Pop Quiz Who's Fighting Here? King Calls For Gender Bashing To End on Both Sides

Author: Kevin King

"Pop Quiz: If you are in a girl's room and she is so drunk that she can barely stand up on her own, do you a.) demand a blow job, b.) sit on her and stick your **** in her mouth when she says no, c.) have sex with her when she starts gagging (you've got to get off somehow right?), d.) masturbate in front of her (someone has to get you off), e.) leave her alone … she's half unconscious anyway."

Such were the opening words of a poster distributed across campus dormitories and academic buildings this past Thursday, presumably by members of our community of the feminist persuasion. The posters continued on with more rhetoric equally as heated, offensive and angry as that quoted above — but more on that later.

The posters could not come at a more perfect time, given that FAM recently intimidated two WRMC DJs for far less incendiary gender-motivated commentary and that Nahal Batmanghelidj '02 and Elizabeth Brookbank '04 took it upon themselves to remind us all of the importance of thinking before we speak in last week's newspaper. I write today not to demand an apology from or threaten litigation towards whoever posted the messages in question, but rather to respond to Batmanghelidj and Brookbank and urge those who advocate feminist agendas on campus to do so in a manner that unites, rather than divides, men and women.

The poster quoted above went on to state that "In an attempt to 'prove their manhood,' [men on Middlebury's campus] have chosen to overpower … drunk women who have momentarily lost their power," that "[men on Middlebury's campus] will not control [women]" and that "A guy on this campus chose and acted on all of 'a-d.'"

This poster, like others I have written about in the past, are phenomenally offensive to self-respecting males, particularly in that they imply that all men at Middlebury are rapists who are unable to control their libido, and furthermore, in that serious allegations are leveled against males which are totally unsubstantiated. The tone of the message, its blanket negative assumptions about males and the fact that it seeks to incite anger on the basis of gender makes it a perfect candidate for jurisdiction under Middlebury's Harassment Policy. Furthermore, I submit that had the genders been reversed on this poster, an outcry from womens' groups would already be underway seeking to intimidate and punish whoever printed them, no questions asked.

Communication of meaningful messages relating to issues such as rape, which our College community has both endorsed and deems important, is not above the rules governing fair and free speech. This realization leads to the crossroads between my concern over the "pop quiz" poster and the editorial submitted by Batmanghelidj and Brookbank in last week's Campus. The poster, like the editorial, sought to point out to conscientious readers that that rape or "normalization" thereof is something that should be combatted within our community. To be perfectly clear about it, I agree with this message wholeheartedly.

Despite my agreement, both the editorial and the poster also employed scare tactics and intolerant rhetoric to communicate the important underlying message. In particular, Batmanghelidj and Brookbank used the example of John Joy '02 and Andrew Zrike '02 to indicate their success in securing apologies from those whom they viewed as gender antagonizers, and that intimidation by FAM, if perhaps not legal action would face those who might offend them in similar fashion in the future. The poster, on the other hand, employs exactly the same gender antagonizing tactics decried by Batmanghelidj and Brookbank in order to deliver its anti-rape message.

I have a serious problem with the fact that some feminists on campus continue to try to silence and intimidate those whose views they deem "offensive" while at the same time making use of speech which creates a hostile environment for males in order to promote their own views. The hypocrisy inherent in the actions of such feminists, for better or worse, undermines the positive work of all feminists on campus, as it informs the discerning observer that feminists at Middlebury are telling the rest of us to do as they say, not as they do.

Though I personally object to all of the scare tactics, gender-antagonizing and inconsistencies detailed above, I fundamentally believe that Batmanghelidj and Brookbank, as well whoever put up the posters, have every right to express their views exactly as they have, regardless of how much I or anyone else may be offended by them or whether they may violate our Harassment Policy. The realization I have come to time and again, and that which I hope readers of this editorial take away with them, is that the instinct to silence those with whom we disagree is strong, and that the more we are able to resist it, the better our campus dialogue will be.

In that regard, I firmly believe that feminism on this campus, or at least recent practice thereof has taken a turn towards tactics which drive a wedge between males and females, thereby setting the two at such irrevocable odds that no forward progress can be made. By using accusatory and inflammatory language and propaganda, feminists (not necessarily FAM) do their cause a great disservice. Put differently, the fight to end rape on and off of campus need not be between males and females, but rather between attackers and non-attackers. To those who have been posting signs and initiating campaigns on campus I say this: Keep in mind who you are trying to convince, and what you are trying to achieve. So long as your audience is more alienated than persuaded, you will have done nothing beneficial.