Parody posters at the University of Alberta have caused an uproar around the issue of sexual assault.
In 2010, Sexual Assault Voices of Edmonton launched a campaign entitled “Don’t Be That Guy,” according to the organization’s website.
Those posters feature captions such as, “Just because she’s drunk doesn’t mean she wants to f**k. Don’t be that guy” and, “It’s not sex when she’s wasted. Sex with someone unable to consent = sexual assault. Don’t be that guy.”
But in July 2013, Men’s Rights Edmonton (MRE) started campaigning in response.
One of their posters shows a woman holding a drink in her hand, and reads, “Just because you regret a one night stand doesn’t mean it wasn’t consensual.” While another states, “Just because you regret your life choices doesn’t mean it’s rape. Don’t be that girl.”
Michelle Meagher, a women’s and gender studies professor at the University of Alberta, said she believes the parody posters are reinforcing myths about sexual assault that women’s organisations are trying to work against.
“The big [myth] is that women are confused about what sexual assault is, and that women are using sexual assault allegations to get back at men, or as ways to hold power over men,” she said.
A statement from MRE claimed the posters were meant to “spark an honest dialogue about the issue of sexual assaults and false allegations.”
Meagher said the vast majority of legal scholars and people who work in the police system believe that false allegations exist, but they’re extremely rare.
“And it’s quite dangerous to have that message,” she said. “It’s very easy for young women to think that maybe what happened wasn’t a sexual assault, or maybe they’re responsible.”
Paul Elam, founder and publisher of A Voice for Men, said he thinks there are issues surrounding false allegations of rape, but he does not think that is what the “Don’t be that Girl” campaign is attempting to address.
“The parody posters effectively illustrate how insulting it is to target an entire demographic—at least when that demographic is not male,” he said via email.
Dean Esmay, a managing editor for A Voice for Men, said he believes there is a need to start using “gender-neutral definitions of what constitutes sexual assault.”
“We need men and women to start treating each other as equally worthy adults with vulnerabilities and strengths, shedding forever the perpetual ‘woman as victim/man as predator’ mentality that is so toxic to the self-image of men and so crippling to women,” he said via email.
There are also mixed views on how to best prevent rape and sexual assault.
According to MRE, feminism has contributed to a discourse on rape and sexual assault which is not helpful.
“The aim should be at teaching men and women to spot the sociopathic tendencies which are common to real rapists. By sending the message ‘Don’t be that guy,’ we’re doing the opposite, as the message implied is that rape is something committed by ordinary men,” the statement said.
Meagher said she doesn’t believe sexual assault is something that only sociopaths do. Instead she draws on the feminist idea of rape culture—the idea that sexual assault behaviour has been woven into the heterosexual norm.
“It’s kind of confusing, right? We ask men to be the aggressors, but not too aggressive . . . There are all these weird things around conventional heterosexual relationships that aren’t that far away from sexual assault,” she said.
But Elam said there is also a need for more education programs to focus on “personal risk management.”
“Simple advice to avoid being intoxicated with strangers, or getting to know potential new romantic partners before being in compromising, vulnerable situations with them,” Elam said.
Meagher said rape prevention education always has been focused on the personal responsibility of women, but it hasn’t helped.
“Women are careful. They do watch their drinks at bars, they walk around with keys in their pocket, and stay home at night, and yet still sexual assault happens,” she said. “This thinking just says that potential victims are responsible for any violence that’s done to them.”
She said the original “Don’t Be That Guy” campaign was really an effort to get men to start thinking about their personal responsibility.
Meagher said she appreciates that the men’s rights groups want to have a dialogue about issues surrounding sexual assault, but disagreed with their use of these posters.
