Girlish generalizations
Wednesday when I was reading The Diamondback, I came across the editorial cartoon by Mike O’Brien about the recent rape case near the campus. The cartoon started off well enough, and the illustrator seemed angered by the recent crimes. However, in the last frame, where he addresses the rape, he crudely displayed his opinion about the type of person a rape victim is. While he does not go into any particulars about any other victim, he makes it known that he believes the female victim to be at blame for her questionable decisions.
While all college girls are told to follow certain guidelines about going out at night (walk home in groups, never accept a drink from a stranger, etc.), some girls do not. Whether it be a conscious or a spur of the moment decision, many girls will break these “rules” at least once. But that does not give anyone the right to say they deserved to be raped. The victim’s poor decision-making did not cause the rape – a sick man’s perversion did.
I do understand that this cartoon was in the opinion section of the newspaper and is a form of free speech. However, in the previous frame of the cartoon, the illustrator went to the great length of profanity to show how politically correct he is and outraged that our campus is not as safe as we would like. And maybe he is not completely at fault because it is the custom of society, whether in the Middle East or in America, to put rape victims on trial. But if that is to be the case, then why not insult victims of robberies for walking home too late or victims of carjackings for having expensive cars in College Park? The answer is because the victim is never at fault and should never be questioned. And after everything that has recently happened to the university, I expect more from such a widely read newspaper.
Anneka MarchanJuniorAnimal and avian sciences major
Buttery badness
I am writing to express my sincere disgust and disappointment with Mike O’Brien’s cartoon Nut Butter and The Diamondback’s lack of taste and judgment for running the cartoon. For the last two weeks, the cartoon has depicted a three-headed “Frat-dog” drinking in public, threatening to assault other characters through hazing and promoting sexual assault through taking advantage of drunk girls. Often this character was wearing the letters of specific fraternities on the campus. For whatever reason, The Diamondback ran several of the same cartoons more than once. It’s hard to believe that after the outrage against the hate crime at the Nyumburu Center and the sexual assaults on Dickinson Avenue that The Diamondback would allow such slanderous accusations against one of our campus’ largest communities. I find this a huge double-standard, as well as an incredibly counterproductive and offensive slap in the face to the university’s attempt to unite and educate our campus community after these tragedies. The fraternity community is a prominent and active part of this campus that promotes brotherhood, scholarship, leadership and service. While some members of the Greek community choose to act in ways that are unbecoming of their organization, the stereotype that O’Brien exploits is highly discouraged and punishable within our chapters. Whatever issues that O’Brien or this newspaper has with the fraternity system should be taken up with the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life and the Inter-Fraternity Council, not through hateful and inaccurate cartoons. Furthermore, I would like to recommend that O’Brien’s cartoon be pulled from the paper, and his employment at The Diamondback be reconsidered. His cartoons aren’t funny, and his accusations are no laughing matter.
Matt OsterSeniorPresident, Phi Kappa PsiGovernment and politics and marketing major
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