Sexual Harassment and Date Rape

In class, our main topic of discussion is the issue of sexual harassment, particularly of females.  Over the past few decades, this issue has become more and more prevalent with the raised awareness of women's rights.  There are more questionable accounts of date rape in the news, and more questionable accounts of rape in general.  In the article "At colleges plagued with date rape, why 'no' still means 'yes'," a statistic states that up to thirty percent of college women have been victims of date rape.  So why is there so much date rape or rape in general and why has it been on the rise?  I don't think there's really a direct answer to that question.  Perhaps it is that males feel dominance and power when they rape.  Perhaps males feel more pleasure when they rape.  Perhaps males these days can get away with it more easily.  Perhaps it is different for all rapists.  But I think a prominent and interesting reason why date rape and such is on the rise is because of the evolution of our language.

I'm a teen, so I've obviously been exposed to the informal language of our time.  It's strange how informal english has changed over the years.  In my area, everything is a hyperbole.  It's a pet peeve of mine, and I try to avoid this way of speaking as much as possible.  If someone likes a movie, it's not a "good" movie, but rather "OMG!  THE BEST MOVIE EVER!"  If someone has a friend, it is not their "friend," but rather their "Biffel, best friendz for life!"  If someone receives a B on a test, they say "I totally failed that test."  Also, fececiousness is commonly incorporated in our sentences.  My fellow students like to kid a lot, and sometimes it can be quite confusing.  Sometimes, I hear of two people dating but they're really not and they're just saying they are.  So, I can understand why some guys would think that when girls say "no," they think they mean "yes."  By the way, I am in no way vouching for rapists.  It's just that over the years, words that were originally very powerful have lost that power due to their use.  An example is hate.  Hate is an incredibly strong word, but so many people use it willy nilly: "I hate this class," "I hate that kid," etc.  Perhaps the simple word "no" has lost its power as well, and when someone looks another in the eye and firmly says "no," they think it's just a joke.  It's a seemingly outlandish hypothesis, but think about it.  Maybe I'm crazy.  Maybe it's only in my area.  But maybe other people can sympathize.