s Culture

eebla

TUM
ANS *

Kelley Ware
Finance Manager

Weare this article may contain
triggers for those suffering from
trauma.

| recently saw a video about a pair of
women's underwear/shorts designed
and created by a company called AR
Wear. These shorts feature a locking
waistband that is both pull and cut
resistant. AR Wear's shorts adjust and
lock both at the waist and thighs so
women can wear them comfortably
while knowing they are not going fo rip
or move. If you are an astute reader
(or someone who has already seen this
video) you likely know the reasoning
for this design. For those of you who stil
need some clarification, AR stands for
Anti-Rape - they are meant to protect
women from sexual assaults. Ultimately,
they are a modern day chastity belt.

Now, | have a couple of problems

with this whole idea (some serious

and some less so). My first response
was along the lines of “How about we
teach people not to rape instead?” Do
not get me wrong, there are definitely
positives to these shorts. AR Wear is
designing these with good intentions.

In the case of women who are asleep,
date-raped, or had too much to drink,
these shorts could very well be a God-
send. They could very likely prevent a
sexual assault in those scenarios. So

it is not that these shorts are a bad
idea per se. Regardless, | still see some
problems.

As far as the less serious problems
with these shorts go, | am quite
skeptical about the idea of a locking
waistband. While the concept is to
keep them from being pulled down
forcibly and without consent (which is
a really good idea), | feel as though
the lock may prevent more than just
potential rapists from pulling the shorts
down. Now, it is important to note that
when | say locking mechanism, | am
not talking about a lock with a key.
The locking mechanism that AR Wear
utilizes in their anti-rape shorts is a
combination lock. Now | am not sure
about you, but | know when | had to
open a combination lock frequently,
there were times when | was in a rush
and either forgot my combination

or fumbled with the lock and was
unable to properly open my locker.
Now imagine that, but with your pants.
What if you really have to go to the
bathroom, and suddenly have to
fumble with a combination lock before
you can properly remove your pants?
What if you are intoxicated? After all,
one of the reasons they were invented
was to allow women to go out to clubs
being able to feel safer. What if there
is some sort of medical emergency and
the paramedics are unable to properly
help you because your cut-proof,
stranger-proof, combination-locked
waistband is in the way?

The other problems | have are a little
more substantial. First, this may actually
offer little more than a false sense

of security for women. It would make
some feel safer, but | am unsure of how

effective it would truly be. It will prevent
some rapists from committing sexual
assaults, but it is not going to prevent
all. A date-rapist may be deterred; a
violent offender would not be. This also
assumes that all rape is stranger rape.
That is most definitely not the case; in
most instances the offender is known
by the victim. Not all rapes are from
unknown assailants. There are cases

of husbands raping wives, fathers
raping daughters, and friends raping
friends. As well, there are other ways
a person can commit a sexual assault,
and without removing underwear. Just
because they are unable to physically
pull down someone's pants themselves,
does not mean they will be deterred.
Physical violence can be used as a
threat to make the woman remove the
shorts herself; other types of sexual
assault could be committed. Ultimately,
it someone is truly dedicated to a
rape, these shorts are not going to
stop anyone

The second big problem | have

with this is more theoretical and less
practical; AR Wear may unintentionally
perpetuate rape culture and victim
blaming. If this product does catch on,
it would be incredibly easy to simply
say that a rape only took place
because the woman forgot her anti-
rape shorts. It puts all the responsibility
on the woman. While it is important
for women to protect themselves,

the responsibility of preventing rape
should not rest solely on women. Rape
is something that we as a community
and a collective need to stop, it is not

=

something that victims should have to
prevent. Another question | have is
what about men? Men get raped as
well, and while it is much less common,
they tend to be completely ignored
and forgotten in this whole discussion.

Our rape culture is not going to
disappear overnight. It is important for
a community to change, and for rape
culture to be stopped and destroyed,
and products like this are not going

to help. Problems with their marketing
campaign aside (| unfortunately do not
have room to address the fact that it
only utilized thin, white women; that is a
whole other can of worms), AR Wear is
definitely fulfiling a tyoe of need. There
are many women who would not have
been raped had they been wearing
this. A significant amount of rapists
would be deterred and many crimes
would not have happened. Culturally,
it would also be a blessing, In some
societies, this product would protect
them not only from rapes, but the
societal shunning that comes with them.
People who are unable to prevent a
rape could have more security and
feel safer, which is definitely a good
thing.

So, all in all, | do have problems with
these shorts. Less seriously, the design
has me skeptical that it will work quite
as advertised. More seriously, | fear
that products like this perpetuate rape
culture. However, where the biggest
problems lie is in the fact that a
product like this is even needed.