In January a Toronto police officer was talking to a bunch of college students on safety. He said something to the effect of: "I’ve been told I shouldn’t say this, but, to avoid being raped or victimized, one of the safety tips was for women not to dress like sluts." A series of protests known as SlutWalks, sparked by the officer's flippant comments is taking root all over the world. It has been noted that o rganizers use the world slut because that was the officer's choice of words....to protest what a woman wears in no means offers an invitation.... Some women and men protest dress in jeans and T-shirts, while others wear provocative or revealing outfits to bring attention to "slut-shaming," or shaming women for being sexual, and the treatment of sexual assault victims....but this goes much, much deeper.
What scares and saddens me is that this cop has no clue what rape or sexual harassment is about. It is not about the lack of self control that people with penises seem to have (from his statement and historically). Truthfully over the centuries much has been done to restrict men's "views" of women to protect THEM from the inability of men to HELP THEMSELVES. Apparently men are weak creatures indeed. "Oh no! I have seen her ankles! Now I must take her. I cannot control this!" Really, lets give the male gender some credit here. First, most rapes occur irregardless of what the victim is wearing. Often she knows her attacker...and 99% of the time rape is about power and control....not about sex. A Federal Commission on Crima dn Violence Study found that only 4.4% (that is right folks, less than 5%) of ALL reported rapes involved provocative behavior ( as simple as a glance) on the part of the victim....INCLUDING her clothing! AND most convicted rapists do not remember what their victims were wearing! So Mr. Toronto Police Officer....thank you for furthering a silly gender stereotype...it drew attention to the fact that we have a long long way to go!
and really I could not resist this last picture....for solidarity....maybe I should show of the "girls" more often... LOL
What scares and saddens me is that this cop has no clue what rape or sexual harassment is about. It is not about the lack of self control that people with penises seem to have (from his statement and historically). Truthfully over the centuries much has been done to restrict men's "views" of women to protect THEM from the inability of men to HELP THEMSELVES. Apparently men are weak creatures indeed. "Oh no! I have seen her ankles! Now I must take her. I cannot control this!" Really, lets give the male gender some credit here. First, most rapes occur irregardless of what the victim is wearing. Often she knows her attacker...and 99% of the time rape is about power and control....not about sex. A Federal Commission on Crima dn Violence Study found that only 4.4% (that is right folks, less than 5%) of ALL reported rapes involved provocative behavior ( as simple as a glance) on the part of the victim....INCLUDING her clothing! AND most convicted rapists do not remember what their victims were wearing! So Mr. Toronto Police Officer....thank you for furthering a silly gender stereotype...it drew attention to the fact that we have a long long way to go!
and really I could not resist this last picture....for solidarity....maybe I should show of the "girls" more often... LOL
No comments:
Post a Comment