A Flashlight on the Right to Abort: Defending Pro-Choice Under Quality of Life

             Life is probably one of the most precious things we as humans create. Through some miracle of biology, we are able to bring a new life into the world. Thus, abortion is a very controversial issue because in the act of performing an abortion, we are denying some newborn the right to life before it has had the chance to experience it. Unfortunately, the current abortion argument presents a false dichotomy, framing the argument as the mother’s choice to give life and the child’s right to live when in reality, the issue is much more complex. Abortion is a major decision that will have a significant impact on two lives, the mother and the yet unborn child and unless we recognize the issues in this new framework, we do not do justice in understanding the complexity of the abortion issue.

            Before delving into the moral issue of weighing the life of a child against the choice of the mother, we need to understand the threats to the mother’s life that comes from pregnancy. Medical advances have significantly reduced the maternal mortality rate, in especially developed countries, under the fifth Millennium Development goal to improve maternal health. The number of deaths globally dropping from more than 500,000 a year in 1980 to 343,000 a year in 2008 and deaths declining at a rate of about 1.4% a year.[1] Maternal health has improved significantly in developing countries, the maternal rate dropping by 34% between 1990 and 2008.[2] However, the 2011 assessment of the MDGs did find that the vast majority of maternal deaths are avoidable, “the largest proportion of such deaths are caused by obstetric haemorrhage, mostly during or just after delivery, followed by eclampsia, sepsis, complications of unsafe abortion and indirect causes.”[3] Should abortion become legalized and incorporated into general medical practice, the likelihood of unsafe abortions would decrease and maternal health would improve as a result.

            However, there are many more complications than simply the threat of death that result from denying women the right of abortion. Public health researchers and UC San Francisco ANSIRH conducted a collaborative study called the “Turnaway Study” used data from 956 women who sought abortions at 30 different abortion clinics and conducted intensive interviews for the 182 women who were turned away. Two years into the planned five year study, the group reported that “there are no mental health consequences of abortion compared to carrying an unwanted pregnancy to term,” but found that “even later abortion is safer than childbirth and women who carried an unwanted pregnancy to term are three times more likely than women who receive an abortion to be below the poverty level two years later.”[4] According to the Turnaway study, at the time of abortion 45% of women were on public assistance and two-thirds had household incomes below the federal poverty level and the main reason for abortion was money.[5] Of the women who were denied an abortion, 86% were living with their babies a year later but were also much more likely to be on public assistance, 76% being on the dole as opposed to 44% who got abortions.[6] Furthermore, of the women denied abortions, 67% lived below the poverty line and only 48% had a full time job as compared to their counterparts where 56% lived below the poverty line and 58% had full-time jobs.[7] From the study, we can conclude women denied abortions are more likely to be in need of public support and thus denying women the right to abort forces us as a society to foot the bill for a new child.

            Although society may seem willing to sponsor new life, there are other social costs that impact both the mother and child’s lives. Women who were denied abortions were more likely to stay in a relationship with an abusive partner, the study believing that “getting abortions allowed women to get out of such relationships more easily.”[8] Although women did not experience increased mental health disorders from, women denied abortions faced greater health risks such as seizures, fractured pelvis, infection, and hemorrhage with 38% experiencing limited activity for 10 days on average as opposed to abortion where 24% experienced limited activity for a 2.7 day average.[9] Even if we as a society are willing to “sponsor” these babies, it is the women who have the suffer the physical stress of not only giving birth but being responsible for looking after the baby.

            One more issue I would like to highlight is that abortion is not an easy choice for women. According to Turnaway, 97% of women who obtained an abortion felt it was the right choice and 65% of turnaways wished they had been able to obtain one.[10] However, the women who did have abortions did report that although they felt relieved, many also felt sad and guilty afterwards. The abortion procedure itself is quite invasive, the abortion pill only available for up to 8 weeks after the last menstrual period. For abortions in the first trimester, aspiration involves inserting a tube into the woman’s uterus and using suction to remove the pregnancy.[11] For the second trimester, D&E is used where dilators are inserted into the women to allow the doctor to evacuate the remove the pregnancy the second day, third if the pregnancy is more advanced.[12] These are highly invasive procedures that women will not want done on them unless they are very sure that at their current mental, physical, and/or financial situation, they cannot be responsible for caring for another human being.

