4 WORLD
The Boomerang | Summer 2022
The Worst Mistake by Giulia Martinez-Brenner TW: sexual misconduct
DV SXUHO\ WKH H̆HFW RI D SHUVRQDO REMHFWLYH independent of everything else, narrows our Can sexual misconduct be a mistake? YLHZ DQG IRFDOL]HV RQO\ RQ WKH ¿QDO SURGXFW of rape culture. Again, this is not to say that The general consensus on campus seems perpetrators should not be held accountable to be "no". And if your answer in any way for their actions, on the contrary. We are all strays from this two letter word, it is deemed embedded in history and society, that does absolutely unacceptable. However, it is fear not make us mere predetermined machines. of controversy that paralyzes constructive However, when we frame the issue of sexual conversation, especially on issues that we misconduct as always and only the conseall agree on. I am not a victim blamer, nor a quence of individual desire and intent, I berape apologist, and nor am I personally un- lieve we dangerously reduce the matter, and familiar with experiences of sexual assault. diminish the scope of the problem. It is precisely the combination of all these things that brings this topic so near to my "Sexual misconduct must be taken heart, and why I am so wary of sweeping, VHULRXVO\ QRW VLPSO\ LOO GH¿QHG VWDWHPHQWV But actually, I believe my answer is yes, it can be. Not always, but it can be. Some situations do fall into the black and white areas of humanity’s moral compass, but they cannot all be so easily judged. To do justice to such an important issue means to also do the intellectual and emotional labor of going deeper and deeper into every aspect of the subject. Sexual misconduct is used to describe a wide range of behaviours, from inappropriate touching or comments, to sexual coercion and rape. It does not matter the degree or supposed severity, sexual misconduct is always unconsensual, unwanted, and undoubtedly condemnable. Yet, when we begin to speak of a “mistake” and say it can “never be” one, we are also silently accepting certain implicit assumptions and conclusions that must be unpacked. Mistakes are misguided acts that only make sense in the realm of individual intent. If something “can never be” a mistake, the sole root of that action must be grounded in a person’s deliberate objective. I am not denying the blatant fact that perpetrators, just like everyone, do have agency and must be held responsible, but accountability is not always the same as intentionality.
From a punitive perspective, I am sure many will feel this matters less: if you hurt someBesides this slightly more abstract pream- one, you should somehow be punished, it ble, there is also another question that must does not matter whether you meant it or be addressed. Regardless of whether you not. But from an academic perspective, what DJUHH RU QRW ZLWK ZKDW ZDV VWDWHG EHIRUH are we saying when we uncritically align acregardless of whether it is “correct” or not countability with intentionality? to understand sexual misconduct as always deliberate or also the product of something If misconduct is “never a mistake” then we ELJJHU ZH PXVW DVN RXUVHOYHV ZKDW GRHV accept that perpetrators are always acting intentionally and there is no space for WKLV GH¿QLWLRQ do? Is it helpful? change. I do not want to accept this. The sad fact is that most people, both perpetrators and victims, are not on the same Everyone is responsible for their own deeds, page with what is recognized as misconduct and the fact that I even must think about all this is infuriating, depressing, and unfair, or not. but this is a complex topic, and you must ac6XUYH\V DQG VWXGLHV VLQFH WKH V KDYH cept the discomfort if it means getting closer shown how across genders, across cultures, to understanding. across generations, what people believe to EH FODVVL¿DEOH DV PLVFRQGXFW KDUDVVPHQW Sexual misconduct must be taken seriously, and rape, is greatly varied. Perpetrators QRW VLPSO\ , NQRZ LW LV GL̇FXOW WR DOORZ DPgenuinely may not recognize certain actions biguity into our convictions, and it is a buras being incredibly problematic. There are den to constantly have to teach and learn some types of misconduct that are not open HDFK RWKHU¶V VX̆HULQJV HVSHFLDOO\ ZKHQ ZH to debate, where it is impossible that the are implicated. But what else is there to do? perpetrator was not aware of the harm they There are actions with intentions, and there ZHUH LQÀLFWLQJ DQG WKLV LV QR PLVWDNH <HW actions that stem from ignorance, from does that mean that the issue is never am- miscommunication, from cultural preconbiguous? Or in other words, if someone is ceptions and pressures. I may never stop blinded to the fact that what they are doing blaming someone for hurting another. I is wrong, can we truly grant them full inten- can blame them for the action in itself, and tionality over the outcomes of their actions I could even blame them for not knowing enough and for being unaware, but that is by saying it “was not a mistake”? GL̆HUHQW IURP VD\LQJ LW ZDV QRW D PLVWDNH , ZDQW WKLQJV WR EH GL̆HUHQW , ZDQW WKLQJV WR The core element to be understood change, but if there are no mistakes, there here is that sexual misconduct is is no hope to learn from them. always unwanted, but sometimes what is wanted or not is unclear. Illustration © Avantika Bhowmik
By shifting the emphasis to the individual perpetrator, one’s gaze moves away from the highly cultural, highly pervasive, structural conditions from which the very problem materializes. Seeing sexual misconduct
Some acts are ambiguous. Rape can be about power, purposeful domination, and humiliation, but we also cannot deny that there are forms of misconduct that are the result of distorted perceptions, miscommunications, and toxic cultural norms. What can be perceived an acceptable sexual advance can also be experienced as incredibly inappropriate and undesirable. The intent does not have to be to harm. If an advance is speFL¿FDOO\ SRLQWHG RXW DV EHLQJ R̆HQVLYH DQG then repeated anyway, there is no denying malicious intent, yet what if it is made from “innocent” ignorance?
