News Flash #3

News Flash #3 College campuses must do more to prevent sexual assault    

http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,2065849-2,00.html       

            Sexual assault is an extant concern on many college campuses.  There are many stories of sexual assault taking place on college campuses that convey the message that universities are not taking the adequate measures to prevent sexual assault. Statistics show that one in five college women will be the victims of a sexual assault.  However, less than 5% of those assaults will be reported to campus authorities or the police (Webley 1). Last October, Yale University became overwhelmed with the pledging incident involving the fraternity Delta Kappa Epsilon.  Members of this fraternity were caught on camera chanting, “No means yes! Yes means anal! No means yes! Yes means anal!” across campus.  Obviously, the message being sent was to make light of the serious issue of rape/sexual assault.  Making rape appear as a casual topic is detrimental to both men and women.  Women feel as if sexual assault is not important enough to report (based on the statistics) and men clearly do not know the rules regarding consent and sexual assault.  Clearly, colleges are not taking the appropriate steps to prevent this sexual assault and must do more to solve this pressing problem.

            The Dean of Yale College quickly issued a statement two days after the incident expressing how outraged they were to have this situation encompass their University.  However, she did not expose the punishment for DKE because she said that information was confidential under federal law and the University’s policy.  There have been more statements following the first, however the punishments, as of April 18, 2011, have not been made public.  In response to Yale’s management of the situation, a group of 16 students filed a complaint that Yale did not punish the men in a suitable manner and further shed light on a list of past incidents that have occurred.  These students feel that Yale is overlooking this serious issue by not giving the response these students felt Yale should have.  Moreover, these students feel that Yale is not making itself an environment where both men and women can succeed equally.  According to Title IX, “Any educational institution that takes federal funding cannot discriminate against women. (Sexual harassment, sexual assault and rape are all considered discrimination on the basis of sex)” (Webley 1). It is clear that Yale has not upheld to Title IX and is currently being investigated by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights for not rejecting this type of discriminatory environment.  We often hear of Title IX in association with athletics, scholarships and funding as oppose to sexual assault.

            Unfortunately, many other universities are dealing with the issue of sexual assault on their campuses.  A story that hits close to home is my neighbor and classmate, Lizzy Seeberg who committed suicide after an alleged sexual assault by a Notre Dame football player.  Lizzy had recently transferred to St. Mary’s College and reported her sexual assault to the school-counseling center.  Shortly after the incident, she overdosed on prescription medicine and was found dead.  After the night at the Notre Dame party, Lizzy received a text message from the perpetrators friends saying something along the lines, “Don’t mess with Notre Dame football or you’ll be sorry”.  Her parents were outraged with the lack of investigation Notre Dame carried out.  They were terribly upset due to the fact that many of the people in their family had attended Notre Dame and were strong supporters of the football team.  They have since hired a lawyer to further deal with the school’s ignorance.

            These events happen throughout all universities and even here at Colgate too.  Enloe discusses how sexual assault is linked with trivialization and therefore both men and women are able to make light of the issue.  She defines this trivialization with the factory managers who sexually assault their women factory workers.  What makes men think this is okay in any setting?  The fact that sexual assault is consider trivial makes men and women believe it is okay. I have heard many women talk about rape in a mocking way saying, “yeah we like raped him on the dance floor”. The term rape gets thrown around casually, therefore making it a trivial topic. It was interesting to discuss the topic of consent in class.  We are all highly educated Colgate students, yet there were all sorts of questions regarding consent, which seems to be a black and white topic.  However, everyone was asking questions seeming as if they were unsure of the laws of consent.

            Masculinity scholar Michael Kimmel analyzes the Yale incident, breaking down the chant and the previous history of DKE at Yale.  Kimmel focuses on the underlying meaning and message sent by the chant “No means yes! Yes means anal!” He points out how all the incidents involving DKE have taken place outside the campus Women’s Center.  The Women’s Center is the building on campus where many victims of sexual assault seek help and assistance.  Kimmel discusses how these pledging rituals take away the one place these women have to feel safe and sends the message that not even the Women’s Center is safe.  After reading Susan Douglas, we can understand that we live in a day and age where women can act equally to men in regards to sex.  Kimmel focuses on the feminist movement and how it is now acceptable for women to say “yes” or “no”.  When interpreting the second part of the chant, Kimmel says, “if she says yes to intercourse, you have to go further to an activity that you experience as degrading to her, dominating to her, not pleasurable to her”.  Now that women have ownership over their sexuality, men have to go farther to prevent women from being equals to men sexually.  One question we can ask is why do students from a prestigious university such as Yale, feel the need to degrade women and display their masculinity?  Kimmel answers this claiming these highly privileged Yale, DKE brothers feel powerless due to the fact that women have reached equality.  According to Kimmel, these boys are “trying to re-establish a sexual landscape which they feel has been thrown terribly off its axis”.  We can thank feminism for our strides towards equality that is making these boys so upset and pitiful (Kimmel 1).

