010). A Review of Rape Statistics, Theories, and Policy. Undergraduate Review, 6, 158-163. <http://vc.bridgew.edu/undergrad_rev/vol6/iss1/29>

Literature Review Blog #2

1. Visual: 

Pictured above is the book cover of this source.

2. Citation:
Ottens, Allen J. and Kathy Hotelling. Sexual Violence on Campus: Policies, Programs, and Perspectives. New York: Springer, 2001. Print.

3. Summary:
This book is a reminder that rape, sexual aggression, and violence are serious and constant issues on college campuses today. This volume is proposing different ways in which the violence can be stopped while examining the role of alcohol, club drugs, and even touches on the issues having to do with gay, lesbian, and transgender violence. This source also addresses the rape culture within and fostered by Greek life as well as some sports teams, and has a chapter on feminist approaches to addressing violence against women.

4. Authors:
Allen J. Ottens received his doctorate from the University of Illinois-Urbana. He is an Associate Professor of Counseling at Northern Illinois University. He has worked as a psychologist on college campuses. One of his areas of interest professionally is crisis intervention on college campuses. Kathy Hotelling is board-certified in Counseling Psychology. She received her doctorate from the University of Missouri-Columbia and is now the Director of the Counseling and Student Development Center at Northern Illinois University. She researches women's mental health issue and has published, consulted, and presented extensively on these issues.

5. Key terms:

• Sexual harassment: unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature that tends to create a hostile or offensive work environment. (http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/sexual+harassment)
• Acquaintance rape: Acquaintance assault involves coercive sexual activities that occur against a person's will by means of force, violence, duress, or fear of bodily injury. These sexual activities are imposed upon them by someone they know (a friend, date, acquaintance, etc.). (https://rainn.org/get-information/types-of-sexual-assault/acquaintance-rape)

6. Quotes:

• "Several praiseworthy examples have been gleaned from the guide and are presented below. They illustrate how the entire campus community- faculty, Greeks, athletes, women's groups, and others- can be mobilized to address acquaintance rape. 
• In the Fall of 1990, a number of students at Brown University, frustrated with the lack of effective disciplinary system for sexual assault cases, began writing the names of men on bathroom walls who they claimed had assaulted or sexually harassed them. The rape list gained national attention after students invited the New York Times to send a reporter to the campus. The result was a tremendous controversy and embarrassment for the school's administration" (ix-x).
• "It is possible to understand Nick's motivation to initiate acquaintance rape as the result of an intersection of a multitude of factors. Let's examine several. One factor could have been Nick's appraising the situation in such a way ('she was asking for it') as to minimize his degree of culpability. Another factor could be something within Nick's psychological make-up; that is, once he understood that Amanda had shown him a vulnerable facet of herself, he aggressively worked to take advantage of it. It is also likely that Nick was emboldened by the ease with which he could take advantage of the ambiguity of the social situation that presented itself. Given Nick's personality tendency to exploit opportunities to his own advantage, his motivation to rape was further abetted by myths about women and rape and by the ambiguity of the situation" (3). 
• "'True' prevention, she averred, must target the perpetrators; or, in the case of rape, it means addressing 'men's motivation to rape' (p. 232, italics preserved). It is our contention that significantly impacting the motivation to abuse and rape requires: (a) identifying where in the campus social context windows of opportunity exist for the exploitation of intimates; (b) an understanding of the psychological factors of the perpetrators; and (c) the implementation of interventions that reduce the perpetrators' opportunity to exploit and to get away with it" (3).

Value:

This book source is a good reference to a variety of perspectives concerning rape and how to deal with it and so on. I especially appreciate the touching on acquaintance rape, as this is something that relates directly to the Sulkowicz case I am planning on focusing on. If I choose to continue to include a feminist/gender perspective in my research, this source also touches on and supports that context of sexual violence.