Rape apologists will be unfriended without any correspondence entered into. At least 3 men will wonder why I blocked them earlier. They won't know. It was done silently and swiftly.
It's not OK to blame women for rape.
Many of you would have seen the report of the activist who chronicled her account of her alleged rape recently. She did so immediately after it allegedly happened, on Instagram, and included pictures of the scene - her poignant pose, body saturated from one-fallen tear of despair.
She had inexplicably and voluntarily, without sensibly cognisant of the danger, taken a shower with a man she had earlier kissed who was drunk and while in the shower he attacked her.
Now rape apology comes in many forms. The most obvious are statements of the kind "She asked to be raped/she dressed provocatively/she shouldn't have been there..."
And then there are rape apologies that masquerade as innocent questioning. This is particularly common among men who otherwise would not say "She asked for it." The men I blocked fall into this second category of victim blaming.
They posted stuff to the effect of "I'm not saying she asked for it. I'm just saying it is tricky."
"I'm not saying she deserved to be attacked. But why did she agree to shower with him when they're just friends ?"
"I'm not saying rape is ok but isn't it weird that she took a picture of herself immediately after it happened and put it on Instagram?"
"I'm not saying rape is ok and I definitely agree that men should not rape but equally women should take care to avoid attacks; it's a two way stream."
And then there are those who scrutinize the objective evidence, uncluttered from emotional constraints and begin to question the validity of the allegation. These people reconcile the evidence in accordance with general human rational behaviour, and when such behaviour in all the circumstances falls horribly short, the enquiry then moves onto whether there really was a NO or even a 'strange' acquaintance in the first place. This is not a strident view that which seeks to be controversial - these people will ordinarily sing in harmony, from the same hymn book, with an unequivocal NO means NO - but, in the circumstances above, the discord is self-explanatory. The questions they ask are not into the validity of legal substantive thresholds for consent but see a bigger picture that begs ostensibly legitimate questions - including answers from the alleged attacker. These people are normal human beings, curious by nature, and seek to know the truth and not question the law.
No. No. No.
1. The situation is not tricky. She doesn't consent therefore it is rape. Saying it is tricky feeds a narrative of moral grey areas where there are none.
2. Showering with a stranger even while masturbating STILL DOES NOT AMOUNT TO CONSENT.
3. How she behaves after already raped tells you NOTHING about whether what happened was more or less acceptable. If she is raped and then blackmails you, she was still raped. If she is raped and then goes for a comedy audition she was still raped. If she is raped and tells Instagram complete with pictures or videos she was still raped. Stop the preoccupation with thinking "real victims" behave in a certain way.
4. There is no shared responsibility for avoiding rape. There is only rule here: Do not rape. There is no additional rule that says "Don't get raped"
If you disagree then silently and swiftly unfriend me.