            The right for women to choose to abort moves beyond the superficial weighing the value of women’s right to their bodies and the child’s right to life. The balance it between the woman’s right to her body; her mental, physical, and financial capability to look after another human being; and her ability to provide a safe environment for her child to grow up in and the child’s right to a fulfilling life. Beyond merely having the right to live, every person should have the right to equal opportunities to pursue their individual goals and dreams, Sen arguing that the purpose of life being to maximize our “freedoms” to choose. However, the reality of our current socio-economic system is that ability to pursue goals in our lives is determined by our social circles and financial situation. How fair is it to be a child coming into a world with a mother who may still be in an abusive relationship, may not have really wanted you to be born, and does not have the financial resources to care for your well-being? Women who chose to abort consider not only the short-term implications but also the long-term implications of having a child and it should not be our role as a society to tell them exactly what they can do with their bodies. Such a law infantilizes women as individuals who do not have the capability to make significant decisions about their own body and lives.

            Our society tends to believe that everyone has the obligation to have children and continue the human race. Not only do we now suffer from issues resulting from overpopulation and the unequal distribution of resources, we devalue the role of the parent. Becoming a parent is not an obligation but a privilege because parents have the most important impact on our lives. Our parents shape the type of people we become and their actions have significant impact on our lives. We as a society should not force women, especially women who are not financially or mentally prepared to care for another human being, to become parents. Rather, women and their partners need to have the resources and support structure necessary to look after new life that is brought into the world.

By Khan Kikkawa

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[1] Simon Rogers, “Maternal mortality: how many women die in childbirth in your country,” Data Blog, http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/datablog/2010/apr/12/maternal-mortality-rates-millennium-development-goals

[2] United Nations, “The Millennium Development Goals Report 2011,” United Nations, p. 29

[3] United Nations, “The Millennium Development Goals Report 2011,” United Nations, p. 29

[4] Annalee Newitz, “What happens to women denied abortions? This is the first scientific study to find out,” i09, http://io9.com/5958187/what-happens-to-women-denied-abortions-this-is-the-first-scientific-study-to-find-out

[5] Newitz, “What happens to women denied abortions? This is the first scientific study to find out,” i09

[6] Newitz, “What happens to women denied abortions? This is the first scientific study to find out,” i09

[7] Newitz, “What happens to women denied abortions? This is the first scientific study to find out,” i09

[8] Newitz, “What happens to women denied abortions? This is the first scientific study to find out,” i09

[9] Newitz, “What happens to women denied abortions? This is the first scientific study to find out,” i09

[10] Newitz, “What happens to women denied abortions? This is the first scientific study to find out,” i09

[11] FWHC Services, “Type of Abortion Procedures,” FWHC Services http://www.fwhc.org/abortion/ab-procedures.htm

[12] FWHC Services, “Type of Abortion Procedures,” FWHC Services

Missing the Mad Men Years?

Social Beliefs and Gender Inequality

As a connoisseur of American television, I am a fan of variety of different shows, one of them being Mad Men. A story about creative director Don Draper’s professional and personal life that glimpses into the world of advertising in the 1960s, it is a critically acclaimed series with a historical accuracy that allows its audience to travel back in time to witness the social attitudes of the 60s, where “men were men,” as some would say. Although many people may miss the 60’s for their better music, we should be thankful that the previous misogynistic treatment of women as inferior has been decreased in the present.

After a first scene of the first episode where we see our protagonist think about different tag lines to think about for a failing tobacco industry, the audience is treated to the working environment where we view a clear difference in the social interactions of men and women, although not necessarily different motives. Contrasting the men in the elevator who loudly discuss their colleague getting married because “she stole [his] heart,” and that “her old man is loaded,” we see a new female employee who is debriefed by her superior that men are looking for “something between a waitress and a mother,” advising her to “cut two holes in a bag and cover herself to assess her body,” and telling her not to fear the new technology of the typewriter because of the boys who created this made is so women can also operate them.

Although the show is an exciting drama that gives a glimpse of the 60s while we follow the amazing story of Don Draper, one worrying issue is the glorification of the 60’s misogynistic views. Don is a selfish womanizer with a silver tongue, a mere man with his own flaws and struggles rather than a paragon of virtue which makes for an exciting character but poor role model. Although “cat calls” and personal beliefs of sexism may not seem to cause harm, propagating the belief of gender equality even as a personal preference is a significant harm to society that needs to be addressed before we can make gender equality a reality. In a sense, if we want to achieve a fair and equitable society, our mind set needs to change so that we personally think and act to create an environment where gender equality can become a reality.

