Discussing Rape in the Classroom

I am taking a Gender Violence class in America and here are some comments from classmates as well as friends who have tried to discuss the issue with me when they found out I was taking the class.

"Women dress sluttier now than in the past."
"If you're raped, you become the walking dead."
"Rape victims feel this way..."
"I'm a nurse and a lot of women who come to the ER claiming rape are lying."
"Gender violence is a lot better in America."
"You need to take responsibility for what you're wearing."
"Victims should come forward."
"This class is depressing."
"If I were raped I would consider my personal responsibility to tell the police."

These are a select few of the comments and questions made. What does that make my role in the classroom as a feminist, women's studies major (the only one) as well as a rape survivor and activist on campus?

At first, it really hurt me when mt fellow classmates made (what I felt at the time) were personal attacks on what I had to say about rape and other issues. I came close to tears the first two weeks every class period. However, after talking it over with some friends and watching my Oprah, I realized some things.

Are these comments hard to hear...of course! Can it be emotionally trying...of course! Are some people still learning while others are just douche bags...of course! My job isn't to use my rape to educate people though. My job is to learn. As I learn, I share and question and bring up what I know to be true (as most other students do). I find it interesting that a female student constantly (and for way too long) shares stories from her children and from the hospital she works at about women who lie. No one gets angry or tries to stop her. They let her talk knowing it's taking 15 minutes. When I speak briefly about my experience, people get angry and disagree with me quite quickly.

It is hard to be confronted with rape and sexual assault. It is easier to think all women are liars than to say it to the face of a survivor who seems to be a respectable member of society. The anger comes from fear. But learning is uncomfortable, so when my fellow students completely disagree and I hear them and keep my opinion (rarely does it change...hey, this is kind of my area, peeople), I smile. Because if learning is uncomfortable, then we're all learning a hell of a lot in that classroom. And at the end of the day, I know who I am.