            Based on these articles, it is evident that college campuses are not doing enough to combat the issue of sexual assault. I have a few suggestions that could potentially lower the statistics for sexual assault on college campuses and raise the statistics of how many of these sexual assaults are reported.  Colgate started working with Mentors in Violence Prevention (MVP) this year.  MVP works to train men and women to take on leadership roles in their communities to prevent gender violence, bullying and school violence.  A program like MVP should be implemented at every university to teach men and women how to prevent sexual assault as a perpetrator, victim and bystander.  Another suggestion I have, is to make a class on gender violence/sexual assault a required course at Colgate so students can be educated on the numerous issues that stem from sexual assault on campus.  Lastly, universities only need a “preponderance of evidence” proving that it is more likely than not to find a student guilty.  Therefore, even if there is not enough evidence for a police report to find a student guilty, the university can still act.  Many Title IX activists fight for schools to act on gender discrimination.  I truly believe these three ideas can help solve the growing issue of sexual assault on college campuses.

Works Cited

Courtney. "Privileged Boys, Impoverished Ethics." Feministing | Young Feminists Blogging, Organizing, Kicking Ass. 19 Oct. 2010. Web. 22 Apr. 2011. <http://feministing.com/2010/10/19/privileged-boys-impoverished-ethics/>.

Kimmel, Michael. "Michael Kimmel: Men -- and Women -- at Yale." Breaking News and Opinion on The Huffington Post. 20 Oct. 2010. Web. 22 Apr. 2011. <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-kimmel/men-and-women-at-yale_b_765683.html>.

Webley, Kayla. "Are Colleges Doing Enough to Combat Sexual Violence? - TIME." Breaking News, Analysis, Politics, Blogs, News Photos, Video, Tech Reviews - TIME.com. 18 Apr. 2011. Web. 22 Apr. 2011. <http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,2065849-2,00.html>.

New Flash #3: Fraternities and Rape Culture

Link to article: http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/09/magazine/09FRATS.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=ban%20of%20brothers&st=cse

The article “Ban of Brothers” by Benoit Denizett-Lewis was printed in the New York Times with the intention of bringing to light the recent debate about whether fraternities should be dry in order to better fulfill their original purpose. The article came to my attention for a different reason and that was because it highlighted the way fraternities act out masculinity and how that affects the gender relationship. The article tells the story of Denizett-Lewis returning to his alma mater, Northwestern, to observe frat activities and see if they can survive and be fun once they are declared dry. As he describes what he finds the scenes are all to familiar to me, but an outsider’s perspective made me more critical of the culture. Throughout the article girls are always in the background referred to as adoring, loving and even called groupies of the frat boys. The way that fraternities are conceived now creates an image of masculinity similar to that seen in militias, which in both cases fosters a rape culture.

Both fraternities and militias are closely associated with the idea of masculinity, the men in them are expected to act in accordance. There is a paternalistic mentality in both organizations, which helps to support the masculine image. For militias there is a sense that the men are going out and risking their lives in order to protect and care for the women. In frats the men take on the role of being the providers for their female counterparts. Non-dry fraternities host the parties with plenty of alcohol, which is given to the women at no cost. While this may seem beneficial to the women’s pocketbook, in reality in strips them of all their power. Men get to decide who can come, who is not allowed to come and even when to kick people out. By taking on the role of providers for women fraternity boys are once again feeding into their masculine identity. Along with this image of masculinity comes the need for competition. In competitions between men women often become an object to acquire in order to prove ones manliness. This phenomenon was clearly demonstrated at Tailhook and it also applies to competitions between fraternities. In the article it talks about one frat being pleased that Theta is going to have homecoming with them. This shows that when girls bestow favor on them then it gives them a boost of popularity. Once again this creates a mirage of female power, but it reality all it does is reduce women to object that men compete to obtain.