The power of individual beliefs has a significant effect on social functions. Mark Brandt’s study published in Psychological Science looked at data from an international survey conducted between 2005 and 2007 responding to the statements “on the whole, men make better political leaders than women do,” and “on the whole, men make better business executives than women do.”[1] Based on a UN measure of gender equality, Brandt found that sexism was directly associated with increases in gender inequality over time, individual beliefs contributing toward social inequality. A study published by Sex Roles highlights the both men and women respond in a more hostile way toward women who violate sex-role expectations, the stronger the support for the hierarchy the more hostile they react toward the violator.[2] Alyssa Fowers, co-author of the study, states “when women are influenced by society to make assumptions about each other they also hurt themselves.”[3] Women are affected by sexist remarks, research showing that women experience a variety of negative emotions when they are the targets of sexism with other women who witness the derogatory remark also experiencing similar feelings.[4] Individual beliefs and actions that reinforce current gender beliefs hinder progress for equality.

Although there are many laws and policies being passed by governments to promote gender equality, these policies are useless unless we the people recognize that gender is merely a tiny biological distinction resulting from a different random combination of chromosomes and that our social interaction with society should not be determined by such a simple fact. There is a 50% chance that any individual would have been male or female when born and no individual should be treated differently just because they are a certain gender. Gender inequality is an assertion by society that we should discriminate against half of the human population because they were born differently and thus are undeserving of some rights that should be equal to all.

Gender equality is a just way to address humanity and should be a basic face of life, not a goal we strive to reach toward. However, since our past history has generated these gender inequalities through division of labor and the social assumptions that formed from such divisions, our challenge in the 21^st Century and beyond is to change these social assumptions. Gender is no longer a strong determinant of individual capacity, our evolution to an industrial society has technology equalizes our physical strengths while greater value is now placed on mental prowess. Technology has equalized our initial differences and all people should be treated equally regardless of gender. The fight against gender inequality requires individuals challenging social assumptions and change social attitudes against gender for equality to be achieved.

By Khan Kikkawa

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[1] Sexism and Gender Equality, Science Daily, http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/10/111030151659.htm

[2] Rethinking Sexism: A Daughter-Father Team Examines How Society Maintains the Status Quo, Science Daily, http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091112151434.htm

[3] Rethinking Sexism: A Daughter-Father Team Examines How Society Maintains the Status Quo, Science Daily

[4] Sexism: Cat-Calls Are Detrimental to Everyone, Science Daily, http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/03/100318093303.htm

Gender Equality in the Workplace: More than Just Same Salaries for the Same Jobs

One of the many endemic issues of the workplace is the unequal pay for men and women. Despite performing the same work, women make a fraction of men’s annual salary. However, does this gap represent an evil attempt by corporations to reinforce the subjugation of women or are there other factors that must be addressed when considering the wage gap? This article would like to delve into the concept of gender equality in pay wages to understand why these wage gaps continue to persist despite legislation advocating equal wages.   

According to the data collected by the Office for National Statistics annual survey for hours and earnings, a man’s median annual salary is £28,091 compared to a woman’s median annual salary of £22,490, a difference of 19.9% while 24.1% of men who work full-time also earn overtime pay while only 12% of women in the same position do. Even if we remove the different earnings from overtime pay and include women’s maternity pay into the equation as well as the fact that more women work part-time than men, the stats show that men earn 10.2% more in hourly full-time pay than women.[1]

Although the gender wage gap still persists, the gap itself is not ignored and efforts have been made to reduce the gap. Various laws such as the Equal Pay legislation in the U.K. and the Equal Pay Act in the U.S. have been passed to address the wage gap, preventing gender from being used as a means to discriminate against hiring a worker and giving women the legal right to be paid an equal wage to men. However, despite these legislative efforts, gender differences still correlate with wage differences. Although the wage gap have decreased in the past decade from 16.3% in 2000 to 10.2% in 2010, the figures broken down by gender, geographic location, and type of job still show that there is a gap in hourly wages and overtime pay.[2] Furthermore, the wage gap has not improved significantly in recent years, women’s earnings only becoming 77.4% of men’s in 2010 in the U.S. compared to 77% in 2009.[3] Furthermore, progress in closing the wage gap has been quite slow since 1963 when the Equal Pay Act was signed. Women earn on average 77 cents to the men’s dollar in 2010 compared to earning 59 cents to the dollar in 1963 which means that the wage gap closes at a rate of about 0.5% a year.[4] Although the gap is closing, the rate at which it is closing is too slow given the significant costs the gap entails.

