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To Avoid Rape: Don't Dress Like a Slut
14 years ago
Perhaps you've heard of these "SlutWalks" that are going on in various cities in the Western world. If not, mash dis.
My response is as follows: what a pathetic excuse for bad behavior grounded in what should be a non-controversial statement.
There is no doubt that dressing a certain way does not give the moral green light to rape, an act that is aggressive by definition. There is also no doubt that a rapist should not get a lighter sentence because his/her victim was dressed a certain way, all other factors being equal.
But seriously? SlutWalks?
Personally speaking, I don't flash cash and jewelry in bad neighborhoods. If I were to do both of these things, I wouldn't deserve getting mugged, but I would still be an idiot worthy of pity rather than sympathy.
I don't mean to seem callous, but there are certain things we can do in order to avoid getting raped, and dressing conservatively is one of them. I'm fairly certain I wouldn't be willing to risk moderate bodily harm to prevent a sexual crime against a slut--after all, I only have one life to give, and I'm not going to give it to a slut.
Going further, I bitterly laugh at their protest of my right and desire to judge them negatively for their actions, and judge them many times more harshly for doing so.
On a related note, I saw the love of my life again tonight after several days apart. Oh gym, how I adore thee...
From New York... good night America.
My response is as follows: what a pathetic excuse for bad behavior grounded in what should be a non-controversial statement.
There is no doubt that dressing a certain way does not give the moral green light to rape, an act that is aggressive by definition. There is also no doubt that a rapist should not get a lighter sentence because his/her victim was dressed a certain way, all other factors being equal.
But seriously? SlutWalks?
Personally speaking, I don't flash cash and jewelry in bad neighborhoods. If I were to do both of these things, I wouldn't deserve getting mugged, but I would still be an idiot worthy of pity rather than sympathy.
I don't mean to seem callous, but there are certain things we can do in order to avoid getting raped, and dressing conservatively is one of them. I'm fairly certain I wouldn't be willing to risk moderate bodily harm to prevent a sexual crime against a slut--after all, I only have one life to give, and I'm not going to give it to a slut.
Going further, I bitterly laugh at their protest of my right and desire to judge them negatively for their actions, and judge them many times more harshly for doing so.
On a related note, I saw the love of my life again tonight after several days apart. Oh gym, how I adore thee...
From New York... good night America.
I do agree that people should take precautions to protect themselves, but dressing conservatively is not a major factor in why women get raped. Women in the Middle East can dress in burqas, and still get raped. Rape is usually not a crime of lust or passion, but of dominance. Most rape is done by people who have previously known the person.
And damnit, if I am allowed to walk around bare-chested and in a bathing suit, so should a woman be able to do that.
I don't agree with the feminist narrative that telling a woman to take precautions to protect themself is "blaming the victim"... but this kinda is up there.
I agree that women should be able to walk around bare-chested, and even beyond that, almost black-out drunk and utterly alone, without worrying about their safety, but in that case, in Die Hard with a Vengeance, Bruce Willis's little shenanigans in the ghetto ought to have left a few seriously offended, but not remotely violent people in his wake.
Let's put it like this.
If you don't wear a seatbelt and you get into a car accident and die, you don't deserve to die.
But, err, what did you expect would happen?
For similar reasons, if I were to encounter a rape victim who was black-out drunk and half-naked around strangers and untrustworthy figures at the time of the assault (like the girl from Steubenville), I'd do my best to help them, sure, but in the back of my mind, I'd be thinking, "Why, why, why did you put yourself in such a situation?"
I contend that a woman should be able to have visible midriff without worrying about being raped, in much the same way I contend that a libertarian should be able to make his arguments without being assaulted by Occupy Wall Street thugs. Also, in much the same way I contend that a Sikh or a Muslim should be able to dress however they want without being accused of or treated like a terrorist. Is this a realistic expectation, expressing yourself however you want without fear of violent confrontation? Maybe not. But surely there are other precautions to take without compromising your identity, your form of expression, your beliefs, or who you are, aren't they? Assuming that covering up is a great way to avoid being raped, sure, you could say that telling a girl not to dress like a slut works as a precaution. But it's not much of a precaution. Encourage the woman to purchase a firearm or mace. And yes, I realize that the people of SlutWalk may not like that as advice - but it sure beats "don't dress like a slut".
Going to a neighborhood just to yell racial epithets at people who are already living a miserable life as it is shouldn't be compared to a woman who doesn't feel like wearing more layers than necessary, and shouldn't have to worry about the ability of other people to control their genitals. I'm sure I don't have to go into *too much* detail as to why.