Posted by Tina
An enterprising group of young men have put their skills in science to work by inventing a nail polish that can detect the presence of date rape drugs in a drink:
Four students in the US have invented a novel way of protecting women from sexual assault on nights out – a nail polish that detects the presence of date-rape drugs.
A group of undergraduates in the Materials Science & Engineering department at North Carolina State University are developing a nail varnish called Undercover Colors that reacts when it comes into contact with drugs such as Rohypnol, GHB and Xanax.
Stephen Gray, Ankesh Madan, Tasso Von Windheim and Tyler Confrey-Maloney conceived the idea after forming a team on the university’s Engineering Entrepreneurs Program.
“While date-rape drugs are often used to facilitate sexual assault, very little science exists for their detection. Our goal is to invent technologies that empower women to protect themselves from this heinous and quietly pervasive crime,” the students’ Facebook page reads.
What a fantastic tool for young women! Of course those who call themselves progressive/feminists aren’t celebrating:
“I think that anything that can help reduce sexual violence from happening is, in some ways, a really good thing,” Tracey Vitchers, the board chair for Students Active For Ending Rape (SAFER), told ThinkProgress. “But I think we need to think critically about why we keep placing the responsibility for preventing sexual assault on young women.”
Women are already expected to work hard to prevent themselves from becoming the victims of sexual assault. They’re told to avoid wearing revealing clothing, travel in groups, make sure they don’t get too drunk, and always keep a close eye on their drink. Now, remembering to put on anti-rape nail polish and discreetly slip a finger into each drink might be added to that ever-growing checklist — something that actually reinforces a pervasive rape culture in our society.
Oh poor babies. Personal safety IS a personal problem you twit!
Four guys invent something to help keep their wives, girlfriends, and sisters (Even Stifler’s mom!) safer and these women still find reasons to complain? Unbelievable!
Tina: “Personal safety IS a personal problem you twit!”
But surely you have to recognize that “personal safety” means different things to men and women in our society. Men are not generally expected to take precautions against being raped; women are. While I think this invention is great, and the guys behind it have done a service–and some of the feminists in your article also said so–I can also see the argument that we should put more focus on the responsibility of the perpetrator and less on the responsibility of the victim, especially since rape victims are already more likely to be blamed for crimes against them than victims of virtually any other crime.
The feminists in that article point out that most rapes aren’t committed with drugs, and that most are committed by someone the victim knows. A lot of the “safety” tips women are given are about preventing violent stranger rape, but that makes up a very small percentage of rapes. Many occur simply because the perpetrator does not understand what consent actually is.
The Stifler’s mom reference is amusing, though.
I hope no one reads any of the above comment as a critique on the guys who created this product. They’ve done something great. I just feel like more attention could be paid to the idea of consent, and I think feminists are using the press here as a jumping off point to discuss that issue. My sex ed class back in high school dealt with abstinence as well as contraception, STDs, etc., but I don’t remember the word consent ever being uttered.
Chris: “I just feel like more attention could be paid to the idea of consent”
I wish you had the benefit of the fifty years of attention that this has gotten, maybe then you would think more like I do.
“I can also see the argument…”
It’s a product. Take it or leave it. It doesn’t promise to eliminate rape just help young women stay safer. What is the point of creating an argument around this?
I understand there’s an idea floating around that consent must be granted for every single move; every lip lock, every touch, every second. Insane!
These issues have been addressed, figured out, weighed and measured ad nauseum at least since the sixties sexual revolution when the rules were all changed.
At some point women just have to exercise some common sense, choose wisely, and be responsible.
Life is not free of risk so it only makes sense to do whatever you think you must do to give yourself a better than average chance at remaining safe.
Some women in some situations might be very glad this option is available to them. Thankfully no one is trying to coerce them into using it…yet.
“The Stifler’s mom reference is amusing, though.”
Glad you liked it.
Oh poor babies. Personal safety IS a personal problem you twit! –
You are old enough to have lived in the era where the woman was always wrong.
Also the narritive against women in Tea Party Politics is what the response was addressed to.