This wage gap represents a significant economic loss for women and imposes significant social costs to society because it creates unintended disincentives. Although the wage gap exists in most jobs, the size of the gap differs depending on the type of job.

Although the gap seems to be quite small or even reversed in jobs related to the social services or education, the gap is significant in fields that require highly educated workers such as lawyers or doctors. According to economist Evelyn Murphy, high school graduates lose $700,000, college graduates $1.2 million, and professional school graduates $2 million due to the wage gap.[5] The Fawcett Society in the U.K. supports these findings, that the pay gap varies across sectors and regions which can rise up to 55% in the finance sector and up to 33.3% in the City of London.[6] Although the gender gap affects most women, it significantly disadvantages women who seek highly competitive professions that require a high education or professional expertise.

It is hard to determine what causes this gender gap between men and women. The Fawcett society argues that this gap results from persisting discrimination against women, women’s work being undervalued, and the motherhood penalty. The Fawcett society argues that outdated gender norms still persist in the workplace which leads to men and women doing different types of work with men’s work being given higher economic and social value. Even within society, jobs traditionally done by women such as cleaning, catering, and caring are undervalued while masculine work like construction, transportation, and skilled trade remain in high demand. Although the first two issues are social biases that society can overcome by understanding and accepting gender equality within society, the motherhood penalty is a interesting conundrum that society will need to address as an aspect of gender equality.

The motherhood penalty is an interesting conundrum because the penalty itself can be a reasonable explanation for the gender gap. The story of firm specific skills regarding the gender wage gap is that firms seek individuals with experiences and qualifications that employees have built over time and are of particular value to an employer.[7] These firm specific skills are of great importance because these skills make the employee irreplaceable due to their expertise. Firms “are afraid that women are more likely than men to resign from their job at some point (to give birth and take care of children) are more reluctant to assign jobs that lead to such firm specific skills for women,”[8] and thus pay women less than men for the same position because women build up less of those crucial firm specific skills and thus have less expertise for the same position.

Although this argument is interesting, the argument implies that for jobs where firm specific skills are rare, women and men should have equal pay. However, a study by Isabel Fernandez on 250 temporary employee wages, a profession where employees should not be able to develop specific firm skills, found that even in temporary jobs working for 462 different companies, women earned on average $25.08 per hour while men, with the exact same job and qualifications, earned on average $29.66 per hour.[9] Although the firm skills theory seems be a rational explanation for the gender wage gap, it is not the only factor contributing to unequal wages.

The wage gap is a gender equality issue that truly represents one of the current flaws in society and the costs this inequality entails. The gender wage gap costs women $700,000 to $2 million over their lifetime and results not from their lack of specific skills but from simple discrimination due to gender. Women should be given equal pay for equal work, especially if both genders are working as temporary workers who do not develop any expertise that would justify differential pay. The gender wage gap not only penalizes women with a significant lifetime cost, it also disincentivizes women from pursuing work with generally high pay such as brokers or doctors due to the lower wages they earn. The gender wage gap represents the costs of inequality clearly and how they unfairly penalize individuals for uncontrollable factors.

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[1] Simon Rogers, “International women’s day: the pay gap between men and women for your job,” Data Blog

[2] Rogers, “International women’s day: the pay gap between men and women for your job,” Data Blog

[3] National Committee on Pay Equity, http://www.pay-equity.org/

[4] National Committee on Pay Equity, “The wage gap over time,” http://www.pay-equity.org/info-time.html

[5] National Committee on Pay Equity, “The wage gap over time,” http://www.pay-equity.org/info-time.html

[6] Fawcett Society, “Equal pay – The Facts,” http://www.fawcettsociety.org.uk/index.asp?PageID=321

[7] Freek Vermeulen, “the differences between men and women – sexist or functional?” Forbes, http://www.forbes.com/sites/freekvermeulen/2011/02/28/wage-differences-between-men-and-women-sexist-or-functional/

[8] Vermeulen, “the differences between men and women – sexist or functional?” Forbes

[9] Vermeulen, “the differences between men and women – sexist or functional?” Forbes


By Khan Kikkawa

Reinforcing Social Dominance through Violence

Social Dominance and Rape

I am not sure how many readers hear listen to comedy but a huge issue emerged in the stand-up world when comedian Daniel Tosh. During one of his stand-up performances, Mr. Tosh was discussing about how rape jokes could be funny when a female member of the audience heckling that “rape jokes are never funny.” In response to this heckle, Mr. Tosh replied “wouldn’t it be funny if that girl got raped by like, 5 guys right now?”[1] This poorly constructed retort (and I say poorly since as a fan of some of his work, I know that Mr. Tosh could have made a much better retort) led to a spark of outrage among feminists who found the remark offensive, resulting in a debate on the use of a rape joke to put down a woman who angered him.

