Friday, February 14, 2014

Conversation Hearts and Rape Culture

So since quitting smoking my biggest vice is seasonal candy.  You can find it in my house year round...Candy Corn in March, Mint MnM's in August and Conversation Hearts in September. 

I don't buy Conversation Hearts for their clever sayings.  But I do only eat certain colors (I know OCD right), so I like to separate out the greens and oranges and throw them away when I first open the bag.  This year in doing that, I noticed a "don't tell" heart in the bags.  I know it is not new this year and have found references made to this phrase back to 2006. 

Now, perhaps I just watch too much Law and Order SUV but it seems to me that this messaging, done in this way, is just another tool to condition people to rape culture.  Where secrets are kept, victims suffer in silence and their abusers (sometimes) don't even realize they committed a crime.  In a society where, more than ever, the line between no and yes seems to be blurred by the media, celebrities, government and the courts, it seems like we need to demand more, even from our candy.


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