Stop Fighting, Take Action, Give Options

Author: Danielle Perkins

A debate has recently been spurred by Senior Kevin King's article regarding the pop quiz posters. Myself, as well as other Campus readers, have watched people battle with letters over the meaning of the article and sometimes even the point of the posters. I do not wish to enter into the name calling and finger pointing match that has begun. Instead, I hope to offer a new possibility: everyone is right.

Two weeks ago when I read Mr. King's article I thought I agreed with him. He made some very good points regarding the inefficiency of verbal battery as well as the inconsistencies of claims made by some members of Feminist Action at Middlebury (FAM) who did not seem to be living up to their own advice. He spoke to a well known, and slightly clichéd adage that Americans should know well: divided we will fall and united we stand. Mr. King pointed out, and I'm sure many of you will agree, that attacking people with what you say does not get much accomplished. Unfortunately for him, a few members of the Middlebury College community seemed unable to see past his disagreement with the posters. It seemed as though his final words "so long as your audience is more alienated than persuaded, you will have done nothing beneficial" were forgotten and his message overlooked.

Since I agreed with his ideas, I was quite surprised to open to the Opinions section last week only to find an entourage of people voicing their vehement objections to his ideas. As any well reasoned Middlebury student would do, I decided to consider these differences in my decision and read their take on the situation. What I found were students speaking to slightly different issues and also making excellent points. What was I to conclude then?

The answer I came to is just the question that I hope to pose to you: can't they all be right? We don't have to agree on the best way to inform the campus about the issue of rape. Mr. King had a good point that alienating people may not be the best policy. Nahal Batmanghelidj '02 also spoke the truth in highlighting the fact that posters are a plea to unite against this issue. Elizabeth Brookbank '04 also reminded us that however unappealing, such posters do spread awareness. Senior Samantha Severin's push for posters that challenge us is also a valid idea.

My final conclusion about the situation came after I read sophomore Alexa Varriano's statement that "rather than arguing over men versus women or bringing up the ludicrous threat of litigation against the writer of the poster, perhaps we should be a little humane about the situation." I would like to take this idea one step further. Now that we have all had our little yelling match over how we feel about graphic posters, let's consider the issue behind the message. To me, arguing over the best way to spread awareness is a moot point. We must agree to disagree on this issue so that we can move forward in finding the best way to battle the appalling outrages occurring here at Middlebury.

I have learned something from the rhetoric that took place in The Campus over the last few weeks. Rape is a touchy issue that we are supposed to feel uncomfortable about — this is nothing new. Furthermore, when people feel too passionately they are apt to become defensive against anyone who seems to disagree with their views. As a woman, I understand the rage that can pile up if someone tries to undermine me because of my sex. I do, however, realize that yelling at them is not going to change their views, but more likely only further their stereotype of feminists as raging, man-hating beings. Attacking people will only prompt further argument, only making it harder to reach them. It is only through understanding the views of another that we can help enlighten them with our own ideas.

In the end, we don't need to fight against each other — we can all be 'right' in our own way. Rather than butting heads on the best way to inform, let's work together to change a problem facing all of us. My hope for you as students as well as people is not to reject someone's view just because they disagree with yours, but to challenge yourself to see their perspective and learn from it. Even if you do not agree with one another, it is only through understanding and unity that we can prompt change.

I worry that we are reducing the issue by attacking one another rather than focusing in on the underlying problem and doing something about it. Women have been deeply hurt by what is going on here on campus and I want to help them in whatever way we can. Even more sadly, women have been reduced to putting up posters to be heard. I hope that we will take what everyone is saying and learn from it. We know that rape happens, so let's stop fighting, take action, and provide some options for stopping this situation all together. After all, aren't two heads better than one?