I do not want this article to focus on the justification of rape jokes or whether Mr. Tosh was wrong to use a rape joke to get back at a woman who offended him. Unlike other professions, comedians are not properly respected at their place of work since audience members feel they have the right to critique or “heckle” comedians for their jokes if they are not funny or offensive, some people going as far as pouring their drinks on the comedian. Do we interrupt the president when he is giving a speech because we do not agree with his beliefs? Do we interrupt the priest? Do we spit on a chef’s food and send it back if it is unappetizing? I do not purport to know what a comedian’s life is like but understanding the effect and rudeness of heckling must be understood to give Mr. Tosh a fair analysis of why he took the action that he did.

However, the anger that results from being heckled does not justify the social threat of rape as a comeback to the comment. The anger that emerged from the remark results not from the use of rape itself as a joke but because it was used as a threat to reaffirm social hierarchy. Although men are not immune to rape, the vast majority of rape cases often result from men being the aggressor and women as the victim. However, due to the cultural stigma against rape as well as underreporting that under represents the prevalence of the crime, rape is a difficult and touchy crime. Although a single post on rape will not do much, hopefully this post could provoke some thoughts about the concept of rape in society and how society can change to better report and eradicate rape crimes in the future.

Before discussing social perceptions of rape, I would like to outline the legal definition of rape as well as some statistics regarding the crime. According to the Indiana criminal code, rape is defined as a Class B felony where the perpetrator “knowingly or intentionally [had] sexual intercourse with a member of the opposite sex when: 1) the other person is compelled by force or the imminent threat of force; 2) the other person is unaware that sexual intercourse is occurring; 3) the other person is so mentally disabled or deficient that consent to intercourse cannot be given.”[2] Rape raises to become a Class A felony when deadly force is used or threatened against the victim when the offense is committed. According to website Crisis Connection, in the United States, a person is sexually assaulted every 45 seconds and it is estimated that 1 out of every 7 (~14%) women in college has been raped although 9 out of 10 of these women never report that rape.[3] Men themselves are not immune with 1 in 10 men raped in his lifetime with 1 in 7 of those victims assaulted before the age of 19.[4] It is estimated that more than 61.5% of rapes are never reported to law enforcement, most likely due to the fact that 74% of sexual assaults are caused by assailants who are well-known to the victim.[5] If you think these statistics to be unexpectedly high, you are not the only one. Government officials themselves were surprised by a survey that found “1 in 5 women have been victims of rape or attempted rape,” with only 84,000 or so rapes reported despite researches’ estimates that there are around 1.3 million cases of rape or attempted rape for American women.[6] Unfortunately, Crisis Connections’ statistics are not too outrageous either as organization RAINN asserts that there are 207,754 victims of sexual assault a year with 54% of sexual assaults not reported.[7] Both organizations provide similar statistics, showing that rape is both underreported and remains quite prevalent.

However, the average rapist is not a man hiding within the bushes ready to pounce on unwilling victims but individuals much closer to home, literally. Of these assaults, approximately 67% of these assaults are committed by someone known to the victim with 38% of rapists being friends or acquaintances.[8] As you can see, the statistics given by both organizations are not too different, the average sexual assailant profile being a non-stranger who often assaults the victim within 1 mile of their home or at their home from between 6pm to midnight.[9] The average age is 31 years old, 52% reported to be white with 22% reported to be married and 1 in 3 sexual assaults resulting from the perpetrator being intoxicated.[10] Rape is not a crime committed by strangers but by those close to us, essentially betraying our trust and utterly strips us of control which may be why it is so controversial.

