The Broomstick Avenger
It's been awhile since I got out a good rant and this week has really offered some good material so here I go.
For part of this afternoon, I did some background reading on Bill O'Reilly stalking and ambushing a blogger for Thinkprogress.org who wrote about his offensive comments regarding rape and murder victim Jennifer Moore. By the way, they now have a very effective campaign going on to pressure corporate sponsors of O'Reilly's show to pull advertising.
This all started when I heard about this on Countdown...
...and was thoroughly creeped out by the tactics used to "interview" Amanda Terkel.
O'Reilly's defense for his comments? That they weren't about rape vitims in particular, but about responsible use of alchohol.
As proof he pointed out that he also referenced Mel Gibson's now infamous rant after being pulled for driving drunk.
“I think it’s safe to say that if Mel Gibson didn’t get drunk, he wouldn’t be in this terrible situation he finds himself in,” said O’Reilly in the 2006 radio segment. “And if a young woman, 18-year-old Jennifer Moore of Harrington Park, NJ, didn’t get drunk, she’d be alive today.”
Okay, I of course believe in the responsible use of alcohol...as in not driving drunk.
However, if the worst risk I face is that I might yell anti-Semitic rants and call a cop "sugar tits", I think me and the whiskey bottle will be just fine. But being raped, murdered and thrown in a dumpster is a little more harsh on the consequence scale.
Oh yeah, the former risk would also involve my personal actions BEYOND being intoxicated...I'd have to be anti-Semitic, driving drunk AND dumb enough to call a cop "sugar tits."
The latter involves me being....er...drunk and female in public. Do I sense a bit of a difference on the personal responsibility scale as well?
But wait! This girl wasn't JUST drunk...She was drunk and wearing a mini-skirt. She was alone while her friend went to find out why their car had been towed. She was 5'2 and 105 pounds. Soooo...since I'm female, live in a climate where being scantily clad is necessary in August unless the risk of heat stroke is less than the rape risk, am still relatively young and not morbidly obese, I can only drink safely if I'm accompanied by an armed bodyguard at all times.
Never mind that alcohol or drugs are frequently a factor in sexual assault, domestic violence on the part of the perpetrator. By this logic, would their intoxicated state make them seem more or less guilty? Never mind the fact that many attackers intentionally get impressionable young women drunk or drug them for the purpose of impairing their judgement.
Never mind that according to him clothing choice is evidently considered as important as alcohol consumption, that being slender and young late at night is an invitation (should skinny chicks have earlier curfews?), that having your car towed makes you moronic and, should your equally moronic friend leave you alone then you're also to blame for your choice in friends, that all these circumstances pretty much excuse a violent criminal for picking "that" up....and raping "that"...killing "that"...dropping "that" in a dumpster.
Hey, it's all about responsible consumption of alcohol, nothing wrong with that.
Alright, none of this is anything new. We've all heard the statistics about how many people think a woman is at least partially responsible for being raped if she is scantily clad, behaves flirtatiously or is intoxicated. A quick search will turn up numerous cases of someone ranting about drunken, idiotic women being irresponsible and "asking" to be raped and disturbing statistics about the amount of people who agree with them....Trust me, I googled for quotable articles and ended up overwhelmed with a bit of a headache from information overload.
But my nerves have been tweaked lately since I've heard too often some loud-mouth commentator or another (usually but definitely not exclusively male) ranting about women's lack of common sense in the matter of alcohol + potential for rape. It must be a theme of the year or something.
But, I have to confess something...My nerves are now un-tweaked. I give up.
After much thought though, I've decided that I agree. Drunkenness equals consent. That being the case, I'd like to make a "Modest Proposal."
Since, if I am drunk and in a public place, I am evidently consenting to (or at least deserving of) unwanted sexual contact, then I believe things should be equal so guys have an easier time letting girls know that they're looking for some booty.
Therefore, I am taking the words of anyone who has expressed this idea to heart. Anyone like Mr. O'Reilly who has expressed a viewpoint that blames a rape victim who is intoxicated thereby gives advanced consent to any sexual act performed on them in the event of drunkenness.
Since Mr. O'Reilly also finds it okay to stalk people who won't talk to him, I'm sure he wouldn't mind if I followed him around, broomstick in hand, waiting for one sip of an alcoholic beverage to touch his perdy mouth.
The same goes for any male expressing this opinion....Once "consent" is given, alcohol consumption means they're "asking for it."
If he's wearing shorts or *gasp* walks around ANYWHERE without a shirt (harlot!), then he's REALLY begging for a ride on my love broom.
If he protests, I'll just assume he likes it rough and count myself doubly blessed.
Granted, the thought of fucking Bill O'Reilly in the ass with a broomstick (or anything else for that matter) makes me a bit queasy, but I'd willingly make the sacrifice. Sometimes you just gotta take one for the team.
But, if you're unwilling to make the ultimate sacrifice, you too can still be a "Broomstick Avenger". Imagine if anyone who dared to voice these victim blaming sentiments suddenly found himself unable to go to a bar without being surrounded by several females with various phallic implements, smiling sweetly and saying they're just waiting to see if he might have a beer so they'll know if he wants to be fucked.
There's something to be said for forcing ignorant folk to walk a mile in someone else's shoes. Winning hearts and minds can wait...For now, I'll settle for fear and ass.
