Speaker 1: In his number one single, Robin Thicke repeats, “I know you want it,” 18 times.
Speaker 2: In the hit song “You Ain’t Even Know,” Rick Ross raps, “Put Molly all in her champagne,
Both 1 & 2: she ain’t even know it.
Speaker 2: Took her home and I enjoyed that,
Both 1 & 2: she ain’t even know it.”
Speaker 2: Broken records on the soundtrack of patriarchy.
Speaker 1: Misogyny on two gyrating legs.
Both 1 & 2: Rapists in sheep’s clothing.
Speaker 2: The same tune American culture has serenaded us with for decades.
Speaker 1: 1944.
Speaker 2: (singing)
Speaker 1: Quickly turned to,
Speaker 2: (singing)
Speaker 1: 1978 in “Grease” the boys ask Danny if Sandy “put up a fight.”
Speaker 2: 1996, Sublime debuts “Wrong Way,” a song about sex with a 12-year-old prostitute.
Speaker 1: 1999, Ben Harper is always stealing his kisses.
Speaker 2: 2008, Jamie Foxx blames it on the alcohol.
Speaker 1: 2010, Tyler the Creator declares rape, “fun.”
Speaker 2: 2013, Robin Thicke knows you want it.
Speaker 1: Rick Ross doesn’t care if you know you are getting it.
Both 1 & 2: The same rape culture songs over and over.
Speaker 2: Rape no longer only knows closed doors or dark alleyways. It is assimilated into our daily routines.
Speaker 1: In less than 40 years rape has been refined from punishable by death,
Speaker 2: To qualifier.
Both 1 & 2: Rape joke, rape song, rape scene.
Speaker 1: From birth, American culture teaches children which gender they will be,
Both 1 & 2: The perpetrator or the victim.
Speaker 2: We teach our boys control. Don’t give in. Don’t be a pussy.
Both 1 & 2: Take, take, take.
Speaker 1: We teach our girls I know you want it. Don’t scream, don’t fight back.
Both 1 & 2: Take it, take it, take it.
Speaker 2: Rape culture has civilized its salivation.
Speaker 1: Its growl now mimics the tongues of the town folks.
Speaker 2: It laughs loudest when comedians use rape as punchlines.
Speaker 1: Crown prom king while girls are sent home for wearing outfits too tempting for young boys.
Both 1 & 2: As if this society removes agency from all of our bodies.
Speaker 2: They say Americans have no culture, no unifying string that threads together the everyday fabric of our lives.
Speaker 1: But we live in a country where it is tradition to take, custom to be predatory,
Speaker 2: Where we elevate those who rape to fame and glory,
Both 1 & 2: Spotlight their smiles and ignore their skeletons as we provide their paychecks.
Speaker 2: Rapist has been redefined as director,
Speaker 1: Woody Allen.
Speaker 2: Singer,
Speaker 1: R. Kelly.
Speaker 2: Baller,
Speaker 1: Kobe Bryant.
Speaker 2: Actor,
Speaker 1: [inaudible]
Speaker 2: Boxer,
Speaker 1: Mike Tyson.
Speaker 2: Rocker,
Speaker 1: Jimmy Page.
Speaker 2: Rapper,
Speaker 1: CeeLo.
Both 1 & 2: Victim has been redefined as,
Speaker 1: Slut,
Speaker 2: Asking for it,
Speaker 2: Liar,
Speaker 1: Too drunk,
Speaker 2: Too sloppy,
Both 1 & 2: Not worth the investigation.
Speaker 2: In 2009, over 11,000 rape kits were discovered abandoned in police storage in Detroit.
Speaker 1: Nationwide, there are over 400,000 unprocessed rape kits.
Both 1 & 2: Rape no longer only knows closed doors or dark alleyways. It is a staple of American culture.
Speaker 1: On college campuses,
Speaker 2: 1 in 5 women.
Speaker 1: In the Armed Forces,
Speaker 2: 1 in 3 women.
Speaker 1: In our everyday lives,
Both 1 & 2: 1 in 5 women will experience rape or attempted rape.
Speaker 2: We tell victims to trust a system that puts them on mute.
Speaker 1: But the system is a part of the same rape culture whose songs blur the lines,
Both 1 & 2: Drowning victims’ voices in the white noise of the radio and we all just can’t stop singing along.
(applause)
