Eagles take on Titans, Trump visits Philly | Morning Newsletter

It's Carson Wentz's second game back and the Eagles are looking to improve their record under sunny skies in Nashville today. It'll be sunny around Philly, too, so enjoy it because clouds are expected to roll in and blanket the region for most of the week. As the news around Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh continues to grip the nation, our colleague Aneri Pattani examined if young men's sentiments surrounding sexual violence had actually changed since Kavanaugh was a teen in the 1980s. And, as always, we're here to listen to you and find the answers to the things you're curious about, so don't forget to ask us your questions through our question-based forum, Curious Philly.

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— Ray Boyd and Tauhid Chappell (morningnewsletter@philly.com)

Each week we'll go behind the scenes with one of our reporters to learn how they reported their latest story and the challenges they faced along the way. This week, reporter Aneri Pattani explored whether or not young men's attitudes toward sexual violence have changed since Brett Kavanaugh's youth.

When it comes to men's attitudes about sexual assault, were you surprised about the progress, or lack thereof, that seems to have been made in recent decades?

I wasn't surprised by the overall idea that we've only made limited progress. After all, the entire week before I wrote this story, I'd been seeing the traditional attacks on women who report sexual assault play out with Christine Blasey Ford. She's been called a liar, accused of making it up, told it was so long ago she couldn't remember properly, and so on.

But I think what did surprise me was that many traditional ideas are prevalent among college-aged men. According to the research done by Sarah McMahon, who is quoted in my story, many college students are ready to excuse men, saying they don't realize what they're doing is sexual assault. That seems like a new take on the 'boys will be boys' mentality, and I wasn't expecting that from young people today.

How do experts characterize the role of the #MeToo movement in shaping how men look at sexual violence?

All of the experts I spoke with credited the #MeToo movement with helping the public understand a broader range of actions that constitute sexual violence. Research shows that many people used to think of it as a stranger jumping out on the street and raping a woman. Anything less than that wasn't necessarily considered sexual violence. But that's definitely changed. The #MeToo movement has seen men like Al Franken and Louis C.K., among others, held accountable for a variety of sexual misconduct. Experts say that reflects society's changing definition of sexual violence.

For your story, you spoke with college-aged men about their views on sexual assault. Were there any common themes?

Two themes emerged from my conversations with college-aged men. The first is that they all seem more aware of issues like rape culture, victim blaming and consent. They take it seriously – in some cases because they fear hurting someone, and in some cases because they fear the consequences to themselves. Regardless, nearly everyone I spoke with told me they'd be shocked to hear a rape joke or something like, "If she's dressed that way, she was asking for it."

The second theme was that despite being more aware of the issues, it was still hard to speak up about them. Several men told me they try to step in at parties if they see someone trying to take advantage of another student – male or female. But many men still worry friends will disapprove if they do that. It's interesting given Alan Berkowitz's research, which shows most men would approve of stopping sexual aggression toward a woman, but every guy believes they're in the minority and thus, doesn't act.

Are researchers optimistic about where men's views on sexual violence stand and how they seem to be evolving?

Yes, I think so. Everyone I spoke with pointed out that in the last few decades we've made a lot of progress in providing services to survivors of sexual assault and recognizing issues like workplace harassment. That makes them optimistic that moving forward we can chip away at other issues too, like subtle victim blaming and excusing men's actions.

For me, talking to several college-aged men who are actively advocating on the behalf of sexual assault survivors or planning events to bring awareness to their campus – that made me hopeful.

Contact Aneri Pattani by email at APattani@philly.com or on Twitter at @aneripattani.

Thanks @mcjw13 for giving us a sneak peek of what Delaware-based artist Alim Smith is designing outside the Warehouse on Watts. Check out more of his work by visiting his Instagram page.

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Have you submitted a question to Curious Philly yet? Try us. We're listening to our readers are doing our best to find answers to the things you're curious about.

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The answer:  The decision to point him northeast came after a contested dispute between the statue's sculptor and the Public Buildings Commission, which held the north side of City Hall where the clock tower with the statue atop it is located. Pulling from our archives, we learned Billy Penn faces in the direction of Penn Treaty Park, where it's believed Penn famously entered into a peace agreement with a local Native American tribe.

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