Cornell students, almost by definition, are good at conversing. From class discussions to S.A. meetings, we spend much of our time here talking. We don’t even shy away from controversial issues — from abortion to Palestine, gay marriage to the death penalty, nothing seems off-limits. Until you bring up the one topic that seems to quiet down everyone — rape.

Even the word makes us cringe and want to stop reading this column. We want to pretend that it is something far from us, something that we don’t have to think about. But one glance at the statistics shows that rape affects us all. One in four women in college is the victim of rape or attempted rape. It’s a tough number to swallow — so much so that we are often quick to dismiss it. But this number comes from a survey of 6,000 students conducted by Ms. Magazine in the 1980s and its findings have been widely accepted — even by the U.S. Department of Justice.

And in this case, Cornell doesn’t differ from the national average. One example: on Tuesday, Students Acting for Gender Equality will be hosting its second annual event entitled “The Undercurrents of Gender-based Violence,” which features student rape survivors. This event, and others like Take Back The Night, shows us that rape is all around us. Sun Podcast: A podcast is available for this column. Click here to listen to or to download it.

Because rape is so prevalent here at Cornell and at campuses across the country, it is important to consider why it is happening. Part of the difficulty in dealing with rape is realizing that it is not being committed solely by crazy sociopaths hiding in the bushes. For every rape committed by an unknown attacker, there are four rapes committed by someone the victim knows — a friend, a family member, a coworker or a classmate. Every person on campus probably knows someone who has been raped — and they also likely know someone who has raped another. It is a widespread problem that no one in our community can afford to ignore.

Too often, when we hear about cases of rape, we are quick to blame the victim. We think the woman was wearing that skimpy outfit or she was drinking too much or she was flirting with everyone. In reality, rape is a violent crime, and it is the rapist who commits the act, not the victim. However, even in communities attempting to be sensitive to this problem, the focus of “prevention” is simply another form of blaming the victim — these prevention tips are always aimed at women trying to prevent themselves from being raped, rather than preventing rape in the first place. If we are committed to ending rape, we need to shift our focus from the symptoms of the problem to the cause.

At the heart of rape and sexual violence is an utter disregard for the victim. Because the vast majority of victims are females, much of the problem lies in sexism and the objectification of women. During discussion on the topic, it is common to hear that we are living in a post-feminist era, where sexism and women’s oppression have been eliminated. Those who complain about the objectification of women are stuck in the outdated bra-burning women’s liberation movement of the 70s. Look at women such as Christy Hefner, CEO of Playboy Enterprises, and Jenna Jameson, whose book How to Make Love Like a Porn Star was a best-seller.

Sounds great, right? We no longer have to worry about pesky gender equality. But wait a minute — how does increased objectification equal liberation? Don’t get me wrong —women have the right to do whatever they want with their bodies, whether that is having an abortion, wearing the hijab or posing for Playboy.

But we should not confuse the right to do what we want with the mistaken belief that we live in a gender equitable society. Women’s bodies are used everyday to make profits. And I’m not just talking about prostitution or pornography. “Attractive” women are used to sell everything — from cars to clothes to sports teams (see: Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders). This is not empowering, it is oppression.

Being viewed as a sex object is not liberating, but rather it makes sex a commodity, alienated from real emotion. Thus we have a culture of “sex as sport,” where men go out not to meet women, but simply to “score.” This is how we have ended up at a place where some men see no problem having sex with a woman who is passed out or too drunk to stop him. A man who does this is not seeing the woman as his equal, but rather as a body that he can use as he pleases.

“Who wants to walk around with clenched fists all the time?” asked Hillary Clinton, referring to those who are angry at the sexism and objectification of women. Well, it’s certainly not fun to be enraged, and I look forward to a time of true gender equality. The former feminist movements made important gains in this fight, but it is far from over. We must use our outrage to push for true women’s liberation — fighting for a world where women are viewed as people, not as objects.

Laura Taylor is a senior in the School of Industrial and Labor Relations. She can be contacted at lat34@cornell.edu. Kind of a Big Deal appears Tuesdays.