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THE ALLEYNIAN 709
FIRST THOUGHTS
Josephine Akrill , Staff Editor, and Arjaan Amos Miah , Student Editor, consider an issue that has come to the fore over the past year
thoughts
Sadly, we do not live in a world in which misogyny, gender discrimination, and sexual violence are things of the past. On that we can surely agree. But how do we talk about these issues? How do we move forward? How do we actually achieve change? Individuals on the receiving end of sexual or gender discrimination should not have to put up and shut up. The testimonies of sexual assault victims should be heard. Those of us who are so used to everyday sexism, homophobia or transphobia that we have become inured to it should be empowered to call it out whenever we experience it. These words are so easy to write. We can all pay lip service to these issues. It costs each of us very little to state that we abhor misogyny, or to notice examples of sexism, or homophobia, or transphobia in the discourse and behaviour of others. Commentary is a start, but even highly critical commentary is not enough. Behaviour is what needs to change. We all agree about behaviours on the extreme end of the scale. Rape and sexual assault are criminal acts. We must trust in our police and judicial system to enforce the law of the land. Schools have a responsibility to teach what constitutes consent, and who can, or cannot, consent to sexual engagement. This school takes that responsibility seriously. But what about more widespread behaviours which, while not criminal, allow a culture of sexist, homophobic and transphobic attitudes to thrive? What is often referred to as ‘banter’ is still not taken seriously enough. Individuals, especially those in the difficult years of adolescence, during which it can feel so vitally important to blend into your peer group, are, understandably, loath to call out their friends’ or classmates’ careless or cruel use of language. Nonetheless, they need to be encouraged to step forward and challenge the off-hand reference to somebody’s sister; to object to the casual objectification of the female member of staff; to flag up the use of the word ‘gay’ or ‘sus’ when they are used in inappropriate ways. Similarly, colleagues should feel empowered to call out some of the language used in the College’s corridors, common rooms and offices.
Turning from what we notice in the behaviour of others, I would now like to ask the following questions. Are we capable of holding up the mirror to ourselves? Do we notice the ways in which our own everyday words, actions, even our thoughts, are influenced by the discriminatory attitudes of the society in which we live? Almost none of us can say that we do not at times make snap judgements about others based on their gender or on outward signs of their sexual orientation. Perhaps those thoughts remain private. Thankfully, there is currently no possibility of genuine thought police shining a spotlight into the darkest recesses of our brains. But I think we should be brave enough to do this for ourselves, to forgive ourselves for being flawed human beings, to face up to the ways in which living in a discriminatory society affects us all, and to take personal action. We should be capable of challenging our own prejudices – those which we inherit from our parents, which we acquire from our peer group, or which we imbibe daily from various media. It could be that genuine self-examination by all of us might be one of the most effective drivers of change. We often choose to point the finger at online and social media, blaming technology for many of society’s ills. Yet over this past year, those very media have been the means through which misogyny, sexual assault, homophobic and transphobic behaviours in our schools and universities have been exposed, challenged and denounced. Everyone’s Invited and the Open Letter have shown the power of sharing. Whether or not you have read these online documents and regardless of your personal response to the wide range of testimonies, you have all, or almost all, heard about them.
The recent testimonies shared through Everyone’s Invited and, closer to home, through Samuel Schulenburg’s Open Letter have sparked a conversation about sexual misconduct within our own community, and, more widely, in schools across the country. I asked Claire McHale, clinical psychology post-graduate student specialising in sexual abuse and trauma (and JAGS alumna), about our responsibilities as individuals and communities. ‘Sexual misconduct, which cannot be disentangled from gender- and sexuality-based violence, occurs neither spontaneously nor without reason. Educational institutions function as small systems within a broader societal environment – each person is a key component in the system output; each person has a role to play. Countless testimonials from victims show that, currently and historically, these systems not only fail to protect them from this violence, but actively perpetuate harm towards them. ‘A crucial first step in tackling this issue is to leave behind the “few bad apples” fallacy. The context within which these actions were learned, and often encouraged, must be considered. By only focusing on severe perpetrators, it is easy to overlook a culture of sexual misconduct that persists amongst student bodies and makes these behaviours socially acceptable and, in many cases, desirable. This culture can be observed in even seemingly inconsequential interactions, but every interaction that encourages this conduct, no matter to what extent, serves to uphold the very notions which make perpetrators believe their actions will be tolerated. Rather than simply removing the extreme “bad apples”, the system that shaped them must be amended to avoid future recreation of such behaviours, and this upheaval requires effort on all parts – from students, teachers, and governing bodies alike. ‘One major consequence and perpetuating factor of this pervasive culture of sexual misconduct can be explained through crowd psychology. Large groups, in this case
peers and classmates, create a loss of responsibility for the individual, making morally objectionable actions significantly easier to carry out as a group. The threat of social ostracism is particularly frightening for adolescents, discouraging victims of abuse from reporting such incidents, and peers of the perpetrator(s) from putting up resistance.’ Claire goes on to say that this social ostracism can also be weaponised against rape culture – when we discourage remarks and actions that encourage or make light of sexual wrongdoing, we discourage that behaviour – even ‘very minor negative responses, such as a swift change of conversation’ work to ‘begin the arduous process of disrupting this culture’ . Her description of rape culture as an aspect of crowd psychology seems, certainly, to be supported by the experiences of victims. The very first category of Samuel’s testimonials describes ‘mob mentality-based behaviour’ . Indeed, verbal aggressions where ‘DC boys would rate female students based on their looks and desirability’ or ‘mild harassment’ are described right alongside harrowing accounts of rape. A JAGS student wrote on Instagram about her own assault, referring to the ‘passive attitude’ of her assailant’s friends. When she wrote that she endured ‘manipulation, coercion, abuse and dehumanisation’ , I’m sure that many found themselves asking to what extent it was facilitated by a culture that labels vocal responses such as hers as ‘over-dramatic and unnecessary’ . Sexual misconduct is a manifestation of our culture, and it is a primary nutrient on which it feeds. The facts are made clear by the individuals and organisations qualified to speak out about sexual violence in the public sphere: verbal and physical manifestations of sexual violence share the same root. Our only solution is to excise the tumour before more women and queer people are punished for our collective failings.
That is the power of the written word, of our media, of speaking out, rather than keeping our experiences to ourselves.
We need to keep this conversation going, acknowledging that this diverse, interesting, multi-layered, changing society in which we live is far from perfect. We need to listen to each other, to seek to understand others’ experiences, to ask each other questions, and to listen to the answers. We need to allow our pain and anger to lead to positive change. We need to be prepared to change. Thank you for taking the time to read these editorial pages. I am not naïve enough to imagine that, in a year’s time, these problems will have been eradicated within our walls, or in society at large. But I do believe that some change will have occurred, and that the actions of all those who have spoken out, and the genuine empathy of those who have listened to them, will have made a difference. Josephine Akrill
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Arjaan Amos Miah (they/them)
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