Entertainment
'Daily Show' Video About Sexual Assault Is Spot On
Sexual assault on college campuses — and especially the woefully ineffectual policies in place to address it — have become a hot-button topic in the past few months, and thankfully, reform has been gaining some serious political traction as of late. On Thursday, June 19, the Department of Education announced a series of proposed revisions to its sexual assault policies, and a week later, on Thursday, June 26, survivors and advocates testified about the issue in a Senate hearing, chaired by Senator Tom Harkin. Given the resulting (and well-deserved) increase in media attention, it was only a matter of time before the meta-news team over at The Daily Show weighed in: On Wednesday night, Jon Stewart & Co. addressed the topic head on in a segment titled "The Fault in Our Schools" (har har) — and it was, predictably, right on point.
The report is predicated on a recent case at James Madison University, in which three fraternity brothers filmed themselves pulling off a female student's bathing suit without her consent, distributed the tape, and were ultimately punished by expulsion from campus — but only after they graduated. (As Stewart points out, it's hardly a penalty, as that's essentially what happens at graduation already.)
From there, he throws it to Jessica Williams and Jordan Klepper, who trade off running through a list of "Do's and Don'ts" for college partying. It quickly becomes apparent, however, that those tips vary greatly in severity for men and women: When Klepper warns his bros not to pass out on the frathouse couch lest they get a dick drawn on their face, Williams jumps in to remind ladies that in their case, "someone will put their dick on your face, at a minimum."
The simple juxtaposition between lighthearted party tips and desperate attempts at safety is plenty effective, demonstrating (one hopes) to the #NotAllMen set this basic and very real gender disparity. Watch the clip below — and look out for further news from the Department of Education and its new polocies on Bustle.
