Might Be The Simplest, Best Reaction To Steubenville Rape Case
This from The Huffington Post:
"Hey bros, check who passed out on the couch," the guy in the video begins, staring into the camera, as a seemingly unconscious girl is sprawled out on the sofa behind him. "Guess what I'm going to do to her."
Probably not what you might think. The "bro" in question proceeds to give the girl a pillow, a blanket and a glass of water before turning back to the camera. "Real men treat women with respect," he says.
A mere 26 seconds, University of Oregon student Samantha Stendal's video, titled "A Needed Response," is as short and pithy as they come. Directed toward "the Steubenville rapists...or any rapists out there," the video's point may seem obvious, but the message could do with some reinforcement in the wake of the Steubenville rape trial.
Upworthy's Adam Mordecai sums it up well when he writes, "I can't believe this video is actually necessary. However, dudes need to learn how consent works."
Since being uploaded to YouTube last week, Stendal's video has been viewed more than one million times.
"The message I hope that people can get from this video is that we need to treat one another with respect," Stendal told KVAL News, in Eugene, Ore. "No matter what gender, we should be listening to each other and making sure there is consent."
Consent was at the center of the Steubenville rape trial, which culminated March 17 with the convictions of two Ohio high school football players for the rape of a 16-year-old girl at an alcohol-soaked party last summer. The case drew national headlines, and sparked a conversation about "how drunk is too drunk."
Walter Madison, an attorney for one of the convicted teens, told the Cleveland Plain Dealer that the victim "didn't affirmatively say no." But left-leaning news and culture magazine The Nation notes that "the absence of a 'no' is not the same thing as the presence of a 'yes.' And until American culture and law frames sexual consent as proactively, enthusiastically given, there will be no justice for rape victims."
Backstory from Deadspin:
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