Full Frontal Feminism: A Young Woman's Guide to Why Feminism Matters by Jessica Valenti

important to recognize how the same society that enforces these standards will use them against us whenever it can. And in really dangerous ways.
    There was a case in California—and you’ll hear more about this in Chapter 4, “The Blame (and Shame) Game”—where a teen girl’s gang rape was videotaped. The defense team said oh no, she just wanted to make a “porn” video. And that logic flew—because the idea of a girl putting on a “show” is pretty normal. You know, ’cause girls just love to go wild and get raped on video. 6

    This kind of blaming also comes up a lot with the idea of “girls behaving badly”—as in spring break, going out and hooking up, and other things that we’ve been taught are fun rites of passage. For example, the American Medical Association (AMA) released a poll in 2006 about all of the debaucherous spring-break activities going on—like promiscuity and binge drinking. 7 The funny thing? It was specific to women. Because apparently we’re the only ones who drink and hook up.
    The poll of young women (seventeen to thirty-five years old) showed that 83 percent of those surveyed drank most of the nights while on spring break; 74 percent said spring break results in increased sexual activity. (Is this really news?) I’m all for curbing binge drinking and the dumb GGW expectations of spring break, but I can’t help but be irked that this finger-wagging is only pointed at young women. ’Cause you really can’t tell me that men on spring break don’t drink too much and have sex. But the AMA’s main concern was that girls are having too much sex. But . . . but . . . I thought that’s what “hot” girls did! So annoying. Conservative groups loved this study and used it to argue that girls who go out and party are just asking to be raped. Seriously. Janice Crouse, a spokesperson from Concerned Women for America, said in an interview:
    ❂ What we find is the whole culture is really encouraging girls to be more wild. For instance, Playboy is saying, you know, girls need to be more rebellious,
a bit more out there in your face, a bit more like the guys. To be a prude or someone who is straight-laced is the worst thing you can do. . . . So I think it’s high time the AMA and the government got into the business of warning young women, and saying to them this is not just something that’s dangerous to your health, it’s dangerous to your life. 8
    Basically, she’s saying that if girls are out socializing and having fun, they’re putting themselves in danger. By doing exactly what society tells us girls are supposed to do, we’re leaving ourselves open to being raped and murdered
    The problem is, there are people who will use this as an excuse for violent behavior against women. I don’t think it’s coincidental that Joe Francis, the founder of GGW, has been accused of rape on numerous occasions (of the very girls who are going wild). But trying to pretend that if we somehow didn’t follow pop culture standards, all would be fine and dandy . . . bullshit.
    The same society that puts forth these narrow views of women in pop culture also thinks we’re expendable, that we’re good only for one thing—men’s enjoyment.
    So remember, this is definitely a screwed-if-you-do, screwed-if-you-don’t situation. You just remember to say, “Screw them.”

4
    THE BLAME (AND SHAME) GAME
    Violence against women is at epidemic levels in the United States. Sexual assault, intimate partner violence, harassment, and stalking are part of many women’s daily lives. Young women are particularly affected by violence—we are more likely to be assaulted and less likely to get help. Why are we not freaking out about this?
    Violence against women is so common that it’s become a normal part of our lives. And it’s being committed by “normal” people. If you are raped, the guy’s not likely to be some random dude jumping out of the bushes. He will be your friend, a guy you know from school,