RAPE CULTURE: “SHE ASKED FOR IT?”

Dear rapist!

“Who do you think you are, running around leaving scars, Collecting your jar of hearts AND TEARING LIVES APART . You are gonna catch a cold, From the ice inside your soul… ”

Christina Perri.

RAPE, the most intimate of crimes!

Unfortunately, we live in an environment in which rape is prevalent, where this act is normalized and excused. We live in a society that teaches kids “don’t get raped” instead of “don’t rape.” We have justified the act of rape and we blame the victims with disgraceful statements like “SHE/HE ASKED FOR IT!! ” This statement is ridiculous and it’s messed up in all the levels!

I was once told that I couldn’t wear an outfit because it was “too provocative” and that “I would be asking for rape” With ideas like this being spoken/thought, I think it’s time to have……. THE TALK. This huge “clothes cause rape” elephant has been in the living room of society for far too long; and I know it’s an extremely uncomfortable subject, but we need to discuss it. Our society has a tendency to blame the victim because she dressed a certain way. We live in a “she is asking for it” culture. It’s very wicked, wrong, evil, misguided, pickle minded, messed up(name them) to pin rape on the victim, no matter what she wore. Dressing in a sexy or a short dress is NOT consent!

I mean, it’s troubling enough that such a small proportion of reported rapes make it to court, worse still, that so few victims come forward in the first place, and nooow, we just have to make it worse by blaming the victims instead of the perpetrators… WOOW!

Let’s take this for instance, If 6 men had beaten up an 11 year old girl, the only question anyone would be asking is how quickly can we lock the Shimo la tewa prison door and throw away the keys into the Indian Ocean… BUT IF the 6 men were to rape the 11 year old, then apparently, we have to ask several questions like: “was she asking for it? ” “Was she acting in a provocative manner? ” Really????? Newsflash: she’s a child and as such cannot ask for “IT” EVER!!

It’s sad that stealing money/chicken is considered a more serious crime than stealing a child’s innocence? And you know, it’s just more that, because if you steal a girls innocence, you’ve stolen her future and killed who she would have been one day…

In a slam poem, performed by Anna Binkovitz, she calls out the rape culture and the tendency to blame rape victims. She says,,

“STOP ASKING PEOPLE’S CLOTHING TO HAVE SEX WITH YOU, AND START ASKING THE PEOPLE. “

We as a society can make a change, we could be more sympathetic, more caring. Rape is not a joke, it’s worse than death because the victims have to deal with the pain and humiliation for as long as they are alive. We could help them out, we could try to understand, try not to blame them because its not their fault. Hold a sister’s hand today, console her and trust me, you never know the scars a single tender touch can heal. Touch a life today!

Random thoughts.. ❤