[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]The college experience is intended to be a time of growth and discovery and a cultivation of maturity, when skills are gained to become the well-respected adults they will (hopefully) be for the rest of their lives. But for some college-aged men, this opportunity has become the time for increased acceptance of negative and harmful behaviors. Specifically, social norms which encourage demeaning views of sex have become commonplace among many male students.
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In the 21st century, a young, single man’s views of sex are commonly intertwined with his views of manhood. A December 2014 article by Olga Khazan in The Atlantic quotes Michael Kimmel, a sociology professor at Stony Brook University, saying men associate “being a man” with phrases such as “to win, get laid, get rich.” Because of these associations, it can be difficult to promote an end to sexual assault, violence, pressure, aggression, etc., because men may equate such an end with a loss of their manhood.
According to Kimmel, men in college tend to be “insecure, unprepared for sex and desperate to prove themselves to their friends.” In addition, he says that many college-aged men “approach hookups with the mentality that ‘sex is a battle: I have to conquer you, I have to break down your resistance.’”
Males are biologically wired to behave more aggressively. However, this behavior can be channeled, and boys can be taught that aggression and related tendencies can be negative things if they are out of control or brought out inappropriately.
It makes sense that such primitive behaviors would reach their extremes on college campuses. College-aged men are away from home typically for the first time, no longer guided by parental and other adult authorities. They will probably never encounter another environment with as many sexually available individuals. Combine these factors with beer kegs and hormones and it’s no wonder sexual crimes are a national concern on college campuses.
So, like many other people across the country, I believe the solution lies in the root of the problem: with men. Kimmel’s idea is that by getting the “big guys on campus” to speak out about sexual misconduct, other men who look up to them will follow their lead. With others around the nation bringing sex-related problems on college campuses to the forefront of the conversation, hopefully we can take steps to extinguishing a skewed, harmful and unnecessary cultural dynamic and make it easier for young adults — both male and female — to get the most out of their college experiences.
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