Sexual Assault Awareness Month: Still not asking for it
Written by Emma Towers
Photos by Marissa Bannigan, illustration by Sarah Nash
Models: Candace Wu, Emma Towers, Nia Harrison, and Grace Mason
Styled by Emma Towers and Zoe Brown
To honor Sexual Assault Awareness Month, it’s important to take a look at the objectification of women’s clothing and its role in both shaping women’s history and future. Since colonial times, women have demanded the right to vote, own property, join male dominated fields, and express their individuality through clothing, and even though we have made strides, society is far off from true equality. Every day, women experience street harassment, physical violence, sexual assault, and they are constantly judged and objectified by men. Fashion should be a means for women to feel confident and express themselves; one’s outfit choice is never an excuse to claim she is, “asking for it.”
According to rainn.org, street harassment can be defined as unwanted comments, gestures, or acts directed at someone in a public space without their consent, and it may include actions such as catcalling, whistling, flashing, sexual slurs, and even sexual assault or rape. Whether someone chooses to wear a sexy dress showcasing her figure or an oversized sweatpants set that covers her body, any form of harassment is not okay, nor is it a compliment.
A national street harassment survey finds that approximately 65% of all women (about 2 out of 3 women in the United States) have experienced some form of street harassment, and 57% of women say they have experienced sexist slurs while over 41% have even experienced physical forms of abuse in public.
Because of statistics like these, girls from a young age are taught to keep their head down and avoid eye contact in public, regardless of the comments being thrown their way, and this is detrimental to their confidence and pride in being a woman. This issue isn’t new.
Women have fought for their place in society— from fighting for their right to vote to witnessing the first female vice president in United States history, but even so, girls are shown from a young age that they are in fact not equal. In school, girls are taught to cover up to avoid being called names, but young boys are not taught not to judge or objectify girls. Essentially, this teaches young girls that what they wear dictates how men should treat them, which is utterly disheartening.
Instead of telling women how to dress, it is essential that men are taught how to respect women, regardless of their clothing, hair, or makeup choices. In order to be an ally for women’s rights, it must be recognized that looking “sexy” does NOT equal consent, and clothing is a way for women to express themselves, not search for approval from men.
So ladies: remember to wear whatever makes you feel confident, and continue to make your statement in history. And to men and allies: know that street harassment and sexual assault is terrifying and degrading yet common, and remember that regardless of her outfit choice, she’s still not asking for it.