This competition mentality is what keeps the rape culture alive in both fraternities and militias. Once women become objects there is no longer any need to be concerned about their emotions or to believe that they are even human. This dehumanization of women allows men to rape women without feeling the guilt that should be there. Suddenly the more women a man is able to sleep with or the more he degrades a woman the more his masculinity is reinforced. Once having sex with as many women as possible becomes the goal and a way to achieve power then rape becomes the reality. In Brownmiller’s article “Against Our Will” she discusses the way in which rape is the ultimate expression of masculinity. With this in mind it makes sense why groups, such as militias and fraternities whose identity is inextricably linked to masculinity would turn to rape.

In militias rape is seen as both a tool to power and even a bonding experience for the men. Men with more power provide the women to the lower ranking men, therefore both degrading the enemy and creating closeness among the troops. Within frats clear-cut rape is often not the case, instead rape is hidden behind the disguise of drunken sex. The men in these organizations invite girls to their houses then provide them with plenty of alcohol in hopes of having sex with one of them. Then if a girl claims that she was raped there are always assertions that she is at fault because of what she was wearing or the amount of alcohol she consumed. In cases where a girl drank too much it is sad to see what a high price she will have to pay because she made a mistake. Again this reminds me of the Brownmiller article where she discusses how rape is a tool men use to constantly keep women in fear. Whenever attending a frat party a girl must enter with the mentality that she cannot get to drunk or she will get raped.

Fraternitity parties are advertised as groups of friends getting together to have a good time. How is it that within a group of so called friends half of the people must be afraid that they will get raped? In the letter that the professor at Zenith [Wesleyan] University professor wrote to her students it is clear that this dynamic is not a healthy way of life. It has become the norm and people within the rape culture cannot see clearly, but having a professors opinion brings up some concerning points. Not only are fraternities creating a rape culture similar to one seen in Militias but they are also perpetuating a culture that is unfriendly to anyone who tries to speak out about being raped. In the “Ban of Brothers” article Denizet-Lewis talks about how his frat used to be much tougher and references an incident where they threw stones at a group participating in a take back the night march. Somehow we have come to a point in college culture where disrespecting and degrading women has become the idea of masculinity.

The conclusion the Denizet-Lewis ultimately reaches is that perhaps fraternities becoming dry organizations is not the worst idea. What I wonder is why are there organizations that have become so out of control that the presence of alcohol leads to rape and other criminal acts? Perhaps though alcohol perpetuates the culture the real problem lies in the structure of an organization that prides itself on being the masculine ideal. In a world of “Enlighten Sexism” where we believe that all of the hard work is behind us and that women are equal, why is it still necessary to have organizations that divide be gender? All this accomplishes is the creation of groups striving to achieve the ultimate display of masculinity or femininity. Some think it is fine because sororities are the female counterpart therefore women have an equal opportunity. The reality is that these organizations may be separate, but they certainly are not equal. As long as men and women are kept separate in these Greek organizations women will continue to be objectified and seen only as pawns in a game of power. In any organization that is all male and strives to achieve ultimate masculinity, rape can quickly become a strategy to gain power. It is essential to recognize that this is not only happening in the military in a country far away, but that it is happening in college and universities all over our nation.

Newsflash: If Girls are Better Students, Why is it More Difficult for them to get into College?

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If Girls are Better Students then Boys, Why is it More Difficult for them to get into College?

Women have been working for the past century to gain equal access to education and jobs. Although women still don’t make as much money as men, women now make up 57% of college students in the United States. Studies have found that this can be attributed to the tendency for men to drop out of high school at a higher rate, are more likely to join the military, or they have other job opportunities after high school that do not necessitate a college education (Birnbaum & Yakaboski). However, it has also been found that even from an early age, girls are simply better students than boys. They mature faster, have more flexible learning styles, and from my personal experience, girls seem to be much more able to sit, listen, and do their work than boys (Saman). This has translated to girls having better college applications than boys, for multiple reasons. However, colleges want to maintain a gender ratio as close to 50:50 as possible. Therefore, boys are having an easier time gaining admittance to colleges than girls, even though they are not as good of students.

In the past, women did not receive as much education, or the same type, as men because it was believed that they needed to know how to take care of children and a home, and nothing else. It was thought that educating a woman would have negative consequences, even sterility. However, slowly but surely, throughout the 20^th century, women began to attend universities and receive degrees. What they were able to accomplish in the workplace is another matter that I won’t get into. Colgate University finally began admitting women as late as 1970. Here we are, in 2011, and we actually have more women enrolled in universities than men. Women finally have some solid statistics saying that they are doing something better than men.

