Gentlemen, if I can stand on my soap box for a second...

Make no mistake about it, we're in the midst of one of the largest social wars in the history of this country. In an age where any public figure who states the obvious opinion that "rape is bad" is seen as a visionary and any man who may have a moderate opinion on how to deal with sexual assault is deemed a danger to society, the only thing you can control is yourself.

The fact is, men's rights are not only not being taken seriously right now, but actively protested. From health issues (how many of your male children are being pressed to get the HPV vaccine?) to false rape allegations, nothing is being done to look at pressing issues from the male's perspective.

What's worse, speeches like Emma Watson's are making people think the converse, that men's rights are part of moderate feminism. Not only, then, are the problems not being addressed, now people are under the false pretense that they are. People are now under the impression that our problem is that we don't feel comfortable crying, and not that every consensual sexual encounter we have can be called into question at any moment.

None of this is new to any of you, and posts are made about this issue at an alarmingly increasing rate. But a recent reflection on my college experience (graduated 2006) makes me feel this warning needs to be repeated (if not for you, for me, to get off my chest).

I slipped through the cracks on some occasions, got lucky. I had the plate whose boyfriend found out and she cried assault as an excuse, luckily I had the sexts to back me up. I had the girl who I woke up with, neither of us having any recollection of the night, and when she tried to cry foul I was lucky to have good friends of hers to remind her we were kissing all night at the bar and she was the one that wanted to leave with me.

These situations are so ubiquitous in college that this recent war on sexual assault scares me. Obviously, rape is horrible, no means no, even if she acts like she wants it but says no, no always means no, never forget that. But moving past the obvious: you're not a bachelor anymore, you're a babysitter. If a child you're watching burns their hand on the oven, that's on you; in the same vein, if you have a sexual encounter with a girl, that's on you. The responsibility of everything that happens from the first kiss to the money shot falls on your shoulders.

So while we can sit here and stand for our rights in this sub, or in a debate with friends and family, or even on a date, don't be the hero out in the field. Don't have drunken, consensual sex with a girl and put yourself in a position to have to fight for her to understand what personal responsibility means.

The optimist in me hopes that in the future this debate will come full circle and justice will be served. But right now, you'll lose, you're at her mercy, and you'll just become another casualty of this war if you fight it.