Why Colleges Fail at Punishing Rapists, and a Radical Idea for Justice

Sexual Assault on campus is problem that has been receiving unprecedented amounts of attention lately.  Just a few days ago, it was announced that 55 colleges are under investigation for failing to adequately handle sexual assault and create a non-discriminatory environment under Title IX, a federal law that prohibits discrimination based on sex in all institutions that receive federal funding.  It is commonly held that 1 in 4 female students will be assaulted during their time in college, though it must be acknowledged that all such statistics are disputed.  Nevertheless, it is increasingly clear that no American college does anything approaching a decent job of punishing rapists and doing justice to survivors.

Olympic Advertising, Gender Norms, and Politics

Proctor and Gamble has some new ads out in their "Thank you Mom" campaign, to coincide with the Sochi Olympics.

Here's the most popular one. Here's another.

The purpose is pretty obvious: P&G makes mostly household goods, and since women still do a disproportionate share of housework, it makes total sense for P&G to appeal to "moms" who make the purchasing decisions when it comes to toothpaste (Crest), batteries (Duracell), detergent (Tide) and diapers (Pampers), etc.

While quite popular and seemingly innocuous, These ads have the insidious and toxic effect of reinforcing gender norms- with "Mom" being portrayed as being the most concerned with the children, with Dad nowhere to be found. (There isn't a single "Dad" in any of the ads).