Quoth the Violent Femmes, "Long live the broomstick, Dahmer's dead!"
For part of this afternoon, I did some background reading on Bill O'Reilly stalking and ambushing a blogger for Thinkprogress.org who wrote about his offensive comments regarding rape and murder victim Jennifer Moore. By the way, they now have a very effective campaign going on to pressure corporate sponsors of O'Reilly's show to pull advertising.
This all started when I heard about this on Countdown...
Click to view...and was thoroughly creeped out by the tactics used to "interview" Amanda Terkel.
O'Reilly's defense for his comments? That they weren't about rape vitims in particular, but about responsible use of alchohol.
As proof he pointed out that he also referenced Mel Gibson's now infamous rant after being pulled for driving drunk.
“I think it’s safe to say that if Mel Gibson didn’t get drunk, he wouldn’t be in this terrible situation he finds himself in,” said O’Reilly in the 2006 radio segment. “And if a young woman, 18-year-old Jennifer Moore of Harrington Park, NJ, didn’t get drunk, she’d be alive today.”
Okay, I of course believe in the responsible use of alcohol...as in not driving drunk.
However, if the worst risk I face is that I might yell anti-Semitic rants and call a cop "sugar tits", I think me and the whiskey bottle will be just fine. But being raped, murdered and thrown in a dumpster is a little more harsh on the consequence scale.
Oh yeah, the former risk would also involve my personal actions BEYOND being intoxicated...I'd have to be anti-Semitic, driving drunk AND dumb enough to call a cop "sugar tits."
The latter involves me being....er...drunk and female in public. Do I sense a bit of a difference on the personal responsibility scale as well?
But wait! This girl wasn't JUST drunk...She was drunk and wearing a mini-skirt. She was alone while her friend went to find out why their car had been towed. She was 5'2 and 105 pounds. Soooo...since I'm female, live in a climate where being scantily clad is necessary in August unless the risk of heat stroke is less than the rape risk, am still relatively young and not morbidly obese, I can only drink safely if I'm accompanied by an armed bodyguard at all times.
Never mind that alcohol or drugs are frequently a factor in sexual assault, domestic violence on the part of the perpetrator. By this logic, would their intoxicated state make them seem more or less guilty? Never mind the fact that many attackers intentionally get impressionable young women drunk or drug them for the purpose of impairing their judgement.
Never mind that according to him clothing choice is evidently considered as important as alcohol consumption, that being slender and young late at night is an invitation (should skinny chicks have earlier curfews?), that having your car towed makes you moronic and, should your equally moronic friend leave you alone then you're also to blame for your choice in friends, that all these circumstances pretty much excuse a violent criminal for picking "that" up....and raping "that"...killing "that"...dropping "that" in a dumpster.
Hey, it's all about responsible consumption of alcohol, nothing wrong with that.
Alright, none of this is anything new. We've all heard the statistics about how many people think a woman is at least partially responsible for being raped if she is scantily clad, behaves flirtatiously or is intoxicated. A quick search will turn up numerous cases of someone ranting about drunken, idiotic women being irresponsible and "asking" to be raped and disturbing statistics about the amount of people who agree with them....Trust me, I googled for quotable articles and ended up overwhelmed with a bit of a headache from information overload.
But my nerves have been tweaked lately since I've heard too often some loud-mouth commentator or another (usually but definitely not exclusively male) ranting about women's lack of common sense in the matter of alcohol + potential for rape. It must be a theme of the year or something.
But, I have to confess something...My nerves are now un-tweaked. I give up.
After much thought though, I've decided that I agree. Drunkenness equals consent. That being the case, I'd like to make a "Modest Proposal."
Since, if I am drunk and in a public place, I am evidently consenting to (or at least deserving of) unwanted sexual contact, then I believe things should be equal so guys have an easier time letting girls know that they're looking for some booty.
Therefore, I am taking the words of anyone who has expressed this idea to heart. Anyone like Mr. O'Reilly who has expressed a viewpoint that blames a rape victim who is intoxicated thereby gives advanced consent to any sexual act performed on them in the event of drunkenness.
Since Mr. O'Reilly also finds it okay to stalk people who won't talk to him, I'm sure he wouldn't mind if I followed him around, broomstick in hand, waiting for one sip of an alcoholic beverage to touch his perdy mouth.
The same goes for any male expressing this opinion....Once "consent" is given, alcohol consumption means they're "asking for it."
If he's wearing shorts or *gasp* walks around ANYWHERE without a shirt (harlot!), then he's REALLY begging for a ride on my love broom.
If he protests, I'll just assume he likes it rough and count myself doubly blessed.
Granted, the thought of fucking Bill O'Reilly in the ass with a broomstick (or anything else for that matter) makes me a bit queasy, but I'd willingly make the sacrifice. Sometimes you just gotta take one for the team.
But, if you're unwilling to make the ultimate sacrifice, you too can still be a "Broomstick Avenger". Imagine if anyone who dared to voice these victim blaming sentiments suddenly found himself unable to go to a bar without being surrounded by several females with various phallic implements, smiling sweetly and saying they're just waiting to see if he might have a beer so they'll know if he wants to be fucked.
There's something to be said for forcing ignorant folk to walk a mile in someone else's shoes. Winning hearts and minds can wait...For now, I'll settle for fear and ass.
Quoth the Violent Femmes, "Long live the broomstick, Dahmer's dead!"