Healthy Sexual Culture at Washington and Lee

Guidelines

  1. Does it support or exhibit gender equity? (yes!)
  2. Does it promote (or help promote in the context of other programming) a range of healthy relationships and sexuality? (yes!)
  3. Does it offer a range of roles for men and women to play, regardless of their sexual orientation or identity? (ie: does it steer away from stereotypes of women as gatekeepers or men as sex-driven? does it portray same-sex as well as opposite-sex relationships?) (yes!)
  4. Does it promulgate the idea that consent is confusing? (no) Programming should operate on the assumption that humans are good at reading the nuances of social cues and that there is an expectation that we both attend to and show high regard for another person's signals.
  5. Does it promote (or attempt to dispel) rape myths or victim-blaming? In other words, does it draw attention to ideas that we know to be false (ie: that sexual assault is the result of miscommunication or that you are more likely to be assaulted by a stranger) or place responsibility on victims for their misfortune? (no) Programming should aim to unequivocally support victims and implicitly understand that assaults (at their current rate) occur in the context of a rape-supportive culture.
  6. Does it turn attention to legal vs. illegal behavior (thereby suggesting that we support anything as long as it is legal)? (no) Programming should set a high standard for mutually respectful treatment of one another.
  7. Does it rely on victim testimony or fear? (no) Programming should aim to convey a culture of safety where possibilities of healthy sexual relationships are highlighted as a norm.