Intimate Assault by Means of Implicit Bias

As university students in 2017, we want to get the most out of our education. We are all students at Utah State because we all want to create a better life for our future selves and family. To do that, we have chosen the major that interests us most, and do our best to succeed. One of the most important “general education” classes at the university, though, may be overlooked. This post is to hopefully convince some of you to take FCSE 3080, also known as “Dress and Humanity”.

Dress and Humanity is a valuable class to take, because not only does it fill a Depth and Humanities credit, which we all need, but it teaches us a lot about the world around us. Throughout the class, we focus on what is called “intimate assault by means of implicit bias.”

“Intimate assault” in this instance is used to describe sexual assault or rape. In the class, we have talked a lot about how real of a problem this is, even in “safe” Logan, Utah. It happens everywhere, and it happens a lot more than we think it does. Dr. Turner has taught us a lot about this, and it has really opened my eyes to the reality of the problem.

“Implicit bias” is a term used to describe the first impression you have of someone. For example, if you saw a tall person walking out of the gym with sweats, a basketball, and a shirt that read “Utah State Basketball,” your implicit bias would be that this person is an athlete, most likely on the basketball team. This is something that everyone does, all the time. It happens naturally! Pay attention next time you’re walking around campus, and you’ll see that you do it without even trying.

So, “intimate assault by means of implicit bias” focuses on how these implicit biases can lead to sexual abuse. We automatically judge people based on race, gender, perceived social class, and a variety of other things. As a student in Dress and Humanity, you do a lot of service learning projects where you have the opportunity to do service and raise awareness of this problem, and get college credit for it. It’s a great opportunity to learn, help others, serve the community, and make a difference. I highly suggest taking this class!