Disco Punks

A culture is the worst enemy because it is invisible. You can’t write letters to a culture. You can’t boycott it. You can’t kick it in the shins or spit in its face. Fighting a culture is frustrating. You have no leader to topple. In fighting it, you witness very few benchmarks of progress.

A lot of people think that fighting a culture is impossible. They say, “You can’t change anything… things have always been that way.” I’m not one of these people. Sure, I think culture defines people. But I also think that people define culture.

It is time to start holding people accountable as members of the culture that they constitute. We can change “the way things are,” because we, as humans, are part of the group that gets to define “the way things are.”

A changed culture isn’t achieved by mass demonstrations—it is achieved through one-on-one interactions. Culture doesn’t change at the rally, but at the water cooler. Culture changes when you teach your kids to act with integrity. It changes when you talk to your neighbors about justice, and call your friends out on their bullshit. Few people care about the thoughts of a bunch of strangers marching in the street. Most people value the input of those they hold close to them.

When you leave here, I encourage you to share your feelings—however you feel—with the people you connect with every day. Rape culture is defined by a million little incidents, and the only way we can combat it, is with a million little conversations.