“For my seventeenth birthday, my dad got me a pink can of mace and a taser,” said Ayrika Hall, ‘16.

Take a second to think about that type of gift. How does that sound to you? Intimidating? Cool? Unusual? For countless young women in America, it’s normal. And for countless women in America, it’s normal to grow up and fear sexual assault.

The term “rape culture,” coined by feminists in the 1970s, is defined as a setting in which rape is pervasive and normalized due to societal attitudes about gender and sexuality. Instances such as these include blaming the victims of sexual assault rather than the perpetrator, slutshaming, and a societal norm of pitting women against women.

In America, many cases of this is critisizing 12-year-old girls to not wear leggings or tank-tops in school. It’s the stigma of “purity rings” and abstinence pledges, and the lack of proper sex-ed education in middle and high schools.

In the news, its not a rare occurance to hear of the latest occurance of something along the lines of “girl attacked walking alone at night,” or “college sports-player accused of rape.” These occurances happen so frequently it seems that they have become normalized to the media, and to the reactions of the public.

This is at the same time that we’ve heard about the rape allegations against Bill Cosby, where more than 50 women came forward accusing him of drugging and/or sexual assault over a span of 40 years. And yet, people still support Cosby; people still believe 40+ must be lying.

The same time that Dylan Farrow revealed that she endured years of sexual abuse as a child by her adoptive father, Woody Allen. And yet, people still support Woody Allen, and believe that Farrow must be lying.

This is the same time that Columbia University student Emma Sulkowicz carried her dorm room mattress everywhere with her, including her college graduation, as a way to show the weight she carried in fear of her rapist, who still walked the same campus as she did, with no real punishment.

And it’s these instances that people still find a way to blame the victims. In these countless cases, women are taught to not be raped, rather than men being taught not to rape. Over and over, women are questioned about what they were wearing when it happened, and it’s the clothes that always seem to be the reason for assault.

At WY, many students are grateful about the lenience of a dress code – which usually exist to ban a number of women’s clothing versus men’s. Considered a controversial topic in schools across America and in the WY community, it’s noticeable that students here can, for the most part, feel comfortable wearing what they want at school without being incessently heckled by teachers.

Raquel King, ‘16 spoke out about being able to wear what she wants at school. “Tank tops and short shorts exist, that’s how it is. Girls wanna look cute sometimes, that’s how it is. The fashion industry in general exploits women’s bodies already, so stopping girls in the hall because their shoulders are out and their shorts are too short and legs are too long, it just becomes annoying. You shouldn’t have to be looking over your shoulder in fear walking down the halls, or anywhere really. But most teachers here won’t bother you, and that’s a good thing because some schools have it a lot harder. It shouldn’t be that way. Clothing shouldn’t define someone – nobody’s ‘asking for it.’”

Contrary to the masses of sexual assault, women are not the only victims. It can happen to anyone, and yet there are many instances in which victims are afraid to speak up. While 91% are women, the remaining 9% are men, and that’s only accounting for reported assaults. According to the National Sexual Violence Research Center, rape is the most under-reported crime – 63% of rapes are not reported to the police – and the reason is the fear and judgement victims face in light of the trauma.

“If I’m walking alone or going somewhere alone and I see a group of men, I’ll go out of my way to avoid their path,” says Maggie Carroll, ‘17.

Carolina Cannon, ‘17 agrees. “It doesn’t have to be nighttime, either.” While the truth is that there will always be predators and crazy people in the world, the fact that women find themselves afraid of the mere presence of the opposite sex is something that shouldn’t be so normal in our society.