Wednesday, February 11, 1987/The Battalion/Page 3
State and Local
Psychologist: Education key
to increasing report of rapes
By Daniel A. La Bry
Stuff Writer
Rape does happen at Texas
| A&M — it’s just not reported.
That’s wnat Mark Stevens, a
[nationally recognized psycholo
gist on rape and sexual assault
From the University of Southern
[California, told a group of about
35 A&M faculty and staff mem
bers Tuesday afternoon at a ses
sion on rape in the university
[community.
The session was sponsored by
C.A.R.E. — Create Attitudes for
a Rape-free Environment.
Stevens said he was shocked by
the small number of rapes re
ported at Texas A&M over the
past few years.
Many college women experi
ence sexual aggression from an
acquaintance in the form of
threats, coercion or violence, he
[said. Most women are reluctant to
report these types of crimes to the
[police because of the difficulty of
[the prosecution.
“At this point in our culture
most women are afraid to report
rape because they think they’re
ng to be put on the jury stand
and nave to prove they’re inno
cent,” Stevens said. “Women start
Feeling guilty if they’ve slept with
somebody else before and there-
[Fore they must be a slut and easy
[and they asked for it. Women
[don't want to go through that.”
1 f l R a P e has been a social taboo
For too long, he said. In order for
myM S()C j e ty to evolve, a few men and
women must take the first step to
Gilt educate society about rape and
lemand public recognition of the
seriousness of the problem.
The first major step in rape ed
ucation at the university level,
noi :: ftevens said, is a women’s service
enter designed to educate
women and men on rape and so-
ietal conditions that allow rape
to exist.
Photo by Doug La Rue
Dr. Mark Stevens tells A&M faculty about rape prevention.
tod oi
■ateltf
ms at
“It won’t happen from the
president’s office,” he said. “It
will have to happen from more of
a bottom up movement, rather
than a top down.”
After Stevens urged the group
to take action on getting a wom
en’s center started, Debbie
Spencer, the south area student
development specialist for Stu
dent Affairs, asked people inter
ested in forming a committee to
discuss the possibilities of starting
a center to sign a sheet passed
around the room.
Stevens warned the group that
rape education often is followed
by conservative opposition.
“If parents start to hear (about
rapes going on), what’s going to
happen?” he asked. “They’re not
going to send Johnny or Suzie to
Texas A&M.”
See Rape, page 12
Expert: Key to unraveling
sexual myths within reach
Communication can help clear confusion
By Audrey Cardenas
Reporter
Communication is the key to un
locking the misconceptions and con
fusion that surround sexuality, Clin
ical Pyschologist Mark Stevens said
Tuesday night.
In an audience-participation lec
ture held in the Memorial Student
Center, Stevens told a group of
about 60 students that most sexual
misconceptions stem from a lack of
honest communication between
males and females.
“Men and women have been so
cialized differently,” he said, “and so
their conceptions about sex are dif
ferent.”
Men think that they must initiate
sex, “and view sex as a conquest, as
another notch on their belts,” he
said.
But women often feel violated
and find it hard to say no to men, he
added. So men often think a woman
means yes when she says no and date
rape can occur, he said.
To solve this problem, an under
standing must be reached. When a
woman says no, she must be sure
that she means no, and the man
must be sure he hears no, he said.
“The man must not wait for the
woman to say no five times before he
“Many people don’t com
municate because they’re
afraid of getting rejected.
It still means a lot to have
a date on Saturday night. ”
— Dr. Mark Stevens
believes her,” he said, “and a woman
shouldn’t say no if she means may
be.”
For many women, aggressiveness
is still viewed as a taboo, and they
feel guilty when they want to initiate
sex, Stevens said. But instead of feel
ing ashamed, they should discuss
their confusion openly with their
dates, and their dates should re
spond honestly, he said.
“Many people don’t communicate
because they’re afraid of getting re
jected,” Stevens said. “It still means a
lot to have a date on Saturday night.
Dating gives status.”
Many women think that if they say
no to a man then he will not ask
them out again, he said. For men, no
is a sign of rejection because they
have fragile egos, he added.
Stevens, who defines sex as “mu
tually consenting physical involve
ment that can include touching, kiss
ing or cuddling,” said that it also can
be violent.
Several terms used to describe sex
are abusive and this affects people
psychologically, Stevens said, giving
some a violent perception of sex.
“A woman that is raped or vio
lated is never asking for that,” Ste
vens said. “The victim should not be
blamed.”
Psychologist: All men socialized
to contribute to culture of rape
By Mark Figart
Reporter
A psychologist told an all-male au
dience Tuesday in Rudder Tower
that each of them was guilty of rape.
“I’m proposing that all of us in
here are rapists, that all of us have
contributed in some way to our rape
culture,” said Mark Stevens, coordi
nator of training for a counseling
center at the University of Southern
California.
“Men Can Stop Rape” was the
theme of the two-hour session,
which encouraged participants to
explore their own socialization, to
personalize emotionally the rape ex
perience of women and to discuss
strategies for stopping rape.
Stevens described a rape culture
that is supported by factors such as
rape jokes, peer pressure and legal
definitions.
“Men typically are socialized to
contribute to this culture,” he said.
“When I go out on a date wonder
ing how far I’m going to gel with this
person, I’m contributing to the rape
culture,” he said.
The group of nine students, five
staff members, and three officers
from the University Police Depart
ment discussed other ways they
might contribute to the rape culture,
including gestures, vocal sexual “ap
proval” of women, or trying to ma
nipulate women to commit sexual
acts they might not feel comfortable
about, known as date rape.
“I can guarantee you that on some
level, that person is scared,” Stevens
said of the woman who finds herself
in one of these situations.
Stevens cited a feeling of power as
a reason why men commit rape. By
displaying authority over an individ
ual, a man can boost his self-esteem.
One student, who asked to remain
anonymous, agreed.
“I find myself saying, ‘Yeah, the
only reason I kept putting my hand
on her leg was for the power; could I
make her do it?’ ” he said.
See Psychologist, page 12
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