Op/Ed

Calamity Rose Jung-Allen

Staff Writer

An alarming number of Americans share a similar assumption: sexual assault is not my problem. Unfortunately, this assumption makes the problem of sexual assault even worse.

“Sexual assault is a threat everywhere,” says Chris Lehmann, principal of Science Leadership Academy. “And when you make an assumption that any space is exempt from that, you create the conditions by which it can happen.”

Colombia University student Emma Sulkowicz is currently holding an ongoing protest, called “Carry That Weight,” in which she carries the mattress she was sexually assaulted on until her rapist is expelled. Her project has drawn attention to the issue of assault in education environments, and even made the cover of the New York Times.

But what do SLA students know about the realities of sexual assault?

To get a better picture of what we’re looking at in terms of awareness, I conducted several interviews. I asked, who can a rapist be?

The response was overwhelming: anyone.

Counselor Zoe Siswick explained:  “Some generalizations are that rapists are male, but anyone can be raped by anyone else.”

“There is no stereotype about who can do this,” says Lehmann.

Ben Simon elaborated further. “Anyone could do it! … Sometimes it happens because of people you don’t expect, people you think are good people.”

There are two main misconceptions about rape. One was mentioned by Siswick. Many people believe that only men can sexually assault women, but all genders are at risk (40% of rape is suffered by men!), and all genders should be aware of what they can do to protect themselves and each other.

The other speculation is that only sexual assault from a stranger is considered rape. This is completely untrue. If an encounter continues after one participant says they do not want to continue, it is rape. “It doesn’t matter how close they are to you,” says Veronica Nocella, an SLA junior. “That doesn’t mean you can’t trust anyone but it does mean that anyone has the potential to be.”

So, is rape a threat at SLA?

“I don’t think so because the student environment of SLA does not condone rape culture at all,” says Nocella.

“It’s not something that kids at SLA engage in, as far as I know. It only takes one kid to do that, though,” explains Benjamin Simon, a sophomore. “My point is that it’s not likely, but you can never rule it out.”

Our faculty gives us a realistic outlook: “I think that sexual assault is dangerous and is a concern for anyone period, but for teenagers especially,” says Siswick. “And often times when teenagers are in situations where there are drugs or alcohol involved, it can increase the risks considerably.”

Sexual violence is a concern for everyone, and though we think of SLA as a loving, supportive and safe environment, rape can happen anywhere. It’s important to recognize this as a student body.

To further investigation the level of awareness that SLA students have of this problem, I ran a survey.

The question was: “Out of American students, what percentage do you think are sexually assaulted on campus?” The majority of answers came from SLA sophomores. The real statistic is 20%, but the answers average to about 40%.

This shows a good level of awareness within a small portion of our students. But it’s important to realize that this does not represent our school as a whole, and especially does not represent American schools as a whole. Rape is a prominent issue everywhere, and when it is believed to be obsolete, a risky expectation is made for our students.

This is an exemplary opportunity to discuss the effect of rape jokes. Though the attitude of SLA does not condone rape culture in a large way, there can be slip ups. For instance, saying the word “rape” can be triggering, especially if it is done in a joking manner. Also, when rape is accepted as a punch line in any way, it becomes less unacceptable in real life.

Lehmann summed it up best: “Students [need to] understand how words can carry profound importance … The notion that jokes aren’t always jokes. The notion that, when creating a climate of safety, it’s required that people see the power that jokes that perhaps once upon a time were far more accepted can have on others.”

It is extremely important that the public recognizes its role in rape culture, and is not only curious about the subject, but informed about how they can help the epidemic decline. It is rare that college-aged rapists are punished appropriately. This creates an unsafe society for everyone, and it is our right, if not responsibility, to put an end to it.

So, what can you do? How can we as a school community reach out and support victims of sexual violence in our circle?

First, if you are a victim, please contact a trusted adult. This can mean your parent(s), another family member, Ms. Martin, Ms. Siswick, Mr. Lehmann, or anyone else that can help. Remember that asking for help is very brave.

Secondly, if you are friends or even acquaintances with a victim, “Make them feel loved. Let them know they know they can talk to us, let them know that we’re there for them. They have a scapegoat if they need someone to cry to, talk to, help with, etc,” says Simon. Comfort them, and encourage them to contact a trusted adult.

Thirdly, educate. “Take any opportunity we can to make people acknowledge this is a problem,” Nocella tells us. “And when I say that, I mean actual education, clear directions, workshops on gender equality, that’s what‘s going to help.”

