June 15, 2005

The "Blame Women First" (well, third) Crowd

Amandat links to something truly disgusting:

Want to talk accountability? I blame: 1) The parents for not equipping their daughter for the real world and failing to realize that she was ill-equipped for the temptations of Aruba. 2) Her 'friends'. A good friend wouldn't have let her get in a situation like she did. I've saved some drunk buddies from making bad decisions, and I'm sure they've helped me avoid trouble as well. 3) Herself. When all of the failsafes out there, parents, friends, society, fail you there's still the most important one left: yourself. She didn't get kidnapped... she went off with them willingly.

She responds quite inappropriately with

I see shit like this and I want to beat someone with a shoe. We love to talk about what women can do to stop rape, let's talk about men.

Why do I consider this inappropriate? Because the guy who wrote this needs to be beaten with a 2x4, preferably one on fire with a couple or three big nails stuck through it.

I almost suggested a good friend drag him into the back of a van and violently rape him before leaving him for dead on the side of a highway at the age of fourteen. Almost suggested this because that's essentially what happened to a good friend of mine, who as a result was unable to kiss a boy for about two years and, five years later, was essentially non-functional for about 48 hours.
Or almost suggested he be violently raped by his boyfriend after trying to stop an ordinary makeout session, because "a good girlfriend doesn't say no", becomes pregnant, disowned by his family, and forced to drop out of high school to support himself and the child. Didn't suggest this because no-one deserves to be put through that, not even rapists themselves or their misogynist enablers. They just deserve violent, disfiguring beatings so everyone knows that they doesn't deserve the label of 'man'.

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