Following the events of the “Pro-Rape” chant that was led by Undergraduate students of Sauder during Frosh, a CUS orientation event, the community within UBC and outside UBC is outraged by the fact CUS supported this chant, as well as allowed it, even acknowledging its presence from as early as 2009.

However, people are angry at the fact that Sauder is promoting rape, via the YOUNG chant, but does the chant really promote rape?

Y O U N G at UBC we like ’em young.
Y is for your sister,
O is for ohhh so tight,
U is for underage,
N is for no consent,
G is for go to jail,
Y O U N G at UBC we like ’em young.

The chant does not promote rape itself, but it reinforces rape culture, which is a completely different thing than reinforcing rape. As a froshee, we were not obliged to think we needed to rape anyone due to chant. However, it did make the idea of rape something to be made light of. Rape culture is indeed evident in our day-to-day lives. When a fellow classmate walks out of a test saying “I raped that test so hard!”, they did not come to think that one of their peers have been raped. Rape culture is evidence that society, to an extent, tolerates rape, as it ‘glamorizes’ it, so to speak. It is normalized to the extent where victims are ashamed to come forward of their experience. This is show evidently in the chant, where thousands of people glamorize non-consensual sex. The misconception of the chant is that it does not promote rape itself, but reinforces rape culture.

Works Cited:
Rape Culture, Marshall University
http://www.marshall.edu/wpmu/wcenter/sexual-assault/rape-culture/

UBC Frosh Chant: Pro-Rape Cheer Has Been A Concern For Years, Huffington Post
http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2013/09/10/ubc-frosh-chant-rape_n_3902979.html?utm_hp_ref=canada-british-columbia