You (yes, you!) are responsible to hold the people around you to a high standard. It is your, nay our job to reach out, to raise awareness, to inform, and most of all to know: it is your problem.

Ella Donesky

Staff Writer

My summer was filled with sounds of drilling, hammering and more drilling. My condo shares a wall with the former Art Institute, which was undergoing construction last summer.

On October 3rd, the curtain lifted, or rather, the wall barricading the building came down, and in place of the Art Institute was a UNIQLO store. Replacing the drilling was loud Japanese pop music. It felt like I was living next door to a club.

The opening was at noon. People started lining up around 8am. The line reached around the block.

The event featured authentic Japanese street performers, an appearance by an important looking Japanese woman, and a spinning circle similar to a bingo ball turner containing three gold balls mixed in between ordinary white balls. The objective was to turn out a gold one and win a prize. The first three days of the opening yielded periodic “whoos” as somebody had landed a gold ball.

The huge buzz surrounding UNIQLO’s opening confused me. Sophomore, Harry Freed suggested, “I think UNIQLO buzzes like a bee because of Glen Howard and his chiseled jaw line.” I walked outside the day after the grand opening and everyone around me was carrying a UNIQLO canvas tote bag. It was like Invasion of the Body Snatchers, was I next?

I was. I resisted wanting to fight the trend. What broke me was the same reasoning which drove every other person to stand in line for the grand opening:

The promise of something new and different.

Compared to Michael Kors and Timberland — both with stores in the same neighborhood — UNIQLO feels a bit exotic. Founded in 1949, it started as a men’s clothing store, by a different name, expanded by selling unisex clothing and by the 80s, had adopted the name we’ve recently seen printed on banners lined up and down Chestnut Street. It wasn’t until 2006 that UNIQLO’s first flagship store debuted in the US, specifically, Manhattan.

So why has Philadelphia, the fifth most populous city in the United States, just caught the wave?

LA and New York are the obvious first locations for opening a store in the US. They’re the most populated cities, they cover both ends of the US, and they’re fashion culture hubs.

Obviously, the politics of international culture and marketing are quite complicated. The markets in both Japan and the US may have things in common; the age demographic is the same (age 20-30) and the clothes sold here are duplicates of what are sold in Japan.

However, one major difference is the racial demographic to which the clothes are oriented towards. To use the time-honored cliche, the US is a melting pot, filled to the brim with different ethnicities and body types. Japan is made up of primarily one body type, and that is Asian.

Banana Republic, for example, offers t-shirts in size small, but there are five different kinds of smalls in order to account for all of the possible body types: wide small, narrow small, short small, and the list goes on.

If Japan wanted to expand locations to Sweden, where most of the population is tall and skinny, UNIQLO would have to alter clothing to Swedish proportions. Being such a mixed country, we don’t consider these standards.

During the 80s, my dad spent four years in Japan, and a problem he was constantly encountering in Japanese retail, was that the same brands which fit him in the United States, in both length and width, were shorter in Japan. It’s clear that the dimensions of Japanese manufactured clothing will need to differ in the US and that variety is more important than it is in their home market.

With markets in mind, the Japanese UNIQLO faces different competition than US UNIQLO. While UNIQLO is competing with the boho-tone of the already established Free People, Free People, having just opened a location in Japan, is no competition for the trendy UNIQLO. UNIQLO seems to be entering a different market in the United States.

Fashion is always pushing the boundaries, searching for the new look, but what we’ve found in UNIQLO a creatively recycled style, both retro and familiar as well as current.

As Eva Karlen, sophomore, puts it, “It’s naive to say that UNIQLO is anything new or unprecedented.” Opening a store, transversing globally, is an opportunity to participate in a global culture. UNIQLO is just like another H&M, with a splash of Asia in the label.

The question I know has been burning in your minds, is what does UNIQLO even mean? Karlen suggested, “‘Uni’ means one, and ‘clo’ sounds like ‘glow,’ so one glow, so it means the sun.” Harry Freed offered a different approach. “UNIQLO sounds like maybe one clothing.” The actual meaning behind the name is a bit closer to Harry’s definition. It’s derived from the English word “Unique,” and loosely integrates our word for “clothing.”

Whether you come for Glenn Howard’s chiseled chin or a pair of heat tech socks, stop by the UNIQLO on 16th and Chestnut and decide for yourself if we really need or even want another clothing store in the neighborhood.

image courtesy of UNIQLO.com