What is equity feminism and how does that play into the ongoing sexual assault controversy on campus?

Equity feminism is just about gender equity. It wants for women what it wants for everyone — fair treatment, respect and dignity. On today’s campus, equity feminism has been eclipsed by what I call “fainting couch feminism,” which views women as fragile and easily traumatized. It calls for special protections for women in sexual assault cases because it views women as an oppressed and silenced class.

You also call it victim feminism. What has been its effect?

I think the rape culture theory was just an outgrowth of this infantilized view of women. The fainting couchers enlarged the meaning of sexual assault to include a lot of activities that most of us don’t think of as sexual assault. They collapsed the distinction between regretted sex and rape. An equity feminist does not assume that all sex under the influence is assault, or that men are automatically to blame. That’s not to say that sexual assault isn’t a real problem on campus.

Are college administrative tribunals capable of policing this issue or should it be handled by law enforcement?

They’re a mix of professors, sometimes students and an assistant dean or two typically assembled to resolve cases involving plagiarism or someone caught drinking in the dorm or smoking pot. Are they prepared to adjudicate murder, arson and kidnapping? Rape is a serious crime. I think they lack the training and resources to investigate and adjudicate felonies. When there’s a serious allegation of assault, it should go to the police and the courts, and universities shouldn’t be pressured to set up a judicial system where students can be found guilty of a major crime by a mere preponderance of the evidence.