Momma Gets Mad, Take 2

Every once in a while I feel compelled to write about something that has nothing to do with parenting, homeschooling, or any of my usual blog topics. Today is one of those days.

Have you seen the latest piece of misogynist crap to come through the Facebook grapevine? 

It's called Through a Rapist's Eyes and it provides (in theory) a list of "tips" for how to protect oneself from violent attacks (specifically, rape).

You can Google it if you really want to read all the enlightening advice it provides. In the meantime, allow me to summarize just a few of the pearls of wisdom the geniuses behind this writing offer.

My chance of being sexually assaulted (or not) depends on my hairstyle, my clothes, my cell phone use, where I park, how I park, how I get in the car, whether I take the stairs or the elevator, if I need to get something out of my bag while walking, if I go to the grocery store, if I park in the parking garage, if I use a public restroom, if I get in the car and check my messages before driving away, if I carry an umbrella, and whether or not I fight back.

I could go on, but rest assured, the majority of the post is equally ass-backward in its reasoning. Just another tired game of let's blame the victim. 

This is not to say that women and men shouldn't remain aware of their environment at all times. The problem is when you go beyond basic guidelines of safety and common sense and imply that women who are sexually assaulted are responsible and/or could have prevented it if only they had [fill in the blank with any one of the ridiculous reasons provided in the original article].

However good-intentioned this post might have been (and I kinda want to vomit a little writing that), it misses a very crucial truth.

Rape is always, always, always the fault of the perpetrator. 100% of the time. No exceptions.

Anything that claims otherwise is, quite frankly, bull@#$%.

I encourage you to read this piece from Snopes . . . it details how not only is much of what was presented misinformation, it can actually be downright dangerous to follow some of the advice. And you definitely do not want to miss this post on modesty and male privilege.

As usual, thank you for reading and have a blessed day.