The problem with this success is that men and women don’t want to attend colleges that have more than 60% of the student body comprised of women. For some reason, that 60% tipping point turns people off. Colleges are all about marketing themselves to attract as many smart students as possible. But when more of the best students applying are women, suddenly admissions counselors don’t see men and women equal. Instead of choosing the 2000 best candidates overall, they choose the 1000 best men and the 1000 best women. But those men have lower test scores, grades, and fewer appealing personal activities than the women. This means that more women are being rejected from colleges even though they probably deserve to go there. And more men are being accepted into schools even though they are performing worse than the women. It sends a message to girls that they need to work even harder and do more activities in high school than boys, just to get into the same schools. And it tells boys that they don’t need to work as hard as girls, and still get the same result of admissions to the schools they want.

Jennifer Britz wrote an article in the New York Times about this problem called “To all the Girls I’ve Rejected.” As an admissions counselor at a university, she sees first hand that admissions counselors favor male applicants in order to keep the gender ratio equal. Seeing her own daughter on the receiving end of a waitlist letter from a different school inspired her to write this article. I actually got very emotional when I first read this a few months ago because not long ago, I was one of those girls doing everything I could in high school in order to get into the colleges I wanted. Meanwhile, I saw my male peers in school goofing off, copying homework, and putting in minimal effort and still getting accepted into great schools. It just didn’t feel fair and I felt powerless. For girls like me, there is nothing more we can do. But does that mean we have to lower our standards for the type of college we can get into? Many girls probably end up going to their third or fourth choice school as a result of this favoring of males.

Affirmative action at universities was created to allow racial minority and female students to gain access to universities, which were previously made up of mostly white males. It was designed to sort of make up for past discrimination. Many people disagree with affirmative action because it has a zero-sum result: for every minority or woman admitted, one white man is not admitted. People think this is wrong when the white man actually has better test scores and the like. Some say it goes against the American way of working hard and pulling yourself up by your bootstraps, not getting a free ride just because you are a minority. Some states have actually repealed affirmative action in creative ways. California’s Propositions 209 was passed in 1996. The wording of the main part of the propositions is as follows:

(a) The state shall not discriminate against, or grant preferential treatment to, any individual or group on the basis of race, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin in the operation of public employment, public education, or public contracting (4).

Essentially, this is saying the states will not discriminate against race, including whites. So people who are pro-affirmative action (against discrimination) voted for this bill because they thought of it as something that was anti-discriminations (which it is technically.) However, they were not aware that it basically eliminated affirmative action.

The problem with using affirmative action to benefit men, is that they were not discriminated against in the past. They have always had the full opportunity to education that women and racial minorities had to work for. And some may argue that racial minorities have lower test scores or grades because they haven’t been given as good education prior to college and they may have had fewer opportunities overall due to factors such as poverty. However, males in general have lower test scores, lower grades, and participate in fewer activities simply because they are not performing as well as they could. Clearly, if the women of the same population are doing better academically, its not the environment that is having the adverse effect on the males, it’s their gender itself.

The gender imbalance is prevalent at Colgate University just like many other liberal arts colleges. We already have a 55:45 ratio of women to men. And it is noticeable that women tend to spend more time doing their work, make up a larger percent of the “library crowd,” and participate more in class relative to the men on campus. I get a sense of apathy from my male peers when it comes to academics. They don’t care as much about what grades they get, whether they understand the material in class, or whether they contribute equitably in group projects. Its frustrating but as a woman, I don’t feel like I can call men out on their laziness, especially because it likely won’t make any difference.

No one seems to have an answer to this gender imbalance and unjust admissions policy that is taking place all over our country. Each news article I read and the video I watched don’t have an answer. They all agree that its unfair, but colleges don’t want to budge on this gender ratio because it will make them look bad. It feels anti-feminist to suggest that boys should be treated with special care to make them better students to bring them up to the same level as the girls. However, that may be the only way to actually balance out the gender ratio on college campuses. At the very least, the message needs to be sent to males in elementary school, high school, and colleges that its not okay to give their minimal effort while they watch their female peers working as hard as possible.

Birnmaum, M., & Yakaboski, T. (2011) The legan and policy implications of male-benefiting admissions policies at public institutions: Can they ever be considered affirmative action for men? http://journals.naspa.org/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?context=jsarp&article=6200&date=&mt=MTMwMzMyNjg2Nw==&access_ok_form=Continue

Britz, Jennifer Delahunty, To All the Girls I’ve Rejected. New York Times (2006) http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/23/opinion/23britz.html

NBC Nightly News. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22652639/ns/nightly_news_with_brian_williams-the_truth_about_boys_and_girls/

Saman Malik Global Committee Saudi Arabia. Are Girls Better Learners than Boys? Sep. 16, 2009.