Rape is an unusual crime because of its representation as a crime of hate and control. Sexual assault is not a result of lust and desire but a violent crime of power, control and dominance. Perpetrators rape not because they lust after the victim but because they want to reassert their control and dominance over the individual. Rape reinforces gender inequality through domination and intentionally forces the victim to face her sexuality, essentially an action to “put the woman in her place” in the most cruel means possible. I think the message of rape is expressed most gruesomely depicted in the movie Boys Don’t Cry where the main character, a non-operative trans-male is beaten and raped by ex-convicts for being transgender and having a girlfriend. Although I am no psychologist, it is very likely that the desire to rape the character resulted not from sexual lust for him but to reestablish the dominance of “real” biological men over the trans-male who was attempting to enter their social sphere. Rape is essentially a violent tool to reinforce male dominance and undermines gender equality by inflicting trauma on others.

However, simple lust has also been discussed as a source of sexual frustration and thus, a cause of rape. According to anthropologist Robert LeVine, the two famous mass outbreaks of rape in Gusiiland in 1937 and 1950 occurred in years when “the price of a bride had soared beyond the reach of Gusii young men.”[11] According to surveys on the socioeconomic status of rapists in the U.S, the vast majority of offenders come from a lower socioeconomic class and is often an unemployed or unskilled laborer with only an elementary school education or less. Cross-cultural studies from Denmark and Australia also confirm those unskilled, unemployed, and poorly educated males; the members who often lose in sexual competition; are those who are most likely to rape. Although the article does not mention if the surveys take into account unreported rapes (which could be that the rich commit just as many rapes but are able to get away with their crimes unpunished more), we can see from the data that it is often the disempowered and threatened man whose masculinity and self-esteem is threatened that is most likely to commit this heinous act.

However, Mechelen argues that recent rape attempts are a result of the threat on masculinity, that due to the assault of pop-feminist messages that attack and undermine the entire male gender, “many men feel compelled to create a false and exaggerated masculine identity [that] worships violence and machismo.”[12] The modern man lacks outlets to express his masculinity since they are targets of pop-feminism while cinematic violence in modern media featuring hyper masculinity. Body image has become a growing concern among men, research showing that today’s college men report greater levels of body dissatisfaction with concern about body shape and increasing muscle mass which has resulted in increased eating disorders among men.[13] The male body is increasingly objectified in the mirror and thus men must continue to meet a higher standard of perfection to be “masculine,” a problem I believe many women understand given the horror that is Cosmo. Although not the sole cause of rape, anthropologist Susan Brownmiller argues that disempowerment is a contributing factor. Shere Hite notes that disempowerment causes a person to become terroristic and for a few, the only way they can express their feelings of frustration and purposelessness is through sexual assault and dominance, adopting a hyper-masculine stance to satisfy their self-esteem and reaffirm their masculinity.

Since a cause of rape is male disempowerment, the solution to rape must therefore be male empowerment. Yes, it sounds weird given the fact that in our current social structure, males tend to be favored over females in the gender inequality spectrum. However, gender equality means that men and women must both be treated fairly and with respect, that the person being treated must be treated as a person based on the content of their character rather than their expressed gender. Rape is a social issue that must be addressed by both genders rather than crime that places the blame on either gender.

By Khan Kikkawa

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[1] “So a Girl Walks into a Comedy Club…,” http://breakfastcookie.tumblr.com/post/26879625651/so-a-girl-walks-into-a-comedy-club

[2] Crisis Connection, “How do you Legally Define Rape and Sexual Assault?,” http://www.crisisconnectioninc.org/sexualassault/how_legally_define_rape.htm

[3] Crisis Connection, “How do you Legally Define Rape and Sexual Assault?,”

[4] Crisis Connection, “Rape statistics,” http://www.crisisconnectioninc.org/sexualassault/rapestatistics.htm

[5] Crisis Connection, “Rape statistics,”

[6]Erin Gloria Ryan, “Government Shocked by Depressing Rape Statistics we all learned about in College,” Jezebel http://jezebel.com/5868178/government-shocked-by-depressing-rape-statistics-we-all-learned-about-in-college

[7] RAINN, Statistics, http://www.rainn.org/statistics/

[8] RAINN, Statistics,

[9] RAINN, Statistics,

[10] RAINN, Statistics,

[11] Rod Van Mechelen, “Causes of Rape,” http://www.backlash.com/book/rape6.html

[12] Mechelen, “Causes of Rape,” http://www.backlash.com/book/rape6.html

[13] Marc A. Silva, “Body Image Dissatisfaction,” http://www.msoe.edu/life_at_msoe/current_student_resources/student_resources/counseling_services/newsletters_for_mental_health/body_image_dissatisfaction.shtml