Tina also wrote an article on why women should not vote. That is why to date I question id there is really a Tina or an alter ego sock account.
I find that comment offensive and anti American towards my daughters.
Where is the article about Congress producing monkey videos when it is their constitutional duty to be in session discussing our actions in Iraq and Syria?
It is John Boehner’s constitutional duty to call Congress back into session and have a debate from all sides and then debate again. That is how the founders wired the system to work.
Instead we get monkey videos and nail polish?
Dewey: “You are old enough to have lived in the era where the woman was always wrong.”
I’ll ignore the insult and move on to say, “You are so full of doo doo!”
The WWII generation raised me. Those women built the planes and ships that our men used to fight and win the war. This wasn’t a generation of mealy mouthed victims…they were strong, capable, and verbal!
This picture of the modern woman as victim has got to end. It is an insidious LIE, a fabrication of militant feminists…spoiled rotten and bitchy!
“the narritive against women in Tea Party Politics is what the response was addressed to.”
More invented doo doo. There is NO “narritive against women” in Tea party politics!
“Tina also wrote an article on why women should not vote.”
That is an outright LIE!
“That is why to date I question id there is really a Tina or an alter ego sock account.”
Question away if it will keep you entertained.
“I find that comment offensive and anti American towards my daughters.”
What comment?
“Where is the article about…”
Get YOUR OWN BLOG!
“It is John Boehner’s constitutional duty to call Congress back into session and have a debate from all sides and then debate again”
Says who…and about what?
“Instead we get monkey videos and nail polish?”
I repeat…GET YOUR OWN BLOG! Then you can post whatever you like.
PS I feel for your daughters if you constantly boss them around like this! (Mirror?)
Dewey, the anti-women’s suffrage article was not written by Tina, it was written by a preacher friend of Tina and Jack’s named Chuck Wolk. He used to go by OneVike, and now has a NorCal blog under the handle Gate. Tina and Jack weren’t exactly overly critical of his argument that women’s suffrage was the death knell for America, but it is unfair to accuse Tina of writing that article. I am sure we have had this conversation before; please don’t repeat this false claim again.
Tina: “What is the point of creating an argument around this?”
Your own comments show the point. You dismiss the issue of consent as if it’s some crazy idea leftists came up with in the 60s. When we have rape victims still getting blamed for their attack, when we have the so-called “progressive” media paying more sympathy to the boys who are “having their futures ruined” when they are convicted for gang raping an unconscious 16-year-old girl, I hardly see how we can be a society which has talked about consent too much.
I understand that to you the world seems an endless orgy of deviant hippies telling you what to do, but that’s just not an accurate perception of reality.
Well sorry Tina if you did not write that…]]
All Apologies
LOL just say I did not write that, Dewey’s glasses are broken…But no you have to rant…
I’ll ignore the insult and move on to say, “You are so full of doo doo!”
Doo Doo?
“Tina also wrote an article on why women should not vote.”
That is an outright LIE!
I have your post somewhere buried Tina… But here is a post you once made:
“Being a woman, I have always said that this country screwed up when it gave us the right to vote because way too many of my female friends continually vote with their hearts and not their heads. Like Ann Coulter I would gladly give up my right to vote if we could take it away from the rest of the women of America. Then I don’t think we would ever see another Democrat elected to congress, let alone the White House.
1 posted on 3/2/2010, 10:22:59 PM by Tina Grazier
You posted that somewhere else so do not call me a liar! I read it! In fact in 2 different places! You see I get around political circles. That is why I figured you were jack, no woman would think they were not worthy to vote!
You owe me an apology specifically you say it there do not have to find other post.
In fact women politicians is what we need more of balance it out!
Get YOUR OWN BLOG!
I have 2! And they are not free ones!
“It is John Boehner’s constitutional duty to call Congress back into session and have a debate from all sides and then debate again” –
Even PBO does not need them yet and probably gets more done when congress is gone…
A responsible Speaker of the House does not need to make monkey videos
Here is their duty!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_Powers_Resolution
Congress has done nothing but spend money on fake scandals and worthless bills on more tax cuts for the wealthy while raising taxes on us. Oh they call them jobs bills cause all those jobs we got from the Bush tax cuts never happened! It trickled to the caymans!
