Sometimes I hear things that make me a mixture of angry and sad. Quite often these things are excuses. Sometimes these excuses are valid and cannot be argued against (at least not by me).
In many other situations there is no excuse for the reason something was done. One of the excuses that really bothers me is when what an individual is wearing gets blamed for a sexual act. In all reality, clothing is neither a proposition nor an excuse. Clothing is just clothing and there should be no further exploration as to the possible subliminal messages because there are not any.
Some of you may be wondering why I am bringing this up, especially at this time of year. The answer is quite simple. It is Sexual Assault Awareness Week on campus. More specifically, it is Denim Day.

The brief history of Denim Day is that in 1999, the Italian Supreme Court overturned a rape conviction because the victim was wearing jeans. The theory is that jeans cannot be removed from an individual without the aid of that person and hence, by removing the jeans, the individual was granting consent to the sexual act and it could not be considered sexual assault. The sheer notion of this idea is disturbing in that it fails to recognize aspects of sexual assault such as coercion, threats or force.
A further disturbance is that this attitude is not isolated to a specific Italian case. Manifestations of this attitude are found and heard all the time across the globe. I have even heard it once or twice, myself.
Despite what an individual is wearing, consent is never implied and to have sex based on that clothing is irresponsible and can in most situations — I will not claim in all situations — be considered rape.

Let me give a mental scenario to further illustrate my point. You are at a party, drinking, having some laughs and just generally enjoying the evening. You see a female who appears to be “scantily” clad (low cut shirt and a high skirt). You strike up a conversation, realize that she is intoxicated and proceed to take a sexual interest in her. Things progress until the two of you are alone in your room. One thing leads to another and eventually sex occurs. At no point in that entire process did you obtain verbal consent from her, and in fact, she seems to be unwilling at first, pushing you away until finally “giving in” to your advances.
After everything is over, she seems to be withdrawn and avoids further contact with you. You wonder if you did something wrong or if you went too far, but then you push those thoughts out of your mind thinking, “She was asking for it. I mean, look at what she was wearing.”

What has just happened is sexual assault. You just made an assumption about her sexual desire based on her clothing and since clothing does not convey such messages, you assumed incorrectly. Besides, no one ever asks for it. If she really wanted to have sex with you, it would have been easy to obtain verbal consent.

Think about what you are doing and avoid such assumptions. Please get involved in the protest against sexual assault because it is very real and needs to be stopped. There are various ways to get involved on campus. Visit the Violence Prevention Office or talk with the Brotherhood Empowerment Against Rape (BEAR). Sexual assault is one sex-related issue that will not go away by going to the doctor or by always using protection (barriers), or by being sexually responsible (being regularly tested, for example). I hope to see this issue decline by public attention and by individuals standing up and saying, “I do not care what she is wearing, she is not asking for sex.”
Have fun, be safe, and view clothing as nothing more than clothing.
Have a sex question for Chris? Send it to This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Only registered users can write comments.
Please login or register.