Short Post 4/21

All of today’s readings were extremely informative and brought to the forefront something I did not know too much about. I grew up in a predominately white, affluent, Jewish town so I did not know much about Muslims at all. 9/11 was my first introduction to Muslims, obviously in a negative light. Arwa Ibrahim discusses this hostility a large number of Americans have towards Muslims and the discrimination American Muslims are subjected to. Two stories stuck out sharply in my mind from her essay. The first was how she interviewed young males in Iraq and described how they felt unsafe to go to school due to the U.S. troops/Iraqi government shooting at schools in retaliation to the Taliban. This story was so frightening and ultimately shocked me. I would like to think that all of the U.S. troops in Iraq are carrying out their military duties of fighting terrorism as opposed to hurting civilians. I guess that thought is a little naive. The other story she told of her family being detained in JFK for five hours was nonetheless embarrassing for all Americans. I cannot imagine ever feeling like a prisoner in my own country and being treated as a potential terrorist.

Lila Abu-Lughod’s essay, Do Muslim Women Really Need Saving? Anthropological Reflections on Cultural Relativism and Its Others, argues why Western views of the controversial burqa are not all true. Western culture sees the burqa as confining and oppressive of women. I know I cannot even begin to imagine wearing something that was constantly covering my face. I think this is why so many Westerners fear for these women because they themselves are terrified by the idea of wearing a veil. However, Lila Abu-Lughod points how many criticizers of the burqa simply do not understand the culture behind the burqa. It was really interesting to learn how most people believe the burqa was imposed by the Taliban when they took over Afghanistan. However, Abu-Lughod says how she believes many of the women emigrated from Afghanistan as things started to shake up and the women who were less-educated and poor were the ones who could not escape due to the expensive costs. This proves how the Taliban did not initiate the wearing of a burqa. Furthermore, she says, “If liberated from the enforced wearing of burqas, most of these women would choose some other sort of modest headcovering” (786). In order to fight women’s oppression in the Middle East, we need not focus on the burqa, but put our energy towards education and making women equals to their men. A lot of traditions seem incomprehensible to other cultures but that is why we need to educate ourselves instead of passing judgment on something we do not fully understand.

Do Muslim Women Really Need Saving?

Anthropological Reflections on Cultural Relativism and Its Others

Lila Abu-Lughod

I think many Americans are unsure, curious, and misinformed about Muslim culture because it is so different from Western culture. We equate many of their practices with “bad” and “constraining” without taking the time to individually find out for ourselves what its actually like to live in that culture. I still feel like I have a lot to learn on this subject. During my Intro to Religion class last year, we read a book about the history and practices of Islam. What many people don’t understand is that some Islamic practices are not written in the Qur’an, but rather developed over time and were taken from other traditions and adopted into Islamic practice. For example, Abu-Lughod explains how the burqa was not invented by the Taliban and it was not a law of the Qur’an. Women of a certain ethnic group wore burqas to show their modesty, and other groups of women adopted the traditions as well. I think the problem that most people have with the burqa is that they see it as forced seclusion and oppression of women. However, as something that has been part of their culture for centuries, I don’t think that Muslim women would prefer to suddenly dress like western women, and certainly wouldn’t feel “free” doing so. I agree that all women should be free to have the same opportunities to leave the home and do what they want. But wearing a burqa is not the biggest obstacle in these womens way right now. Afghan women are not allowed to obtain education, receive proper food and nutrition or medical care like men. These are the larger issues that should be addressed and taken more seriously at this point in time.

Whose Security?

Charlotte Bunch

It may seem insensitive, but I appreciated it when Bunch wrote “in many places, people have long lived with terrorism, violence and death on a scale as great or greater than 9/11,” and although it was a shocking, tragic event, Americans became obsessed with it and assumed that it was a defining moment for everyone. I agree with her that Americans became obsessed with 9/11, even when I was 11 at the time of the attack. I think the main reason I saw this differently was that I was living in Switzerland at the time so I had a different perspective on the attack than most Americans. Yes, 3000 deaths is very tragic, but think about all the other attacks, natural disasters, and wars that have killed so many more than that. We can only be so lucky to have one day of terrorist attack compared to wars that last for years. As for it being a defining moment, I’m sure it changed many peoples’ lives, it definintely impacted our country as a whole, but I didn’t really notice any immediate, personally life-altering changes as a result.

