I wrote a column several weeks back that addressed, among other things, the right of women to wear “revealing” clothing without being accused of whoredom or “asking” to be raped. Several individuals responded to that column and some actually made the claim that rape cases are the fault of both the victim and the rapist.
Naturally I was astounded that someone would fault one among our sisters as asking for what some might believe to be the worst experience one could suffer on this green Earth, and so I am going to respond to this popular and masculine notion now — that rape is somehow partial in its allocation of guilt, lending itself to both the raped and the rapist.
There is an intriguing story called the “Rape of Mr. Smith” that relates robbery with rape and how similarly they could be investigated in terms of fault if seen in the same light. Mr. Smith, a business man and dressed as such, is robbed while on the street. His interrogators accuse him of “asking” to be robbed because he is not only a philanthropist, already prone to just “handing out” money to anyone, but also lavishly dressed, and so it is assumed on the part of the officers that he put himself in the position of being robbed, whether he wanted to be or not.
Though consent is the real issue here, just as it is in rape, what is muddled by the officers is past behavior; by doing so they validate the erroneous and ad hominem argument that because he formerly gave out money he could not object to doing so against his will. The same thought process occurs when investigating the rape of escorts, prostitutes, erotic dancers or ladies out on the town. Because these individuals engage in what is believed to be high-risk behavior, or because they sell sex, or are looking to “hook up,” or even because they have engaged in sex with that individual before, it is assumed, and by a largely male-driven law enforcement institution, that these women are at fault for the violation of their own bodies.
If you subscribe to this silly notion, and that is the only way I can describe it since it is child-like in its logic, then I would be forced to ask the same about gun owners or hunters, or thrill seekers, or morbidly obese people, or those who have contracted diabetes by way of a poor diet.
If we are going to penalize women for rape, holding them accountable for assaults against them, then why don’t we hold the unhealthy accountable for their medical conditions by depriving them of healthcare? Or refuse insurance or any kind of medical aid to someone made a paraplegic after a failed attempt bungee jumping? What about a child who commits suicide with his parent’s gun? Should we penalize them for providing the murder weapon, even if it is done inadvertently? There needs to be intent behind actions.
Merely because a woman seeks the attention of a man does not mean she is seeking to be violated. A storeowner may seek to attract customers with his products; this does not mean he wishes to be robbed.
To debase this heinous idea even further, I will add that it depends on the idea that rape is solely a matter of sex and that it depends on the man being enticed by the woman at hand. To begin, if I shoot someone with a gun it does not mean I killed the person because of gun laws or out of my passion for the right to bear arms.
In the same way, sex is the vehicle of rape or the tool, not the point. The point is power. There is no more empowering way to destroy an individual than to take the control she has over her own body away from her. This is backed by the well-documented fact that elderly women, children, and even infants are raped. Young, beautiful women are not the only subjects to the evils of some men.
This argument further cheapens men in that it turns them into animals no more capable of controlling themselves than an adolescent dog looking to mount his first female. Are the men making these arguments really so deprived of will power that they must rape women that are simply too handsomely dressed?
The argument that women are at times responsible for their rape depends on several erroneous factors that are easily debunked. These arguments include the notion that women must want to be raped and signal such when they dress inappropriately, rape is about sex and thus lust and therefore depends on the individual being highly attracted to the woman, men are incapable of controlling their lust and lack will power over their desires, and because a woman sells sex or desires sex that she cannot object to being raped.
All of these arguments suggest a serious misunderstanding of the psychology of rape and of the human condition. It is also concrete evidence that America remains a patriarchal system under which women are forced to compromise their liberties to survive. Rape is in fact such an entrenched part of American culture that it is often featured in excruciating detail in our cinema.
Recognizing the facts about rape and understanding the ways in which patriarchy enforces it are key in diminishing its presence in our country. It is critical to know that rape is a crime against all women and never against just one isolated individual, since it is a means of subjugation. Instead of rationalizing its sick and toxic existence in our society, we need to obliterate it with extreme legal action and an overhaul of institutions that strive to obfuscate its dangers.