In the documentary we meet Audrie and Daisy, Paige, Delaney, Ella and Jada and their family members. We also hear from perpetrators and watch law enforcement question suspects. We watch their schools and communities try to respond to sexual violence, sit with the tragedy of Audrie’s suicide and watch in disbelief as the juvenile justice system inadequately adjudicates the cases.

The terms used to discuss a sexual assault are important. For this lesson the term “a culture of sexual assault” is used to refer to the complex set of beliefs that encourages sexual aggression, supports violence (overwhelmingly against women) and portrays violence as sexy and sexuality as violent. In a culture of sexual assault, women perceive and live with a constant threat of violence ranging from sexual remarks to sexual touching to rape itself. ⁱⁱ Changing these entrenched ideas will not occur overnight, but beginning conversations with students earlier rather than later is a necessary, and possibly lifesaving, first step.

In Lesson One students will examine long-held gender stereotypes and beliefs and examine how these beliefs encourage behaviors that perpetuate sexual violence. Students will also identify accessible tools for change.

Through reflection and discussion activities students will prepare to answer the following questions:

• What is a culture of sexual assault?
• How is it perpetuated at my school, in my community and in my world?
• What can I do to raise awareness and change beliefs and attitudes that allow a culture of sexual assault to continue?

Open the lesson by communicating your designed trigger warning.  For the lesson on examining our culture of sexual assault, cultural variations may reflect a variety of different practices and beliefs regarding sexuality and gender roles. Some students may be hesitant to share their experiences if they do not conform to the perceived norms. Seek out resources and support within your school personnel for help in designing what is developmentally appropriate to communicate with your class.

Have students independently completing the two writing exercises described below. (Reflect #1 and Reflect #2.) The first explores beliefs around gender. The second prompts students to reflect upon specific scenarios illustrating gender roles and stereotypes.

Directions: Hand out this assignment for students to complete in writing.

Reflect #1: Central to understanding how to prevent sexual assault is understanding how it comes to happen. John_R was not a mysterious stranger in a dark alley. He was a kid whom Audrie knew and considered a friend. No parent raises their child to commit acts of sexual violence. John_R’s actions simply reflect his understanding of how young men and women interact in a “normal” way— what he’s learned from friends, online, in movies, from easily accessible pornography and from other community and cultural norms. In Audrie & Daisy, we see examples of how our culture enables sexual violence and perpetuates great harm to victims, survivors, their families and communities.

Audrie’s Facebook post, “u have no idea what it is like to be a girl” is a provocative statement and could suggest many feelings and experiences. What is it like to be a 14 year old girl?

Or a 14-year-old boy, or a transgender 14-year-old?

Our perceptions of what it means to be a girl, a man or transgender are influenced by many factors, including race, religion, nation of origin, etc. Yet, the prevailing assumptions and messages in a culture of sexual violence suggest there is only one way to be a man – that is, to be unfeeling, strong, superior to women, and sexually aggressive and demanding.  These attitudes are harmful to us all, and falsely excuse violence towards women.
There is as much to say about the limits society’s expectations put on women and transgender people, and people of different races. The Representation Project, See Jane, TransEquality, Black Women’s Blueprint, and others provide resources for learning more about those.

Create a chart with gender titles across the top. One column could be Man, another Woman, another Transgender, or other gender categories to explore. (At the very least we recommend having Man and Woman as these are most directly relevant to the film.) Ask students to list words or phrases they associate with each category, including roles, responsibilities, expectations, stereotypes and more. Have students share their lists in small groups or as a class and invite discussion about the most frequently used terms.

Reflect #2: Ask students to individually complete these sentence stems:

• When I hear a joke or comment making fun of a girl or boy’s appearance, what they are wearing or how they are supposed to be acting because of their gender I . . .
• When I hear the phrase “boys will be boys” I think it means . . .
• When I listen to a song that degrades girls or uses profanity to refer to girls I  . . .
• If a friend uses the word “gay” or “dyke” or “trans” in a derogatory tone I …
• I would say being a man today means . . .
• I would say being a woman today means . . .
• Create one more sentence stem for your classmates to complete.

Definition: Introduce students to the idea that cultural influences exist in our society that reinforce male sexual aggression, blame the victims of sexual assault and normalize male sexual violence. In this lesson we have referred to this as “a culture of sexual assault.” Activists also term these influences as “rape culture.”ⁱⁱⁱ  Share the definition below leaving plenty of time to discuss and clarify terms with students.