It’s called War Powers act and after 60 days PBO can not escalate anything… the 60 days are almost up!
But today he said he did not need them to start flappin their jaws yet so I’ll give them a pass for now
You should have known that.
If it were My congress I would not have the Bozo’s in the committees he has.
So yell away I still give you an apology for misreading the author..
You owe me one! I am not a liar!
I spoke too soon you posted that as your own and did not credit the author? Than why am I apologizing? Also Rand Paul has a plagiarizing Problem not a good thing to have!
Good news While the speaker is playing Monkey
At least 87 members of Congress have signed letters, or said publicly, that Congress must vote on military authorization for the use of force in Iraq or more recently for potential U.S. military action in Syria.
Of course that number will change
it pays to understand how gov works Tina
Chris: “You dismiss the issue of consent as if it’s some crazy idea leftists came up with in the 60s”
Wrong. wish you would stop trying to speak for me.
The sixties feminists and radicals preaching their turn on, tune in, drop out, free love, love the one your with BS murdered the social rules that served men and women for centuries pretty well. They were not perfect but they worked better than what we have today. Boys/men were taught to respect women and girls/women were taught to give them good reason to treat them with respect.
They don’t have a concept of consent because the concept was destroyed…I was there…I watched it happen. Now they still want all the free love stuff but the busy body feminists want to micro-manage it. It’s insane!
:sympathy to the boys who are “having their futures ruined” when they are convicted for gang raping an unconscious 16-year-old girl”
I hate it when you cite a case out of the blue.
“I understand that to you the world seems an endless orgy of deviant hippies telling you what to do, but that’s just not an accurate perception of reality.”
Please…refrain from speaking for me, you aren’t good at it. You also were not alive when hippies roamed the earth so don’t pretend you get it better than I do. What you call reality is a result of what has come before. If you are smart you would think about learning a few things from the perspective of your elders..but then…
Tina:
“They don’t have a concept of consent because the concept was destroyed…”
What?
I thought you just said feminists talk about consent too much? Now you are saying that feminists destroyed the concept of consent? How does that make any sense?
“I was there…I watched it happen.”
You’ll have to excuse me for not taking your word on this. I believe you’re wrong about a lot of things you’re here for now–Benghazi, the Iraq War, the economy, gay marriage, race relations–why should I believe you have any more of a firm grasp of things you were “there” for, especially since you are objectively wrong about so much of it–Vietnam, MLK’s economic views, McCarthyism, Reagan’s views…?
There are many others who lived through this history and drew very different conclusions than you, and I believe the facts are on their side.
“Now they still want all the free love stuff but the busy body feminists want to micro-manage it. It’s insane!”
What does this mean? Are you saying it’s irrational to believe one can have casual sex while still demanding that it be consensual?
“I hate it when you cite a case out of the blue.”
Why? You do this too. And I believe this case is part of a meaningful trend.
What I’m saying is that decency and respect for women was taught in the home to MOST young men in America.
Feminists in the sixties took the worst possible male behavior and made that the image that stood for all males. At the same time they demanded to be treated just like men. If men could have casual sex freely then so could they…the old rules no longer applied. They could dress however they liked and be as provocative as they pleased and men were supposed to be able to read their minds to know when no meant no and yes meant yes. The lines are so completely blurred I’m surprised that the courts have any luck at all in dealing with actual crimes!
What were you trying to say with this: “…sympathy to the boys who are “having their futures ruined” when they are convicted for gang raping an unconscious 16-year-old girl”
You sure as hell are not referring to anything I have written.
If you are going to bring something up would you please at least give our readers more information.
Wow Tina, you never cease to amaze me…well said. I agree with you 100%. -Jack
You got it Jack; I’ve had it with feminist PC BS. They’re nothing but a bunch a whining, pouting wimps using their gender as a sledge hammer in politics and the courts.
