The Hunting Ground : An Exploration Of The Issues, Discourses, And Institutional Responses Essay

The other portion of rape culture that is especially dominant in fraternities and athletes is the role of secrecy. These social groups are so tightly knit that they learn from each other and support each other no matter what. The loyalty of peer support from the members comes hand in hand with brotherhood and a team. They have a group secrecy that forbids revealing the unexpected behavior of others in order to protect members within the group, as well as the group’s reputation. As Hummer (1989) notes, “brotherhood norms require sticking together regardless of right or wrong”. This secrecy allows fraternity brothers and athletes to justify and endorse rape, because they have the support from their closest friends. These “members are admonished to avoid getting the fraternity in trouble” (Hummer, 1989), shows how this “brotherhood” built in a fraternity does everything in their power to be safeguarded from negative criticism. Not only will these men keep each other’s secrets, but they also commend and encourage these actions. Said by a fraternity pledge whom had previously dropped from the fraternity, “Those guys are sick. They like seeing you suffer” (Hummer,1989), shows how these men in fraternities treat these woman, and even their own

While the development of this bill speaks some to the progressive spirit of the 1960s and 1970s, the public backlash to this bill says even more about the lasting impact of discrimination in educational contexts. As Edwards (2010, p. 307) notes, some of the emphasis on Title IX and athletics came from the executive branch as they tried to construct these regulations; gender discrepancies were easy to examine in the context of athletics. However, much of the public attention on Title IX and athletics—and the intense controversy surrounding Title IX—came from the backlash against women athletics. Edwards (2010) suggests that “[The] focus turned to athletics primarily because of those groups fighting against Title IX. Those opposed to Title IX, such as the NCAA and the American Football Coaches Association, drew attention to an issue that the women’s groups originally fighting for Title IX had ignored," (p. 307). Thus, in attempt to quell the encroaching threat of female athletics, groups that opposed Title IX’s role in defending female athletes stoked the flames of controversy that transformed the public understanding and the meaning of the bill.

The idea of equity in society particularly in athletics has been a major topic in athletics for many years. However, in spite of the long and storied history of the fight for equity in athletics we still see a lot of misunderstanding especially involving one particular law. This law is Title IX which has a number of awful misconceptions associated with it even from female athletes themselves. One misconception that is very popular especially among the critics of Title IX is the idea that “Title IX exists to force to schools to drop men’s sport’s”(Kane, pg. 3). This is something that was reinforced by an report authored by Dr. Mary Jo Kane who is a Professor at the University of Minnesota regarding the 40th anniversary of Title IX. Dr. Kane indicated that she opens her sport sociology class discussions on Title IX by asking her class what they know about this subject. Dr. Kane indicated in her report that Title IX “remains a mystery to the vast majority of her students, both male and female” (Kane, pg. 3). Dr. Kane goes on to point out the misconception mentioned above is commonly said by her students including her female D1 scholarship athletes who are the ones that have benefitted most from this law. Overall Title IX is a great law even if it is a law that takes a lot of bad press although this is largely due to the actions or in some cases lack thereof from the leaders who reside in college athletics.

In January of 2011, Delaware University announced that it was discontinuing its men’s wrestling, swimming, tennis, and gymnastics programs (Gottesdiener, 2011). Organizations like this are being diminished and discarded at an ever-increasing rate all across America. College and high school students competing in these athletic events are truly passionate about their chosen sport. In many cases, promising athletes are offered scholarships, initiating a symbiotic relationship between the student and the school they play for. In 1972, a new legislation was put forward with the intent of leveling the school-sponsored playing field. “No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, or denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any educational program or activity receiving federal funding” (What Is Title IX, 2014). This law is widely accepted as being an invaluable catalyst for the momentous success in female athletics today. Although Title IX has without a doubt been incredibly beneficial to female sports programs, it has not too recently been the source of some heavy speculation. With justifiable evidence, and passionate fervor, male athletes across America are declaring that Title IX is synonymous with injustice. Title IX was necessary in 1972, but it is now outdated and hindering male athletics. Two conflicting arguments, both with substantial claim, leave room for all but one solution. Title IX, although once

What would a parent do if their daughter came up to them and told them she was raped last semester and the school did absolutely nothing to help her? What would a parent do if they learned that their daughter who has the potential to be a professional athlete said the school makes them play in the worst conditions, while the men have the best everything possible. What would a parent do if they learned there was a law that could prevent all of this from happening and/or help once it did happen? Those questions and statements are not farfetched or even impossible because they have happened before. Sexual assault, rape and discrimination are the biggest issues women are facing in the world of college and professional sports today. Some may say well there

Sexual assault, abuse, and rape by athletes is a devastating crime.  These crimes by themselves are horrendous, but when committed by athletes there are many different factors involved.  Through extensive research this paper will show contributing factors that may result in assault, abuse, or rape by athletes.  Special treatment for athletes throughout their career, belief in sexual male dominance, and the role of alcohol are all important factors.  Other crucial factors are the attitudes and responses of: society, juries, victims, coaches, and athletes.  This paper will explore all these issues and show that changes need to be made in all the areas to combat the growing percentages of sport assault, abuse, and rape against women.