Rape culture is the images, language and laws that we see and hear every day that validate and perpetuate rape. These can include jokes, TV shows, music, advertising, legal jargon or words that make violence against women and sexual coercion seem so normal that people believe that rape is inevitable. Rather than viewing the culture of rape as a problem to be changed, people in a rape culture think about the persistence of rape as “just the way things are.” They become desensitized to the existence of rape. Rape culture is when a society normalizes and accepts sexualized violence.^iv

Check in with students about their understanding of these terms. It may be helpful to have ready several visual examples from advertising, movie posters, song lyrics or from recent news that illustrate this definition.

Read aloud a text exchange between John R and a friend from Audrie & Daisy that reinforces this definition. Ask students to share their reactions..

(Audrie) passed out and we colored half her face black and colored all over her body, like her boobs. And it said ****, it said **** was here. And then her pants, by her vagina, it said **** was here. And it said ‘harder’ on her leg, and had an arrow to her vagina. And on her back it said ‘anal’ and had an arrow down to her ass, and there was just, there was just sharpie everywhere. Everywhere. It was hilarious. Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha. My friend said, “So technically you stripped her and drew everywhere?” Uh, I said, not, not just me, all the guys. —John_R in Audrie & Daisy.^v

Next, students will practice skills of media literacy by closely reading several of the recommended sources and analyzing how each inform and deepen their understanding of the culture of sexual assault. [Note the grade recommendations.]

Begin by asking the students to read the article silently to themselves.

1. Read a second time and underline sentences that make important points about rape culture.
2. Share the underlined segments in their small groups and discuss what they learned.
3. As a group, develop one question that comes out of their reading, analysis and discussion and share in class.

Distribute the links if students have online access or print copies if necessary.

• Read or listen to National Public Report “To Prevent Sexual Assault, Schools and Parents Start Lessons Early.” (middle and high school)
• Read US News and World Report on Daisy Coleman and current laws and policies in high school. (A longer article but appropriate for middle and high school.)
• View Photographer Katherine Cambareri’s online exhibit “Well, What Were You Wearing?” (For middle and high school.)
• Read Mentors in Violence Prevention “10 Things Men Can Do to Prevent Gender Violence.”
• Read Huffington Post article on sexual assault and euphemistic language. (High school only given the reading level and content.)
• Read CNN news report on the verdict in the Steubenville, Ohio case. (Upper high school given the content.)

Watch the video segment from Audrie & Daisy illustrating attitudes reinforcing a culture of assault.

(57:50 – 1:07:20) The segment begins with Robin Bourland discussing culture surrounding the case of Daisy Coleman and her daughter Paige Parkhurst and ends with Sheriff Darren White questioning who committed a crime.

Note: This segment may spark deep emotions. Allow some time for students to discuss in pairs or groups, have time for solitude or reflection or process their feelings in writing.

Hand out these statements from the film and read them aloud to your students.

“One of the real fatal flaws of our society. Is that it’s always, it’s always the boys. And it’s not always the boys. The girls have– girls have as much culpability in this world as boys do.” -Sheriff Darren White in Audrie & Daisy

“…It became more important to shield the boys than it did to find justice for the girls. The (boys) that are kind of the banner for your community, you don’t want to see them in trouble.  You don’t want to think those things about them.  They’re the heroes of small towns. “-Robin Bourland, Paige’s mom, from Audrie & Daisy

Discuss in pairs or small groups:

• Reactions to the statement from Sheriff Darren White and from Robin Bourland.
• What follow up questions would you want to ask each of them?
• If you were to describe in your own words what Robin Bourland is sharing, what would you say?

Complete the final writing assignment for the lesson explained below.

We have spent time as a class defining and discussing elements in our culture that perpetuate sexual assault. We watched examples in the film and read testimony from several of the characters that further uncovered elements of a culture of sexual assault. In an essay, identify one example in the media that illustrates your understanding of the culture of sexual assault that was part of the story in Audrie & Daisy. Be sure to support your analysis with specific examples and avoid stereotypes and generalizations of any one group.

ⁱAudrie & Daisy, Bonni Cohen and John Shenk, Netflix, 2016, Script.

ⁱⁱ Transforming A Rape Culture, edited by Emilie Buchwald, Pamela Fletcher and Martha Roth, (Milkweed Editions: Minneapolis, MN, 1993), 1.

ⁱⁱⁱ Rape is defined as the crime, typically committed by a man, of forcing another person to have nonconsensual sexual intercourse.

^iv http://www.wavaw.ca/what-is-rape-culture/. Retrieved August 13, 2016.

^vAudrie & Daisy, Bonni Cohen and John Shenk, Netflix, 2016, Script.