A New York Times article is encouraging sororities to throw parties as part of a larger effort to minimize the risk of sexual violence against women at campus Greek parties. The article claims that if sororities offered alternatives to frat parties, they would prevent some of the obvious dangers that many frat parties tend to have and create safer spaces for women to enjoy themselves.
“Instead of only regulating fraternities,” the article says, “administrators might want to consider a more free-market approach to changing the campus party scene.”
There is nothing that should be “free-market” about this. Wanna know why? Because there is NOTHING “free-market” about sexual assault. It should not fall on the victims of violence against women to prevent violence against women. Instead, those in power should be directly applied to instituting safer environments for women at parties by encouraging members of frats to, say, not spike punch with roofies. Cue all the rage.
“Telling fraternities not to throw parties is overbearing; telling undergraduates not to attend frat parties won’t work; and telling undergraduates to control their drinking at frat parties probably won’t work, either,” goes another part of the piece.
Fine. But how about continuing to insist frat members should never abuse their power in party situation? How about actively teaching frats—and everyone else—about the importance of consent, and engraining those teaching in campus culture? Unless there remains a direct approach to regulate frat parties, having sororities throw parties will not stymie the presence of rape culture, because it is not actively fighting against rape culture: It’s just offering an alternative every once in a while. And that will never, ever, ever, ever, ever, EVER be enough.
Image via The New York Times