Bunch also discusses the idea of national security as a “security less as defending territory and more in terms of protecting people.” I’m always taken aback when I watch the news coverage of places like Lybia where I see so many innocent civilians who have to deal with such violence. It seems like militaries just view civilian deaths as negligible losses that are “accidents they can’t avoid.”

Long Post 4/21

Bunch’s “Whose Security” was written to shed light on the way that the Afghan’s women’s rights have become an excuse for the war on terror, while the women have not seen many benefits. In fact the war has mainly had an opposite effect on the women’s movement in Afghanistan. While the American Government make more aggressive foreign policy, they are simultaneously ignoring national laws and conventions, which is causing conflict amongst the national women’s rights movement. A movement that was slowly moving toward creating a global awareness is now divided against women of America. There is a sense that America values military above social needs. As well as their own needs above global law. By breaking global law the US is showing counties that regularly break humans right laws that there will be no repercussions. This war became an excuse for the US to become more self-centered and justify its rash moves rather than become a chance to looking to other countries for support and therefore unifying the world. It is important that the women’s movement take the time to take a stance against the treatment that the US is giving to the rest of the world in order to continue the move towards Global citizenship.

Abu-Lughod’s article was focused on America’s obsession with saving the Muslim women and in what ways this could be a more successful campaign. She begins by pointing out the ways that America has become obsessed with learning about the lives and beliefs of Muslim women. They want to hear broad generalizations in order to take a stance that these women are oppressed. By doing this American audience is missing out on a colorful history and gaining an understanding about how things came to be this way. The obsession with the afghan woman seems to center most drastically on the veil or burqa that many women wear. Perhaps this is because it is so different from our culture which values less clothing is better. Abu-Lughod does a good job of describing why in some ways the burqa is a fashion or cultural statement. It tells something about you to the world in the similar way that women in America express themselves through fashion. While she attempts to create an understanding of the burqa she is not in anyway saying that women’s rights in Afghanistan are at an appropriate level. Her point is that we will be able to make more of a difference if we stop focusing on the veil and rather on the serious human rights violations. One of the difficulties with fighting for women’s rights is that in some ways we are joining forces with people that are seen as the enemy. While America is immediately willing to see the women as the victim it is impossible to separate them from their fathers, sons and husbands whose beliefs they likely share. The best way to improve the lives of these women is to try to contribute to their worlds rather than take over and force our ways in a colonialist manner.

Short Post 4/19

Enloe’s chapter, All the Men are in the Militias, All the Women are Victims, focuses on the idea of men being socialized to display masculinity in regards to being in a militia. The story of Borislav Herak was not at all a surprise to me. You do not have to be a crazy person to do something you know is wrong. This topic of men doing bad things in the company of other men is extremely interesting in how our society is socialized. We see horrible events like the rapes of the Bosnian women frequently in the United States. While reading this chapter, I drew a parallel to male athletic teams. We have seen in the United States how sometimes when guys get together, especially on a team, do things that they would never dare do alone. For example, we look at the Duke lacrosse team and see the scandal that shocked their school dealing with sexual assault. I agree with Enloe in that together, men feel the need to basically impress each other and commit acts they would normally see as horrible. Most guys find it easier to just join in or allow a situation to happen then stand up and put an end to the event. Enloe discusses a case where Nazi soldiers killed a group of innocent Jews and the nonshooters pleaded to the police officers, “Not that they were ‘too good’ but rather that they were ‘too weak’ to kill” (112). It is thought of cowardly and embarrassing for men in a militia to speak  up for what is right and wrong. It was really interesting to read Enloe’s second chapter, The Spoils of War, because I was not aware that the soldiers participated in such behaviors as prostitution. Enloe brings up the point of how when a woman is raped by a U.S. soldier it makes the headlines, but when women are paid to have sex and dance for the soldiers nobody cares. This is a problem because women who offer these services send the message that we are allowed to be treated worse than men and are allowed to be look at as objects. In order to solve this problem of women getting sexually assaulted we have to fight for all women and not just for the “respectable” women. The NY Times articles were very contrasting with each other. It was interesting to learn about Warhouse and how women are Captains and fight alongside men. It seems that most of the men here respect the women, maybe not at first, but in the end. However, I was kind of shocked to learn that sex was a common thing at bases. I guess that makes sense because they may have a lot of down time, but it just surprised me.