Analysis Of Ted Talk Ending Rape By Keith Edwards

What do you do in a society that tells women that the best way to avoid rape is to change their behaviors, yet it never addresses the men that do the raping? How can we stand to live in a society that offers more acceptance for the rapist but not the victim? Sayings like “boys will be boys” removes the responsibility of men to treat women’s bodies with respect, but no sayings are widely used to place responsibility on men in their roles in respecting women as humans and not objects for sexual gratification. We are aware that women within the age range of a college student is four times as likely to be assaulted (Bulletin of the American Association of Professors 2010), yet we cultivate a mentality that also supports it. Social activist, Keith Edwards, works daily to address these very issues. As presented during his Ted Talk Ending Rape, Edwards explains his work’s goal is to

Warrants are the means used to justify taking actions against the social issue established while making grounds (Best 2007). Throughout Edwards’ speech, he makes several convincing arguments, but his most effective justification for action comes in the form of a challenge to men concerning the connection between the relationships they have with the women in their lives. He emphasizes the point that men could not possibly truly value their relationships with their daughters, sisters, mothers, or partners if they remained silent on the issue of sexual assault (Edwards 2016). Edwards goes on to explain that men are often taught to think about the four women in their lives that they value most to invoke interest in combating sexual assault. As a result, Edwards suggests this form of thinking “sells men short.” Edward’s tactic works to curate the desire to fiercely defend and protect all women by encouraging men to disprove the notion that they only have the capacity to care for the women in their own