CATHY YOUNG: The Hyped Campus Rape That Wasn’t.

The photos and videos . . . appeared to show a fully consensual encounter; the woman was seen smiling, flipping back her hair, at one point putting her hand on the back of the man’s head, and even posing for the camera with a grin on her face. Witnesses confirmed that, while both participants were clearly drunk, the “victim” was not incapacitated and “seemed like she was enjoying it”; she also left with the man afterwards, walking unassisted. (While none of the onlookers thought the sex was non-consensual, at least one or two of them berated the man as a “slut” and physically assaulted him after he stood up, bloodying his face–an ironic detail considering feminist complaints that women are stigmatized for sexually “loose” behavior while men are not.) . . .

The university is still considering whether to take disciplinary action against one or both of the students. (One may safely assume that charges against the woman for filing a false police report is not one of the options on the table.) Meanwhile, a follow-up “campus conversation” on sexism, sexual assault, and alcohol is scheduled for November 18. Since the proposed topics include “double standards,” it would be interesting to invite the discussants to consider the following scenario:

An intoxicated woman performs oral sex on an equally intoxicated man in public view. Some female passers-by outraged by the woman’s loose conduct berate her as a slut and beat her up before she leaves the scene in the man’s company. Which of the two would be seen as the victim deserving of public support?