Author Susan Patton, aka the “Princeton Mom,” is jumping into the national discussion about campus sexual assault, telling CNN’s Carol Costello that the current definition of rape has been warped into nebulous exaggeration.
“[It] is no longer when a woman is violated at the point of a gun or a knife,” Patton explained. “We’re now identifying as rape what really is a clumsy hookup melodrama or a fumbled attempt at a kiss or caress.”
Patton’s comments were prompted by a new report from the Bureau of Justice Statistics showing that only one in ten sexual assault assailments use weapons and 80 percent of victims are familiar with their attackers. She basically depicts these situations as inebriated, bad choices between two friends, and nothing more.
Patton goes on to describe most assaults as “learning experiences” and wonders, “why do you not just get up and leave? Or why do you not, as a woman, tell a man who’s making advances that, ‘You know what? Stop, leave.’”
It’s sad to say, but Patton’s views are nothing out of the ordinary, despite the fact one in five undergraduate women experience sexual assault in college. But in light of the recent controversy ignited by Rolling Stone’s UVA story and mounting rape allegations against Bill Cosby, Patton’s opinions are especially obnoxious.
Watch and behold a perfect example of how not to talk about rape:
