What Happens When Response

By Anonymous -
What Happen When:

Recently as a group our soccer team attended the play What Happens When. The plays overall message was to show students at college problems with sexual assault and irresponsible behavior when related towards sex. Though I believe getting the message to students about sexual assault and how it’s a problem nationally throughout colleges and universities, I don’t agree with the way that What Happens When conveyed such a meaning.
            The acting itself was superb and obviously I have no problem to such, but myself along with other male students felt as though we were being targeted in What Happens When. Though I do not disagree with the fact that a majority of sexual assault problems happen with the male sex, it is another story when such males seem targeted by a play. I know by putting up this post I will most plausibly be subjected to critical rejoinder and quite possibly be claimed as being sexist or ignorant to the more thoroughgoing individuals of this gesticulation but I am content to apply my overall reasoning to this outlook.
            Throughout the play, much of the confabulation with the actors consisted on direct targeting of how males implement actions both physically and verbally in adhering to sexual assault. The first example of such would be when two of the actors were texting, the male initiated the exchange by claiming he had a fun time the other night but the female  by the way she initiated a response felt very vehement towards what had happened. This is quite understandable, the problem that I had was the overall portrayal of this, and by this I mean the messages between the two actors continued with the male inquiring about if something was wrong. This in most cases was a means to show concern but was in turn scorned by the female. I have no problem with the underlying message this particular act wished to convey, my overall dilemma deals with the execution of this message. What I got from the way the scene was presented was showing more or less the dark side of human nature in respect to males in what seemed biased.
            In touching upon the portrayal of males within the play I found myself hoping that the play would not continue to chaste males in such a dark light but show how we as social creatures can work together and solve such abhorrent actions. I further wish in concluding to tell the audience that I am a firm believer in the problem our nation faces with the continued repetition of sexual assault, but I am by no means silent when portrayal of such indecencies are primarily focused on a single gender. Overall I wish for people to realize that males are not the only ones who partake in sexual assault, though the latter gender statistically exercises this act at a lower-level, it is time people realize we cannot keep subjecting just one gender because this leads to the continued segregation between males and females in combating such repugnant acts of human decency.   

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