Yes, words are hard sometimes.
The problem is that we
all think about the undergrads. GW has a terrible reputation for having a bunch of rich kids, playboy Embassy Row kids that can't legally get in trouble, where life is one big Ke$ha party, but we all know it isn't true - at least once we get to grad school doing such serious, important research. Same for Michigan, Washington, UCLA, UNC, Tulane, Alabama, Texas - If we're just talking about stupid binge drinking, fratastic, hey brah check out my new neon tank top culture, it's just mayhem all the time everywhere. (Unless you went to a women's college like me
)
Yet, if we're being truly honest, we'll include Harvard, Yale, Columbia, and Emory, because they are all including in the national Title IX investigation, too. Because, at Yale screaming "No Means Yes and Yes Means Anal" repeatedly as a part of rushing in front of a female dorm is not considered harassment or threatening behavior. Because at Columbia, when a female student is raped, tells the administration and not the cops like she's asked, and nothing happens she starts the (now) national campaign Carrying the Weight Together, so other rape and sexual violence survivors know they are not alone on and off campus. So, every day she carries her mattress around campus because she is more than her rape, more than the names being slung at her because that man may or may not be rich or an athlete.
None of the schools we're applying to are perfect. Worse, even if they are academically top notch, Hopkins, UNC, Harvard - there is always something, and more often than not it is tied directly to sports, greek life, and sexual violence. More often than not, it is two of those things. I got my first MA at Florida State. The thought was revolting, and I was there from Fall 2011 - Spring 2013. I was gone before "Famous Jameis" was a starter. I didn't want to go there because of the undergrad culture. Yet, when I got there for my virtually free degree, I realized that my only times being forced to interact was on the bus that goes around campus and at football games. Life is so truly different when you're there for a real purpose and you can see all of these issues. Even though you're still a student, just like them, it feels as if you're on the outside looking in. It wasn't so long ago that we were the ones walking back to our dorms late at night, sober or not so sober, but being on the outside now, we know the administration truly doesn't care as long as we don't go to the real cops, the media, etc. I hate all the universities because the survivors that demand action are no longer seen as dollar signs (safe), they are seen as a ticking time bomb (not safe) and are handled accordingly. Now, that is some public health research I'd like to be involved in.
Feminist rant of the hour over, and with no curse words!
