As sad as it is to say, we’re growing up in a rape culture. Rape has become more and more common and it is practically all we hear about when it comes to safety in college. As college students, we should all be aware of the high risk of rape. Girls, because were in college we are four times more likely to be raped than any other gender or age. Many girls try to avoid these situations by not going out to bars or parties but many girls also argue they do not want to miss out on the college experience. Four men the North Carolina State University decided they would help out.
They invented a nail polish that changes color when it comes in contact with a liquid that has been contaminated by drugs. For example, Rohypnol, Xanax or Gama Hdroxybutyric Acid…AKA GHB, all of which are the most common forms of date rape drugs. The polish is meant to help prevent date rape in a discrete way and to empower women while keeping them safe. People are beginning to argue that this nail polish is feeding the rape culture and normalizing it. We’ve all had it drilled into our heads not to leave drinks unsupervised or with someone we don’t know. But is that enough? No, it is not enough because 84% of women knew their rapist. With this nail polish, you simply dip your finger in your beverage, stir it around and the results are instantly shown on your nail. The product has not been released to the public just yet, it is it still being perfected by adding different color options and making the polish 100% accurate. This product was not created to stop rape and many people are skeptical but there is no possible way that it can not decrease the number or rape victims at any University. Undercover colors is taking donations in order to get this product on the market quicker.
http://www.usciences.edu/shac/counseling/daterape.shtml
http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/undercover-colors
https://www.facebook.com/undercovercolors
https://undercovercolors.cloverdonations.com/uc-donations-page/
@ Anne Michael James
Not disagreeing with you, but at the same time, I am. It is not just about men and their brains. Women can rape too. Although it is shown through stats that more rape cases are done by men, it shouldn’t just be focused on them…It should be focused on humanity all together.
Heres a link about rape statistics
https://www.rainn.org/statistics
As a girl in college, I do appreciate that there are options for us to be protected from the date rape drugs, but I don’t think this solves the problem. There are other ways for rape to occur without the drug, so this only minimizes the one cause of it. The real problem is the fact that rape is occurring. When they create a device that cures the male mind from the desire to rape, then I will be impressed.
Here is an interesting article on the controversy this invention caused :
http://www.newsweek.com/controversy-over-nail-varnish-date-rape-drug-detector-267126
I have heard of this and I think its a wonderful idea. As a girl in college, it has been drilled into my brain not to take a drink from anyone and if I leave my drink not to come back to it. While some might think it is accepting rape culture, like you said above, I find it as a way for us to protect ourselves and keep ourselves out of harms way. Right now they do have strips out that can test for date rape drugs in drinks, but they are much more obvious than the nail polish. Once the testing is complete, and the nail polish is available to purchase, I have a feeling that many girls will be buying it.
Here is the link for the date rape detection slips
http://www.amazon.com/DrinkSafe-Date-Rape-Drug-Detection/dp/B0001ZNZYC/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1412305515&sr=8-1&keywords=date+rape+strips
To hell with anyone saying this is “normalizing” rape culture. The fact of the matter is that rape is real. I say anything we can do to help prevent such a terrible thing should be taken under consideration. I’d like to know exactly how this nail polish works. What is the chemical reaction that occurs? I’ve done some research and I’ve found no answers, simply articles talking about the controversy surrounding the product and how it still needs to raise money. This concerns me. How will this product fair if it has yet to have been released and is already receiving flack? I also found some more concerning information revealing that the polish is only active at detecting GHB and Ketamine, but not Rohypnol (Luntz). If this is indeed true, this will set the product back big time since Rohypnol is the most commonly used date rape drug aside from alcohol (WomensHealth). I really hope this product can fix it’s flaws and raise the money it needs to be successful. Anything that can potentially deter something as serious as rape deserves a chance.
http://www.iflscience.com/technology/students-develop-nail-polish-can-detect-date-rape-drugs
http://www.womenshealth.gov/publications/our-publications/fact-sheet/date-rape-drugs.html