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Essay / Fraternities and Collegiate Rape Culture Ayres Boswell...
In "Fraternities and Collegiate Rape Culture," Ayres Boswell and Joan Z. Spade analyze the social perspective of gender relations in male fraternities that add to the high rate of violence against women on many college campuses. They list a multitude of factors that distinguish high-risk from low-risk atmospheres when discussing college rape rates and note how "1 in 4 college students report being raped or attempted rape" (217). . Additionally, “1 in 12 college students report forcing a woman to have sex against her will” (Boswell, Spade 217). In other words, Boswell and Spade indicated that rates were high when it came to women being raped at universities by men who also attended those universities. Furthermore, Boswell and Spade point out that most people are aware of rape but know very little about rape culture (Boswell, Spade 217). First, Boswell and Spade describe how rape culture is a set of values and beliefs that provide an enabling environment. to rape (217)..As they do in their study, the list indicates a host of factors that distinguish higher risks of rape and some example parameters were the very distinct ratios at parties (Boswell, Spade 219). They observed 2 opposing fraternities at the same school and noted distinctions between high- and low-risk parties in which they generated sexually aggressive behavior by observing interaction between men and women. For example, in high-risk homes, women were treated differently depending on their conversations. were based on flirting, with meaningful one-on-one discussions, which indicated that there would be more interaction between these academic men and women. However, the way students behaved towards girls was seen as more aggressive, such as name-calling and pushing. In high-risk homes, alcohol consumption was heavier and all that was talked about was “sex talk” from the night before (Boswell, Spade 219). Unlike high-risk homes, in low-risk homes, behavior changed over time. they would change the settings. After all, some of the people who attended high-risk parties also attended low-risk parties. Boswell and Spade explained that low-risk parties benefit from a friendlier setting. Men were said to treat women with respect and not talk about them like high-risk partygoers would (Boswell, Spade 220).