Media outlets and the public are conflicted over the CDC’s newest recommendation to prevent fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS)—some say the recommendation that “young women should avoid alcohol unless using birth control” is “incredibly puritanical” , while others claim that’s not what the CDC recommended at all. The CDC study found that 3 out of 4 women who say […]
Tag Archives: Victim Blaming
January
23
Does listening to Bowie support rape culture?
posted by Apryl Pooley
When I heard the news that David Bowie passed away last week, I posted this status to my Facebook: Throughout the morning, I shared updates of what Bowie album I was currently listening to, posted my favorite classic Bowie photos, and enjoyed seeing the same from others in my circle…until the news hit in mid-afternoon […]
August
13
Should campus rapists remain in the university system?
posted by Apryl Pooley
Part 1 of this blog stemmed from an article interviewing, Hanna Stotland, a college admissions consultant and lawyer who “gets students accused of rape back into school.” When questioned about campus sexual assault, people tend to fall into two camps regarding their opinion of perpetrators: either they’re monsters who can never be redeemed and […]
August
01
Who are campus rapists and what should we do with them?
posted by Apryl Pooley
Part 1 of 2. In the past two weeks, the media has focused a flood of attention on the perpetrators of sexual misconduct on college campuses. Who are these people? Why do they assault? What happens to them if they get caught? A long-held belief is that most sexual assailants are repeat-offenders—that a vast […]
May
31
A Commentary
posted by Apryl Pooley
I share a lot of current news articles about sexual violence, especially those on campus rape, and I almost always include a caveat to “not read the comments.” As usual, however, I don’t always follow my own advice, and I’ve found myself posting a slew of responses to certain…uninformed…comments on these articles lately. I’ve included […]
April
28
Where the Sidewalk Ends
posted by Apryl Pooley
When I graduated high school eleven years ago, I vowed to never step into a high school again. Especially not one with the same mascot as mine—TROJANS. And definitely not to talk about how I was raped in high school. But I did just that at the East Lansing High School board meeting tonight. […]
December
10
From Ground Zero Tolerance
posted by Apryl Pooley
Journalist Geroge Will was chosen to speak at MSU commencement this coming Saturday and to receive an honorary doctorate in humanities. What has George Will done to deserve this honor? If you Google his name now, you will likely only find references to his Washington Post article in which he blatantly identifies himself as a rape apologist. […]
December
08
The State of Affairs
posted by Apryl Pooley
Michael Brown. Eric Garner. The public turning their back on the girl who recounted her UVA gang rape in Rolling Stone. Bill Cosby. MSU inviting a rape apologist to speak at commencement this weekend and giving him an honorary doctorate in humanities. It’s too much. With all of these stories in the news, the lack of progress […]
October
28
Get your hands off my stigma.
posted by Apryl Pooley
Today, when people talk about stigma, they’re usually referring to social stigma, which denotes the disapproval of a group of people who are different from the social norms. The word stigma flies out of my mouth a lot—I’m always blabbering on about how we need to do something to eliminate stigma associated with mental illness, […]
April
11
On Being Aware
posted by Apryl Pooley
Mood: poached AT THE COMEDY CLUB last night, the comic was heckling a young woman in the audience who apparently had drunk between two and four long island iced teas. I remembered a time when I drank between two and twenty long island iced teas at the bowling alley, and let me tell you, those […]
The Egghead Agenda 