If I Could Turn Back Time: Semester Recap of Kickin It With Kenna

Hey Everyone,
So I know its finals week and everyone is stressing and getting super pumped to go home. But if you have some downtime I wanted to just give a quick recap of the topics we’ve covered this semester. Also this post will give those of you who haven’t been tuning in a cheat sheet.

First off we all learned how we live in a rape culture. As a refresher a rape culture is
“a complex of beliefs that encourages male sexual aggression and supports violence against women. It is a society where violence is seen as sexy and sexuality as violent. In a rape culture, women perceive a continuum of threatened violence that ranges from sexual remarks to sexual touching to rape itself. A rape culture condones physical and emotional terrorism against women as the norm.”
So if we want to lower the occurrence of sexual assault, we must first target our thinking surrounding sex and dating and respect.

Next, we learned about relationship abuse and how it is prevalent on campuses because of the secrecy that surrounds it and its taboo nature. If you are in an abusive relationship, emotional or physically abusive, remember that you are not alone and there are people here to help you. Also remember the golden rules of healthy relationships. As your relationship is one which CATERS to both you and your partner.
COMMUNICATION, AUTONOMY, TRUST AND HONESTY, EQUALITY AND FAIRNESS, RESPECT, SUPPORT

Then we covered the importance of consent when performing intimate acts with individuals. So a reminder for you all:

Consent is a mutual agreement, based on a shared desire for specific sexual activities; An ongoing verbal interaction, taken one step at a time, to an expressed and honest yes; Mutual awareness of possible consequences of activities; Each partner remains open to and respects the other partner’s expression of agreement or disagreement to engage in the activity.
And there are sexy ways to ask for consent so try your hand at dirty talk and the like, find what works for you and voices your idea so that it can be safely and consensually returned

Next, we discussed being aware of our surroundings especially the environment of college parties and how this is something to be aware of. We should all be looking at the people we surround ourselves with and realizing that sometimes we aren’t as safe as we assume.
We then discussed the importance of self care, which I hope you have been practicing this week with finals. If you don’t know, then I suggest at some point today you take 15 minutes and do something you really like doing, whether its sleep, read, go get coffee or go outside for a walk. It can be anything you desire as long as it’s healthy for you.
The next topic we discussed went along similarly with self care when we discussed self worth. The most important lesion to learn being that before you enter into a relationship you both should love yourselves just as much. Not meaning you both have to be conceited but that you cannot invest in another until you know your own worth.
After these sections about self awareness we then discussed safety planning for those who are in a dangerous relationship. It is better to be prepared than to hope for your situation to not grow. So, if you are in an abusive relationship take some time and make an emergency safety plan so that if you ever needed it you would have an idea of what you were doing. And remember the guidelines to ask yourself when planning.
Safety Planning Guidelines:
• If I feel unsafe I can…
• If I need a safe place I can go I can…
• Once my abuser has left I can do the following to help keep myself safe…
• If I am injured as a result of my abuser I can…
• For more long term help I can…

We then covered the issue of stalking on college campuses which is growing to be more of an issue. So for those of you who don’t know Stalking is described as
• Threatening safety. Following, approaching, or confronting the targeted person.
• Appearing with no legitimate purpose at or around a place where a person can be found, including a residence, workplace, or school.
• Causing damage to property
• Placing an object on the person’s property, either directly or through a third person
• Causing an injury to a family pet
• Acts of communication that are harassing to the individual e.g. letters, packages, electronic transmissions, etc. Engaging in acts which would constitute stalking after having been advised by a law enforcement officer that the person’s acts were in violation of the stalking statute.

So if someone is doing any of the following to you please contact the police or a crisis organization.
The last topic was in addressing stress and finals which I urge you all to read how I personal stay unstressed, procrastinate some yet still complete my assignments.

 

So there it all is, a full semester of discussions with me. I hope you all have enjoyed tuning in to hear my opinion on these issues that are important us all, not just as college students, but as people who are involved in this rape culture every day. For those of you who are just reading this blog for the first time if you scroll down you will see all of the posts explained in depth. It has been so great to write these blog posts for you all. I hope you not only spread the word about this blog, but about SHARPP as well, the more resources we provide the safer individuals will feel.

So Happy Holidays toyou all and Good Luck with your finals!!
Tune in next time on Kickin It With Kenna!