Society tends to blame the victim when it comes to cases like rape because, it is thought to be a prevented act. However, the victim is never in the wrong. Recently, I just had to participate in an online rape prevention course called Not Anymore. During this course I learned that the victim is never in the wrong, and that even if the person being raped is known for having a lot of intercourse, if it is unwanted it is still rape. In "The Rape" of Mr. Smith by Unknown, it is set up as a trial or set of questions for Mr. Smith. In the questions, it is clear that the interviewer is blaming Mr. Smith by suggesting that he was wearing an expensive suit that led to believe that he had money, symbolizing a girl wearing revealing clothes to lead someone to believe she wants to have intercourse or is "easy" when really a woman should be able to wear whatever she wants no matter how revealing. Secondly, the interviewer asks if Mr. Smith has given away money before, in fact he has given away a lot of money, correlating to a girl that has a reputation for having a lot of sex, but, even if she has had a lot of sex each time is new and if it is unwanted or she did not give consent its rape no matter how many times she has had sex or how many people. Lastly, Mr. Smith is questioned about why he was out late because he should know being out late is asking for trouble, but in reality he should be able to walk around wherever, whenever without worrying about being mugged for money, just like a girl should be able to walk confidently without worry of being raped. In the gist of the article, the person asking Mr. Smith the questions is accusing him of doing all the wrong things to prevent being mugged instead of reprimanding the mugger for mugging him. Right now in society, we are experiencing girls being taught how to prevent rape instead of teaching people not to rape. We shouldn't have to teach young people not to rape but it's better that than teaching young people especially girls that they can prevent it and if they don't they are in the wrong instead of the rapist.
This topic is very well known and controversial to our generation. This post coincides with my beliefs. Our generation is too caught up on the fact that dressing revealing or inappropriate is the leading cause of rape. This is a double standard our society holds. The big problem is that people actually believe that the victim can be held responsible. How does a short dress, or a revealing shirt mean that they are asking for rape? As a society we need to educate what rape actually means and how no matter what the women is wearing, rape is rape. If we all google rape we will find that a certain dress code does not meet the requirements. Yes, it is understandable that maybe certain clothes can attract the wrong group of people but this does not mean that women should be afraid to wear certain clothes. At the end of the day no matter what the circumstances are, if rape occurs the victim is not at fault.
ReplyDeleteThis topic is very well known and controversial to our generation. This post coincides with my beliefs. Our generation is too caught up on the fact that dressing revealing or inappropriate is the leading cause of rape. This is a double standard our society holds. The big problem is that people actually believe that the victim can be held responsible. How does a short dress, or a revealing shirt mean that they are asking for rape? As a society we need to educate what rape actually means and how no matter what the women is wearing, rape is rape. If we all google rape we will find that a certain dress code does not meet the requirements. Yes, it is understandable that maybe certain clothes can attract the wrong group of people but this does not mean that women should be afraid to wear certain clothes. At the end of the day no matter what the circumstances are, if rape occurs the victim is not at fault.
ReplyDelete