Well, the rapist thing isn’t specifically about interacting with girls and women. He shouldn’t rape men either.

I would love for him to not equate “looks like me” (white, privileged, and male) with “merit”, which I think is at the root of a lot of discrimination. Also, I intend to teach him not to be a rapist.

I’m the author of this article, and I’d like to write in response to the biggest issue commenters seem to have with it: the 2-8% statistic.

This is a fascinating perspective, and obviously I’m coming from the issue from a different place as a white, privileged woman. I wish there were a middle ground - a way to offer our support and help to the alleged victim without immediately crucifying the alleged rapist - but we haven’t found it yet. I’m just hoping…

That makes sense, but I’m not entirely sure it’s true. Ironically, it seems like the more patriarchal the society, the more they fear false rape allegations, whether or not their actual incidence is greater.

Thanks so much! I totally agree that comparing the ancient and modern world is a very fraught task, but when done with careful consideration of context I think it can be very interesting. I’m considering writing something about Ovid’s Ars Amatoria, which has a long section on the rape of the Sabine women - not…

Thank you for this response. Obviously I believe that teachers should be sensitive and thoughtful to the needs of vulnerable students - if I didn’t think that, I wouldn’t have written such a long piece about it! I just worry that institutional trigger warnings aren’t a helpful solution.