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Why Did the New York Times Put a Sexual Assault Story in the Fashion Section?

If you're running a story on a university's sexual misconduct program, you probably shouldn't put it in the Styles pages.
Photo via Flickr user Sam Chills

You know what's hot on college campuses this fall, according to the New York Times' Styles section? Rape, apparently.

The Times made light of our country's serious college rape problem this past Sunday by placing a story about one university's attempts to fight sexual misconduct in its popular Fashion and Style section, home to bougie wedding announcements, overwrought trend pieces and celebrity skincare tips like "Molly Ringwald Shares Her Beauty Routine, Likes Her Freckles."

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The article in question, "On the Front Line of Campus Sexual Misconduct," highlights the sometimes-conflicting role college resident assistants have as both confidant to young women and mandatory reporter of sexual assault. It's an article best suited for the paper's national news or education sections. The only fashion-related mention in the entire piece is of what University of Michigan RAs are wearing at a "Sexual Misconduct and Bystander Intervention" talk, given by the assistant dean of students, Sarah Daniels:

"We want people to have sex with people they want to have sex with," Ms. Daniels told the students in their maize-and-blue T-shirts, Birkenstocks and backward baseball caps. "You are the front lines. You can be a role model, step in and say, "It's not O.K.," or, "Be safe!"

It is troubling enough that there is a rape story in the fashion section, since, like drinking, clothing is often cited as an excuse that rape victims are "asking for it." But to describe the casual style of a room of 120 or so RAs during a rape talk adds another dimension of cringe: It brings nothing to the story except to possibly note that these rape crusaders, in their bland tees and comfy sandals, are intentionally wearing the uniform of the unsexy.

Asked for comment about their insensitivities, the New York Times skirted the issue. "Our story focuses on how the traditional role of RAs on college campuses has changed in the wake of sexual misconduct," Danielle Rhoades Ha, executive director of communications at the Times, told Broadly in a statement. "It is a well-written and deeply reported look at an important issue. The topic is entirely in keeping with Style's mission to cover issues that affect the wide range of our readers' experiences."

Read More: Telling My Campus Rape Stories

If we are to interpret "Style" to mean "Lifestyle," then that's just as problematic. Again, a woman's lifestyle––what kind of shoes she wears, what kind of women she hangs out with, the fact that she's simply in college––is not a justification for rape. And as the article itself points out, young people have a hard enough time determining and speaking out about sexual assault; authorities, like the Paper of Record, need to be careful and clear about how they present information.

With its coverage of luxury goods, million-dollar weddings and benefit galas, the Sunday Styles has long been a section for the affluent. Based on the article's 330-plus online comments, parents of students at universities that can cost upwards of $50,000 a year have many opinions about our country's campus rape problem, so maybe Styles knows its intended audience. But it also knows better.