There hasn’t been a feminist to admire since Kathryn Hepburn and Maureen O’Hara filled the screen, two women who exemplified how to be strong and also be women!
Tina: “They could dress however they liked and be as provocative as they pleased and men were supposed to be able to read their minds to know when no meant no and yes meant yes.”
Where did you get this idea from? As someone who visits feminist websites on a near-daily basis, I have never seen a feminist argue that men should be mind-readers. The argument has always been that “no” ALWAYS means “no,” and “yes” always means “yes” (barring factors like age or severe drunkenness, which make consent impossible). No mind-reading is required; feminism posits the radical idea that women actually say what they mean, and men should respect that.
The notion that “No” sometimes means “yes,” and men should sometimes keep going even after they have been told “no” once, is usually promoted by anti-feminists, not feminists.
“What were you trying to say with this: “…sympathy to the boys who are “having their futures ruined” when they are convicted for gang raping an unconscious 16-year-old girl”
You sure as hell are not referring to anything I have written.”
You’re right, I sure as hell wasn’t, and I thought I made that clear:
“when we have the so-called “progressive” media paying more sympathy to the boys who are “having their futures ruined” when they are convicted for gang raping an unconscious 16-year-old girl”
Why would I be talking about you? Do you think I believe you are part of the “so-called ‘progressive’ media?”
I was referring to the media coverage of the Steubenville rape case. Many media outlets seemed to show more sympathy to the convicted rapists than the victim, but CNN’s coverage was particularly egregious:
“POPPY HARLOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I’ve never experienced anything like it, Candy. It was incredibly emotional — incredibly difficult even for an outsider like me to watch what happened as these two young men that had such promising futures, star football players, very good students, literally watched as they believe their life fell apart.
One of — one of the young men, Ma’lik Richmond, when that sentence came down, he collapsed. He collapsed in the arms of his attorney, Walter Madison. He said to me, “My life is over. No one is going to want me now.”
Very serious crime here. Both found guilty of raping this 16- year-old girl at a series of parties back in August, alcohol-fueled parties. Alcohol is a huge part in this.
[…]
I want to bring in Paul Callan, our CNN legal contributor.
You know, Paul, a 16-year-old now just sobbing in court, regardless of what big football players they are, still sound like 16 year olds. The other one, 17. A 16-year-old victim.
The thing is, when you listen to it and you realize that they could stay until they’re 21, they are going to get credit for time served. What’s the lasting effect, though, on two young men being found guilty in juvenile court of rape, essentially?
PAUL CALLAN, CNN LEGAL CONTRIBUTOR: Well, you know, Candy, we’ve seen here a courtroom drenched in tears and tragedy and, you know, Poppy’s description, I think, you know, sums it all up. But across America scenes like this happen all the time.
I know as a prosecutor and defense attorney, when that verdict is handed down, usually it’s just the family and families of the defendants and the victims, there’s always that moment of just lives are destroyed. And lives have already been destroyed by the crime. And we got a chance to see that.
But in terms of what happens now, yes, the most severe thing with these young men is being labeled as registered sex offenders. That label is now placed on them by Ohio law and, by the way, the laws in most other states now require such a designation in the face of such a serious crime.
That will haunt them for the rest of their lives. Employers, when looking up their background, will see they’re registered sex offender. When they move into a new neighborhood and somebody goes on the Internet where these things are posted. Neighbors will know they’re a registered sex offender.
It’s really something that will have a lasting impact. Much more of a lasting impact than going to a juvenile facility for one or two years.”
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/erik-wemple/wp/2013/03/18/cnn-is-getting-hammered-for-steubenville-coverage/
More examples:
http://www.cjr.org/minority_reports/rape_case_coverage.php?page=all
This type of coverage is not atypical. I hardly see how in a society where these cultural assumptions are common can possibly be one where, according to you, the issue of consent has been “addressed, figured out, weighed and measured ad nauseum,” and we should focus our attention back to the really important issues of how women dress. I mean, really, Tina?