Rape tape should be respected as a symbol

Why are people having such a hard time coming to terms with the V-Day “Rape Free Zone” tape? To me, the “Rape Free Zone” is a symbolic expression of the acknowledgment of rape as a problem and a commitment to work towards its eradication. Instead of frat guys seeing the “Rape Free Zone” tape as an attack or a condemnation, why not recognize the fact that we live in a rape culture and we need everyone — whether man or woman, queer or straight — to stand in solidarity against rape? Speaking out about violence against women is not male bashing. Neither is saying that anyone is a potential rapist. In the United States, rapes occur with a shocking frequency. And this is not just rape in the sense of an unknown man lurking in the bushes and jumping out to attack a woman. A vast majority of rapes are committed by people that the victim knows — a colleague, an acquaintance, even a partner. So who, then, are the “rapists?” For the frat guys who got offended at the imposition of “Rape Free Zone” tape on their residences: Instead of getting defensive and feeling like you’re being accused, why not join in the fight to end rape and sexual assault? Women activists and survivors of sexual assault can’t keep preaching to the choir. It’s up to men to take up the struggle as well.

Erica Williams

Graduate Student, Cultural and

Social Anthropology

Don’t confuse non-violence with passivity

In her recent wrangling with anti-intellectualism (“Apathy as Gen Y’s Social Protest?” Feb. 17), Charlotte Band did well to offer readers an ambitious and open-minded appraisal where cynicism typically obtains. It must have been a slip, then, when the author counted “passive resistance” among the “major political and social movements of the twentieth century.” She must have meant “non-violent resistance.”

One need only make the short visit to the King Papers Project on campus, or the shorter visit to its Web site, to read what Rev. Martin Luther King said about non-violent direct action: “[The resister’s] method is passive or nonaggressive in the sense that he is not physically aggressive toward his opponent. But his mind and emotions are always active, constantly seeking to persuade the opponent that he is mistaken. This method is passive physically but strongly active spiritually.”

I doubt that King — one of the most prolific and articulate exponents of this resistance — would summarize his efforts as “passive resistance.” Nor would any of the legion Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee-era activists, whose inspiration can be directly traced to King. I have participated in only one such non-violent resistance myself, but I too would testify that those efforts in blocking a San Francisco intersection to protest the Iraqi war were anything but passive.

Band might be heartened by the fact that this event occurred less than a year ago and involved dozens of Stanford students. But she might also correctly note that that March demonstration, while defying “apathy,” did not amount to “intellectualism” per se. Thus the dilemma remains. I can only hope that the spirit of the “passionate cause” of King and his followers was never really abandoned; if it indeed has been, then “passive resistance” will only come to refer to the attitude with which our generation disdains intellectualism.

Chris Vaughan

Junior, Comparative Studies in Race & Ethnicity

Kudos to administrators for supporting

same-sex marriage

I wanted to extend my congratulations and thanks to Rick Yuen (Assistant Dean and Director of the Asian American Activities Center), Ben Davidson (Assistant Dean of the Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual Community Center) and all other members of the Stanford community who participated in or officiated over the same-sex marriage ceremonies in San Francisco over the weekend. I work in City Hall, and since Thursday my work has been interrupted by overwhelming cries of joy erupting from the crowds each time a couple emerges with a marriage license. It has been truly incredible to see the convergence of loving couples and families, and I take my hats off to all the Stanford community members who are working to make it possible.

Amanda Kahn

San Francisco, Calif.