i would've posted this on metafilter but they charge you $5 to sign up.
shit like this makes me so upset and sad.
my favourite comment:
I think we as a society need to reconcile the idea of "blaming the victim" and contributory negligence. Even consent can be a red herring. If I go outside and ride my bike without a helmet, I am not in any way consenting to be hit by a car. Yet if it happens and I'm injured, I won't get full medical coverage, and this is perfectly legal and accepted. Did I "deserve" to be hit? No. Did I ask to be hit? No. Did I consent to be hit? Is my inability to get full coverage "blaming the victim"? Not really. There is seldom only one cause to any event. Your ability to foresee a danger is at the heart of this. Sometimes things happen near-randomly. Often they don't. Just because something "can" hapen to you with every precaution doesn't mean that precautions don't make a difference. Otherwise why ever wash your hands? You can still get sick with every precaution taken. Let's try not to confuse the unknown with randomness.
i love how all the people on that thread think that women aren't being careful, like telling us to use common sense and be more careful is this revolutionary thing we've never heard of before. do men not get that as a woman, we've been told every single fucking day of our lives to be careful? do they not get that we're almost always on edge, always worried that something might happen just because we have a vagina? to tell women to be careful is patronizing. like, "oh, is that all i have to do? i never thought of that before."
dude. we're wearing our bicycle helmets. we're wearing all the fucking preventative covering you can imagine-- helmets, elbow pads, knee pads, shin guards, and whatever the fuck else. our society's mentality towards rape victims is like not offering insurance even though you were wearing the preventative covering. it's like not being covered by the insurance just because you're on the fucking bike to begin with.
my sister carries mace in her purse at all times. when she walks in the city at night, she carries it in her hand, ready to spray any attackers. i wonder if she got raped, would people tell her to be more careful and blame her because she didn't spray the mace quickly enough.
+most rape is ACQUAINTANCE rape. how do people still not comprehend this?
my favourite comment:
I think we as a society need to reconcile the idea of "blaming the victim" and contributory negligence. Even consent can be a red herring. If I go outside and ride my bike without a helmet, I am not in any way consenting to be hit by a car. Yet if it happens and I'm injured, I won't get full medical coverage, and this is perfectly legal and accepted. Did I "deserve" to be hit? No. Did I ask to be hit? No. Did I consent to be hit? Is my inability to get full coverage "blaming the victim"? Not really. There is seldom only one cause to any event. Your ability to foresee a danger is at the heart of this. Sometimes things happen near-randomly. Often they don't. Just because something "can" hapen to you with every precaution doesn't mean that precautions don't make a difference. Otherwise why ever wash your hands? You can still get sick with every precaution taken. Let's try not to confuse the unknown with randomness.
i love how all the people on that thread think that women aren't being careful, like telling us to use common sense and be more careful is this revolutionary thing we've never heard of before. do men not get that as a woman, we've been told every single fucking day of our lives to be careful? do they not get that we're almost always on edge, always worried that something might happen just because we have a vagina? to tell women to be careful is patronizing. like, "oh, is that all i have to do? i never thought of that before."
dude. we're wearing our bicycle helmets. we're wearing all the fucking preventative covering you can imagine-- helmets, elbow pads, knee pads, shin guards, and whatever the fuck else. our society's mentality towards rape victims is like not offering insurance even though you were wearing the preventative covering. it's like not being covered by the insurance just because you're on the fucking bike to begin with.
my sister carries mace in her purse at all times. when she walks in the city at night, she carries it in her hand, ready to spray any attackers. i wonder if she got raped, would people tell her to be more careful and blame her because she didn't spray the mace quickly enough.
+most rape is ACQUAINTANCE rape. how do people still not comprehend this?