"Til It Happens to You" by Lady Gaga

You say I'll pull myself together, pull it together

You'll be fine

Tell me what the hell do you know

What do you know

Tell me how the hell could you know

How could you know

'Til it happens to you, you don't know

How it feels

How it feels

'Til it happens to you, you won't know

It won't be real

No it won't be real

Won't know how it feels

### **Relevance of the Words and Phrases Selected**

* The lyrics are advocating for people to listen to victims' stories and take them seriously, as nobody can truly understand how it feels to be sexually assaulted unless they have actually experienced it.
* By saying how outsiders will tell those that have been sexually abused that they "will be fine" and that they need to "move on," the song is able to effectively showcase the brush-offs a victim faces when telling their story.

### **Event, Person, and Place at Issue**

In 2013, two students at the University of North Carolina- Chapel Hill decided to file a complaint against the university about the mishandling of sexual assault cases. The students claimed the school was in violation of Title IX, a law preventing discrimination based on sex in education. The claims were eventually found to be true, and the case created a national policy debate over rape on college campuses and the federal government's role in regulating investigations of it.

At the time the video was released, one in five women in college experienced sexual assault. Of those women that experienced sexual assault, only 12% reported the attack to the police. Many studies have cited that fear of judgement or disbelief from those they tell causes women to stay silent about their abuse. In fact, prosecutors often decline to prosecute sexual assault despite having good evidence because even solid cases may not be provable beyond a reasonable doubt. As well, many schools, as shown in the case of UNC- Chapel Hill, have mismanaged cases of sexual assault, which has made it very difficult for women to report incidents in the first place.

### **Significance of the Song in History**

* The song was made for *The Hunting Ground*, a documentary about campus sexual violence that tells the story of several cases of sexual assault (including what happened at UNC).
* The music video for the song is in the style of a public service announcement, which helps to further bring awareness to the issue of campus sexual assault by showing fairly graphic scenes. As well, a portion of proceeds from the music video have been donated to the organization Its On Us, which aims to combat college sexual assault by engaging young men and changing campus culture.
* Lady Gaga won an award for this song at the 68th Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics.

### **Contemporary Connections**

Betsy DeVos, the current United States Secretary of Education, has been working to roll back Title IX guidelines from the Obama presidency. The new rules, if they become law, would require hundreds of American colleges to change how they handle allegations of sexual assault and harassment. This includes a requirement that complainants face cross-examination during campus hearings, as well as opportunities for institutions to limit the scope of what counts as sexual harassment under their own rules.

* Advocates for survivors have strongly objected to introducing cross-examination at campus hearings because there is a risk of causing additional trauma to victims.
* Universities will also have the option to exclude certain off-campus student sexual assault from their definitions of student conduct offenses.

### **Trivia Related to the Events, People, and Places**

* Though the song is not entirely based on her experiences, Lady Gaga was raped at age 19 by a music producer which compelled her to write and perform the song.
* When Lady Gaga performed the song at the Oscars awards show, she had 50 survivors of sexual assault come on stage with her, holding hands, with writing on their arms that had messages like “not your fault” and “unbreakable.”
* The two students that filed the original complaint against UNC- Chapel Hill went on to create a survivor advocacy group, End Rape on Campus, where they give voice and counsel to survivors of campus sexual assault all around the country.
* The Obama Administration launched the It's On Us Initiative. *"It is on all of us to reject the quiet tolerance of sexual assault and to refuse to accept what’s unacceptable."* - Barack Obama
* The National Sexual Assault Hotline is 1-800-656-HOPE

### **The Reasons You Selected This Song and/or Musician**

Lady Gaga is an amazing singer/songwriter who is known for her unconventionality, provocative work and visual experimentation. We have both been fans of many of her songs, and this one especially so because of its important premise. As well, since we are both going off to college next year, the circumstances behind this song are important to our future lives. We also found the topic to be very relevant to the information we covered in this class, as it discusses the fight for women's rights in the current century.

### **Sources**

https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2015/09/lady-gaga-til-it-happens-to-you/406066/

https://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/articles/2018-10-01/how-colleges-handle-sexual-assault-in-the-metoo-era

https://www.womenshealth.gov/relationships-and-safety/sexual-assault-and-rape/college-sexual-assault#8

https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2018/06/27/unc-found-have-violated-title-ix-multiyear-investigation

https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2019/03/20/how-should-colleges-respond-new-devos-rules-campus-sexual-assault/

https://www.dailytarheel.com/article/2018/06/unc-title-ix-violation

https://thinkprogress.org/confirmed-colleges-are-deliberately-downplaying-sexual-assaults-e8131607e8d2/

https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/blog/2014/09/19/president-obama-launches-its-us-campaign-end-sexual-assault-campus