(This should be it... I can't embed Vimeo videos into blogger posts for some reason so I hope this is the YouTube equivalent...)
And it appears that I might be one of the few people upset at this campaign. I do appreciate the attempt to decrease sexual assault rates but I don't think that this is the way.
First and foremost, why are there only white/light skinned, conventionally beautiful, cisgendered women in the video? This helps to instill the stereotype that cis women are at risk for rape and instills the beauty image of whiteness and thinness.
Second, it continues to add to the rape culture AND it victim blames. People who are victims of sexual assault of any kind SHOULD NOT be at blame and this ad will probably add another layer to that. I can just image the arguments of "well SHE should have been wearing those panties to keep safe". To top that off, it takes the focus off rapists to the victim. By not actively looking at the people who are raping, we continue to add into the culture. This redirection to the victims continues to add to the invisibility of the perpetrators. AND to top it off, it neglects and silences trans* and male victims of rape. (Rape is not just a women's issue. It is an issue of the patriarchy.)
Third, it also instills the idea that rape comes from strangers at parties when in fact, most sexual assault comes from friends or significant others. Are women supposed to wear these all the time?!
Fourth, it also takes out the community effort of preventing sexual assaults (or of any type of assault really). Several months ago, I took a day long training with the Green Dot program at my school and wrote about my experience here. This ARWEAR campaigns continues to instill the idea that rape and sexual assault is a personal problem that an individual should deal with but in reality, that often isn't the case.
There is a tumblr post going around that adds more views and opinions about the campaign, the ones that I have seen have been quite upset at it. I really recommend reading the comments, especially since they raise some really great points about race as well.
