Just When You Thought It Was Safe...

Will the ignorance EVER END?

Please, read the following:

"There was an article about an 11-year-old girl who was gang-raped in Texas by 18 young men because she was dressed like a 21-year-old prostitute. And her parents let her attend school like that. And I think it’s incumbent upon us to create some areas where students can be safe in school and show up in proper attire so what happened in Texas doesn’t happen to our students." —Florida state representative Kathleen Passidomo, explaining why she supports a bill that would make schools adopt age-appropriate dress codes.

Walk through it with me... an 11 year old was gang raped BECAUSE she was dressed like a prostitute?!?!? I'm sure if we all just slipped on burkas no one would ever rape anyone ever again. Just look how well it's going for Afghanistan. I mean, it's obviously that little girl's fault - she was just asking for it, right?

And this is spoken by a WOMAN who is running for office. Are you FUCKING KIDDING ME?


I'll say it again, for those just joining. Rape has nothing to do with sex, it's about violence and power. Men don't rape because they're 'turned on' they rape because they want to dominate, humiliate, and ruin. And, just in case it's not already crystal clear-- blaming the rape victim/survivor is so 90's.

Let's enlighten, shall we?

*scorpio*

Article via NY Mag. Read more here.

Redefining Rape??

You guys, please sign this petition. Legislators are moving to redefine rape as 'forcible' only. This means the survivor would have to have bruises, cuts, etc for it to be considered rape. The ramifications of this are cataclysmic and propels us back to the 1950's when it wasn't rape unless a woman physically fought back against her attacker. As many of you know, in many cases this is not possible, not recommended, or simply not that kind of rape. It's not all back alley's with strangers...

http://pol.moveon.org/smithbill/?rc=fb.share.smithbill.0.2.taf.alt.alt6

Aries & Scorpio

Response to Naomi Wolf, Social Media

Reader Kemiii brought up a great question on my last post about rape culture. She wanted to know my thoughts regarding Naomi Wolf's public statements about the Julian Assange rape case.

I grew up on Naomi Wolf's The Beauty Myth, and I saw her speak just last month at the More Magazine women's forum "Where are the Young Feminists?" at 92Y. I have always respected her insight and looked to her as a feminist model. However, her rape-positive, blame-the-victim comments regarding this case are unforgiveable.

Look, I kind of see where she is coming from. Obviously rape happens everywhere all the time and doesn't ever get the kind of attention this case does. But that doesn't mean that once a case does get press, we critique it. What women, feminists, politicians, and public figures say about rape is phenomonally important. The public statements we make shape the social consciousness of our country. When we see cases like Kobe Bryant or Duke University - cases in which the woman accuser(s) were publically humiliated, sent death threats, and deemed to be sluts or 'asking for it' we quite literally take three steps backwards. Everyone is in our country is familiar with these cases; when we deny these women a voice, we teach every woman that rape doesn't exist. We tell them, no one will believe you. We say, keep your mouth shut. We imply, it's her fault.

Why do you think rape is the most underreported crime in the country? It's our own damn fault for not speaking out in the media. Rape is rape is rape. It is never, ever okay.

Naomi Wolf has failed me.

But we, as women, can change things, even on a micro level. Change the dialogue. Believe your friends if they've been through rape/sex assault. Understand what a massive, damaging crime it is. Be aware of your own prejudices, then change them. When your friends/family are speaking about the case, give it the weight it properly deserves.

Think critically about the narrative - is it contributing to a rape culture? Say something.

*scorpio*

Educate Yourself:
Fantasic article article about the effects of the media on rape cases.

Feministing has a great response to Naomi.

Hey, Ms. Jones!

During my daily cursory perusal of NY Mag (love their irreverence), I found this shocking article. Heidi Jones, a weatherwoman, claimed attempted rape in order to mitigate and garner sympathy for a current personal hardship.

My first reaction was that this report will be used as proof to those that believe women often create or embellish stories of rape. Statistically speaking, however, this couldn't be further from the truth. Rape is THE most underreported crime in America.

How then to explain this woman? Simple. Rape, like any other crime, has a small percentage of falsified reports (about 5%). This is actually the exact same rate as any other crime like grand theft auto (thank you, Charlie Sheen), abduction or murder.

However, because rape has such gendered societal concepts of what constitutes acceptable behavior, it becomes quite the hot-button issue. I wrote my honors thesis on Pornography and Sexual Violence, but no matter how enligtened the men I date are, none of them is ever able to have even an abstract conversation about pornography and sexual violence without almost immediately becoming defensive. Listen, rape (though simply defined) has become a complicated thing. We say it's about sex, but it's really about violence. We say it's not a big deal, but according to the DA I used to work for, rape is worse than murder because you have to live through it. And, 98% of the time, rape is committed by males. You can understand how they'd become defensive.

No one wants to admit that we live in a type of culture where the female's body is less important than the male's, that her needs are somehow negotiable whereas his are justifiable. However, in my research, I've found that 47% of high school boys think it's at least 'maybe okay' to force sexual intercourse on a female in certain situations. The situation most cited? If she 'turns him on'. the underlying message is that she should've known better.

When we hear a story like the above it maps perfectly on our social consiousness. Though unspoken in polite society, rape culture perpetuates the myth that the onus is on women. No wonder we discount the true reports as false, and the false reports as proof.

The actual truth: that 1 in 4 women will be sexually assaulted in their lives (that number reaches 1 in 2 during the first three months of college, known as the Red Zone) is too difficult to give credence to, because if it really is so prevalent, then how many men have sexually violated a woman?

More than we can admit.

*scorpio*