New Jersey College Wants You To Practice Your ‘Don’t Rape Me Face’ In The Mirror

Hey Ladies, would you like to find a way to make sure you're never the victim of sexual assault?!? Of course! We all do! And one college in New Jersey thinks the best way for us to do that is by practicing our don't-rape-me-faces in the mirror.

Because that'll solve everything. 

Ramapo College in New Jersey held a presentation, which was titled "Haven – Understanding Sexual Assault," and led by Cory Rosenkranz, the school's coordinator of Substance Abuse & Violence Prevention. The talk was part of a yearly course called "AlcoholEdu," which is meant to train "peer facilitators," meaning fellow students, on how to talk to freshmen about drinking and generally making good choices when it comes to alcohol consumption. A noble cause, buy maybe they should have picked a different speaker.

The usual tactic when it comes to advising college-aged women about booze is to imply, or just come right out and say, that female students are inviting rape if they get too drunk. Or dress a certain way. Or act a certain way. Or, apparently, make certain faces.

According to the student newspaper, The Ramapo News,

During the hour-long presentation, which also covered alcohol consumption and abuse, Rosenkranz said female students needed to be self aware about actions that could invite sexual assault. Those included, Rosenkranz said during the presentation, how women dress, how they interact socially, how much they drink and how their body language and facial expressions could be interpreted.

The thing about that is that... well... it doesn't actually address the real problem. Which is the facial expressions of the people who are committing the actual crime. At no point were they like, "Hey, you know what you guys should do? Not sexually assault women."

One student told The Ramapo News, "My thought the whole time was maybe women shouldn't practice how long they're blinking, men should just not rape people."

The college has responded to the outrage by issuing a tweet. A single, solitary tweet:

Gee! That makes everything better. Thanks, Ramapo College. If you need me, I'll be over here practicing my don't-rape-me-face.

If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, contact the YWCA of West Central Michigan’s 24-Hour Confidential Crisis Line at 616.776.RAPE. For all other YWCA Sexual Assault Services call 616.459.4652

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