An abstinence-only until marriage program in Ohio is teaching boys how to get away with rape. On the website for “Abstinence ‘Till Marriage,” kids can enter the Party Room, where they read a story about Rochelle, Jason, Monica and Tanner, each of whom tells his or her perspective about what happens during and after a party one night.
Rochelle says she gave her drunk friend Jason a ride home, when he rapes her. Jason says the sex was consensual. According to Monica and Tanner, Jason was drunk all night, and Rochelle is known to sleep around. The site then asks “Based on all accounts, whose story sounds the least credible?”
Rochelle is the “correct” answer.
“Unfortunately, we are left judging (Rochelle’s) honesty by her character and her actions”… “Monica implied Rochelle had a promiscuous reputation and the whole school seemed to know it.”
Additionally, re: Jason:
“Alcohol makes people less inhibitive. Jason was extremely vulnerable to his circumstances.”
To date, this program has received $1.8 million, and is set to receive another $1.8 million in the next three years. We, the citizens of the United States, are subsidizing rape apologism and rape denial. This program is teaching girls they lose credibility if they are not virgins and happen to be raped. It is teaching boys to prey on “slutty” girls, because they’ll be believed over their victim(s). The programs are validating the sickness of rape culture, on OUR behalf.
[deep breath]
Please click here to send a letter asking President Obama to fund comprehensive sex education that does not peddle rape myths and slut-shaming.
This is fucking hideous. How the fuck did this get federal funding? Oh wait, THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION.
Can we somehow put something in the stimulus package bill to delete funding for that shit????
Also, can I send a valentine to Louise Slaughter? Would that make me look too forward/slutty/false rape accusation-ish?
Oh GOD. Why have the last two days been a “Pretty Much Everyone in the World But You Thinks That Rape is No Big Deal” holiday?
Man my rageometer is up to a fever pitch today but you’ve managed to raise my resting blood temperature even further. Who the FUCK are these people??????????
I’ll zing off a letter, right after I feel bad for poor poor Jason. He was so vulnerable, I bet that tramp Rochelle (slutty name, “Rochelle,” donchyathink?) was all over him.
Okay, seriously, what the fucking hell?
Rage. Unadulterated RAGE.
Abstinence-only education is wrong on about a grillion levels, but this is one that people don’t think about. I remember a site linking to one of their workbooks a couple of years ago with some scenario where a guy was confused about X, and his girlfriend gave the answer Y. Then you evaluate the situation and answer multiple choice questions. And the “correct” answer for this one was [paraphrasing from memory, but this stuck with me pretty well on account of the RAGE]:
C. Suzy is technically correct. But we all know boys don’t like to be corrected, so she should’ve waited for Joey to come to the correct answer on his own. He’s a smart boy!
This week is the week we find out if a head really can explode, apparently.
hey! anyone want to start an all lesbian commune with me?
bluebears – I’m in. You gather up your womyn, I’ll gather up mine, I’ll meet you in some safe wooded glen.
Of COURSE Rochelle is the least credible. She is a slut. Sluts can’t get raped! Sluts give it up to anyone and everyone and never say no, hence the inability for them to get raped. They can, however, lie about being raped and try to ruin nice guys like Jason’s lives.
I forgot to add: ANGRY VAGINA WIG SMASH!
Ladies, this has been the ragiest week of my life. The fact that SCHOOLS are teaching the next generation of men to be selfish, rapey woman-haters just sent me over the edge.
Also, is it me or is Rochelle the only person who acted responsibly at the party? Jason, her rapist, got too drunk to function, so she offered him a safe ride. Meanwhile, their friends just stood by and watched him act a fool, and then talked shit about Rochelle behind her back!
Moral of the story: Let your friends drive drunk ’cause otherwise your charity will be used against you when you’re victimized.
Yeah right, don’t be the designated driver, or you’ll be held responsible for their drunken passes at you.
@Sarah: Jezebel has another post on the rape video game, I am avoiding that like the plague.
Bleargh. The three non-Rochelle scenarios sound ridiculous. For this to be remotely effective, shouldn’t they sound like they could be four perspectives of actual events, instead of four versions three of which are clearly made up? Oh, I forgot, kids can’t handle theoretical grey areas. Too difficult for their kid brains.
kdjafljdlaieoajfeil… For the fuck of shit, that is wrong on so many levels.
