If anyone has seen the music video and PSA "Til it a Happens to You" I hope that you felt the same way I did after - changed. This video is more than just a visual representation of lyrics Lady Gaga is seeing - but a message that everyone needs to hear. This video helps bring the conversation no one wants to have, but everyone should be having, to life. It shapes the way people define and see sexual assault. This is done in the visuals of the video itself, the filming, and even the lyrics. If you haven't seen the video here it is:

As an English major, words and language fascinate me. I think the power of rhetoric can change the perceptions people have and how they view things. For me nothing does this more powerfully than music and film. So combining those into a music video is when the real change occurs.

The entire message of this video is to bring to life the ugly truth of sexual assault. It is trying to convey that people do not truly understand sexual assault until it happens to them. The cultural reality is many people do not truly see the effects and horrors of sexual assault. Rather than try to understand it, most people shy away because they think it is not a big deal or is an uncomfortable conversation. This needs to change and that starts with us.

The music video uses these graphic images to entice emotion and show harsh and honest reality. While graphic, this video is beautifully done and needs to be seen because people do not life to talk about sexual assault even though it needs to be talked about. It is raw and real. It is the wake-up call our society needs in order to begin changing how we view and talk about sexual assault.

The graphic and unsettling images and symbols are what need to be shown in order to change the conversation and get people involved and talking about sexual assault. It is not a comfortable topic, but that makes it even more important to discuss.

As a college student isn't it my duty to talk about this issue and change the way society is talking about it? As a college student, soon I will be in the real world and part of a generation that will soon be the future of our country, so shouldn't we be the ones who changing the conversation and bringing this issue to light?

Our culture needs to begin having these conversations about race, assault, gender, and other topics that people deem to uncomfortable to talk about. These are changes in society and problems that need to be addressed because we are the people who live in this world, and if we can’t talk about these issues, who can?