“When a 16 year old girl in Ohio was filmed being raped by two boys at a party
CNN reporters talked about how tragic it was
because the rapists could have been star athletes
Because God forbid we lose a future football star
over something as silly as forcing oneself onto an unconscious girl
right?
You say that victims of sexual assault were asking for it
But was that 8 year old girl asking for it
When you told her you would give her a ride home?
Did her overalls provoke you?
Isn’t it awful we live in a world where 1 in 5 women
Have been sexually assaulted
But only 3% of rapists spend even a day in jail.
That is rape culture.
You say that a woman is “cold”
Because she didn’t like him kissing her neck,
but when he refused to stop
it’s considered his “natural behavior”.
That is rape culture.
You say that men who are victims of rape are “weak”
But tell that to former U.S. Marine
James Landrith,
Who was raped at the age of 19.
That is rape culture.
Thinking that sexual assault
Against women is “the norm”,
That is rape culture
Rape culture is a Lawmaker from Maine
Saying that if a woman has the right to abortion
Then a man should have the right
To use his superior strength
To force himself on a woman
It is the boys in my class laughing at this poem
And the word “rape”
Being their favorite joke.
Rape culture is believing that a woman can’t become pregnant
As a result of rape
When actually 32,000 women in the U.S.
Become pregnant from rape every year.
So maybe we should stop saying
“Boys will be boys”
and “She was asking for it”
And start teaching men and women
To not rape.”

—

my protest poem for language arts 

(inspired by this post by wearethefourthwave)