I missed the video game thread on Jez yesterday, which is good for my blood pressure and sanity.
Sarah MC, good point, Rochelle is the only responsible person and that pays out how – oh right in having her reputation traduced. This is an absolutely disgusting message and it prompted me to write a letter to a politician for the first time in my life, so er thanks for posting it even though the whole thing has enraged me.
oh that meant to say in being first raped and then having her reputation traduced, anger made me post too fast.
I agree. I guess that’s why the whole scenario is enraging. Alcohol doesn’t make you vulnerable. It makes you drunk. I’m glad to see that they will excuse underage drinking after a woman has been violated. Good to know that we have standards in this society. Excuse me, I need to look at something non-sexist and funny.
This actually made me cry. The story was a little too close to my own situation. You bet your ass I just sent an email.
So many things popped out at me when I was reading that party room scenario. I think every single one of those kids was full of shit; the message is not only completely rage-worthy, but it was poorly executed and not really believable. This might just be my optimism showing, but I think kids mature enough for sex-education will laugh at, or just completely ignore, this entire campaign. I know that’s what I did when I was forced to watch ridiculous crap like that only a couple of years ago. Most teenagers just poke fun at stupid shit like this.
That said, there are a couple of things I wanted to bring up. While I was reading the article (I hadn’t even entered the party room in a new tab yet) the first thing that crossed my mind was “of COURSE the black girl is the ‘guilty slut’” Cause my bestie is a Rochelle, and she is black, so naturally I made that assumption. And, come one, if they’re sending such a sexist, womanizing message, they’re probably trying to hide some racism, too, right? Imagine my surprise when Rochelle was white. These things used to be so predictable :/
Anyways
Already sent the letter and ready to move to that all lesbian commune!
It seems that they have changed the outcome of the scenario at the “Party Room,” perhaps in response to the outrage of readers (good job). It no longer places the blame on Rochelle, and instead condemns all of the teens for their risky behavior… A little improvement, eh?
These problems never go away because everyone has a different opinion about how to spend other peoples’ money. Please figure out that the most efficient and careful way to spend money is to spend your own. 99% of federal funding needs cut.
Ok, first of all teaching abstinence only, had nothing to do with this because if he listened in class he would have thought “oh wait I have to be abstinent”. Should abstinence only be taught? No, but it should be promoted along side a way to safely engage in sex. And does anyone think that alcohol may have played a factor in Jason raping her? He wasn’t vulnerable, but he wasn’t thinking straight either. I say blame the individual, not the program. Even if they were teaching kids to have sex all the time and have a good time, a person knows right from wrong. Alcohol + Jason = dumbass.
This is making me feel sick ! It’s outrageous.
This truly is disgusting that this is left up to the schools to teach. I blame the parents for taking a backseat in their children’s education. I agree with the one person who blamed Bush but almost two years into the Obama administration we are seeing him adopt all of the same failed policies of the Bush admin. Don’t believe me then ask do your own research; rendition, suspension of habius corpus and posse comitatus, closed door deals with lobbyist, he resigned the patriot act, he continues to fiscally bankrupt our country, further deteriorating our civil liberties and for a person who ran a campaign of peace he sure could have fooled me by escalating the wars to record number of troops. We the people VS. the state, not right vs. left
Um, no. It’s teaching girls that if they get drunk and party, they run the risk of being raped, and it’s even possible that no one will believe them. Which is true. It may not be a good thing, but people need to know that.
Well thanks, erogal! (who, our readers will be shocked to learn, is probably not a gal!) We stupid wimmins had NO IDEA that we’re at risk of being raped! And NO IDEA that we might not be believed if we indeed are! No one has ever, ever told us these things before!
Now listen here, chief, you need to STFU and do some self-educating about what causes rape: rapists. Not booze. Not partying. Not “suggestive” clothing, or hooking up, or any fucking thing else but someone who decides that his “need” to get off trumps the basic humanity and bodily integrity of another person. Because I’m a kind and caring person, I’m going to suggest that you start reading on “rape culture” at Feminism 101.