Published 2012-09-11T12:30:00Z”/>
Dani Anguiano
Rape should be the most unambiguous word in our language. I don’t need to pull out my Oxford English Dictionary to tell you that rape does not refer to success, high achievements or winning.
The word “rape” has recently been used to describe victory, which is similar to the way “gay” inappropriately became a synonym for something disliked. The new use of the word is insensitive and nonsensical.
Rape is not a word to be reclaimed in a more positive way. Rape is rape.
For Sam Jones, a freshman Spanish major, hearing the word constantly means that she rarely thinks of the actual meaning, she said.
“I just don’t think about it,” Jones said.
The more people use this to describe something positive, the more it changes the word.
People use it in the wrong way because they forget what it means, said Cory Ferns, a senior business administration major.
“I’ve said it, like ‘I raped that test,’” Ferns said. “It reduces the severity, to throw it around without feeling like it’s a bad word. It’s not a bad word. It has bad connotations.”
This particular use of the word is not just limited to campus.
The word rape is commonly used when it comes to sports teams, because rape suggests dominance and taking control, said Enrique Casiro, a freshman psychology major.
“It glorifies it,” Casiro said. “That’s why I try not to use it.”
Beyond the true meaning of the word, there are other factors that make its use particularly disheartening. During a five-year college career, one in five women are sexually assaulted, according to the Office on Violence Against Women within the U.S. Department of Justice.
So, when you walk around campus chatting about how the Giants raped the Dodgers, you are likely walking by someone who has actually been a victim of such a crime. No matter the desire to reclaim the word or use it in a positive manner, its use will come across as insensitive.
Just knowing we are in the presence of survivors of sexual assault will cause many of us to reconsider our use of the word.
“If I knew I was with a friend who had experienced that, I would be offended and it would upset me more,” Jones said. “It would feel directed toward me.”
No one should be using the word “rape” in any way other than with its original definition. On campus and off, we are always in the presence of survivors.
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<strong>Dani Anguiano can be reached at </strong><a href=”mailto:[email protected]”><em>[email protected]</em></a>