The Steubenville and Glen Ridge rape cases are two very similar cases. The perpetrators were football student athletes with promising futures and the victims were teenage girls whose capability of consenting to the acts done to them were questioned. One of the victims was seventeen-years old and had an intelligence quotient of 64 and the reading comprehension of a second grader. The second victim was sixteen-years old and was publicly assaulted while she was completely intoxicated. This paper will discuss each victim and their perpetrators, as well as the trial sentencing and prosecution. It will explore the different reactions from the community and the debate over the victim’s responsibility leading towards the incident. In both rape

Composition 1 “Title IX: Political Football” is an argumentative essay by Ruth Conniff. She argues that Title IX should remain intact because of the great achievements it has led to in female athletic departments. Conniff explicates in her piece that Title IX has become the foundation of woman’s sports. However, in spite of its success in female athletics, she explains that many male athletes blame the law for the decrease in smaller male sports programs. Conniff justifies Title IX with interviews from young female athlete’s fathers on how beneficial it has been.

When talking about the profession of athletic training, the first thing that always came to my mind regarding sexual harassment was an act made by a professional athletic trainer towards a student- athlete. After reading this articles, I learned that sexual harassment does not always only effect a student-athlete, but it may also effect other individuals, including “coaches, athletic administrators, certified athletic trainers, athletic training students, therapists, and other health-care professionals as well”.1 The statistic that struck me the most when reading the “Perceptions of Sexual Harassment in Athletic Training” article was that during a survey of 525 undergraduates, almost 29 percent of men reported that they were sexually harassed by a collegiate professor at least one time”.2 Whenever I hear of sexual harassment, my first instinct is that the victim of the sexual harassment is a female, but after reading the articles I realized that many males are also affected by sexual

The Penn State child abuse scandal in 2011 left students, alumni, and even fans in a disarray of thoughts. Not only were Sandusky’s actions brutality and betrayal, but also those Penn State employees who failed to take further action when they knew about molesting, including Joe Paterno. There was coverage for days about this occurrence, even now,four years later, they are still broadcasting new information. In Frank Deford’s “Joe Paterno’s Legacy: Protect the Players at all Costs,” the sport columnist and radio broadcaster elaborates a fans point of view of the scandal. In “Penn State's Patriarchal Pastimes the liberal feminist, Katha Pollitt, examines the bigger picture with harsh tone with child abuse in mind.

Imagine this, you just moved into your dorm at your first choice of school ready to start the next four years of college, only to get taken advantage of sexually by an upperclassman at your first college party. This is just one of the many scenarios the documentary “The Hunting Ground” tells and happens to sixteen percent of women who start their college careers. The film tells the inspirational story of Andrea Pino and Annie Clark, two UNC Chapel Hill graduates, and their continuous journey to end sexual assaults on college campuses and to motivate schools to stand up for their students. While sexual assault has unfortunately always been a part of the college experience, the epidemic has reached a breaking point in recent years, and the documentary

Earlier in 2015, a man named Brock Turner, aged 20, was convicted on three counts of sexual assault after he was found sexually assaulting an unconscious woman behind a dumpster outside a fraternity house on the Stanford campus (Knowles 2016). Two Swedish students witnessed the event and pulled Turner off the young woman, holding him until the police arrived and in March 2016, the jury found Turner guilty (Knowles 2016). The case would have been forgotten, thrown under the immense pile of campus rape incidents in the US, had it not been for Judge Aaron Persky and his decision to award Turner a sentence of six months in a county jail and probation rather than the ten years in prison his conviction warranted (Knowles 2016). Outrage ensued surrounding this decision and the fact that Persky justified his choice by citing that, “a prison sentence would have a severe impact on him, I think he will not be a danger to others” (Fantz 2016). As if the victim of his crime hadn’t already been severely impacted by his actions, and will continue to be impacted for the rest of her life. Her suffering was compounded when she did not receive a simple apology or acceptance of responsibility, and also failed to receive the justice that the system should have awarded her. It is here that we see white male privilege and the culture of victim blaming coalesce with horrifying outcomes. The attention that Brock Turner has brought to this cultural issue is the reason for which he should remain a

Many cases of athletes committing sexual assault have been present in the media, especially throughout the past 5 years. For example, Steubenville High School football in 2012, Vanderbilt football in 2013, and a Florida State athlete in 2014. Sports team members make up less than two percent of most campus populations, but the comprise about 20.2 percent of the men involved in sexual assault or attempted sexual assault (Flood & Dyson). These cases and statistics raise the question, Is sport culture negatively affecting athletes to commit acts of rape and violence? To discover the answer to that question it is important to analyze several sources that psychoanalyze both athletes and

The Hunting Ground was a very emotional video that highlights a very important issue in our country that most people are not aware of. When it comes to sexual violence, college campuses are more focused on protecting the attacker rather than the victim. What shocked me the most in this film was that most of the faculty members the victims went to seek help from were females, yet the victims were still blamed for their rape. One administrator from UNC at Chapel Hill told a victim “rape is like a football game” meaning that if you look back to that day, what would you have done differently to prevent the rape. Victims who report rapes to university faculties are often questioned about the clothes they wore that day, how much alcohol they had to drink if they said no to the perpetrator, how many times did they said no, etc. Ryan Clifford, a male victim at the University of California, Davis rather than being helped, he was suggested by a faculty member to drop out of school until the situation “blows over.”

Rape culture is the term used for a society or environment in which prevailing social attitudes normalize or trivialize sexual assault and abuse. In the past couple years, and especially in recent months, we have seen this come to the forefront of our national discussion with more celebrities and people of notoriety being accused of rape. The most concerning problem with our society is not just that this sexual abuse and misconduct exists, but rather, that there are overwhelming voices that tend to blame the victim. Thankfully, as more women become outspoken, we have seen an increase in the frequency of discussion to stop victim blaming and start removing sexual predators from positions of power. This political cartoon calls attention to the problem of victim blaming and rape culture at the University of Kansas. Through the use of visuals and written text we see the absurd accusations and comments women face when they are victims of sexual assault placed into context.