It would probably be better for me if I just didn't read any more of the commentary surrouing the Steubenville fiasco and "rape culture." I would be better, but I need to. I need to know. I need to be pissed off. I don't know why more people aren't, and why they're just letting it slide. I'm livid. I'm shaking. I see red.
Take Zerlina Maxwell. Herself a rape survivor, Maxwell appeared on a segment on Fox News with Sean Hannity regarding guns and a woman's right to carry in order to protect herself from rape and attack.
**Before I go any further, I want to state that I am not using this post as a platform to argue for or against the 2nd Amendment. While I do have my own views and opinions on this particular topic, as far as the issue of rape is concerned, I'm going to remain completely ambivalent. I will simply state that the 2nd Amendment will not solve the rape crisis, however, not now, not ever.**
During this segment, Maxwell made the horrifying declaration that to prevent rape we need to teach men not to rape and that guns aren't the answer. Ok. I get it. Women should be allowed to protect themselves. I also feel that both sides of this argument were very limited and some of it taken out of context.
And while Maxwell is incredibly naive to state that we should just "teach men not to rape," in a more detailed sense, she has a perfect point. By claiming that having the option to carry a gun would prevent a woman from being raped, society, media, lawmakers, and politicians are still placing the responsibility for preventing the rape on the victim or potential victim. For the record, I shouldn't walk out of my home in the morning and say, Oh goodness, I might get raped today. I can't forget my gun/knife/club/etc. "She didn't carry a gun," or "She didn't have a knife on her," so clearly it's her fault that she couldn't protect herself and got herself raped. Again. That charming little phrase: SHE ASKED FOR IT. Yes, she must have invited the rape. Her hemline was just a little too high and her neckline a little too low, so SHE INVITED IT. She had one too many cocktails, so SHE WANTED IT. Please see previous post for my rant on this. I'm not going to repeat myself. At least not today.
Article containing transcript from Fox
Article containing transcript from Fox
The aftermath of the segment has completely blown my mind. Maybe her point of simply "teaching rapists not to rape" is far too naive and far too simplified, but Zerlina Maxwell has received death threats, rape threats, and racist threats via all sorts of social media since the airing.
I'm sorry but let's take this one for a second. Is it now only white women who get raped? That's just stupid and completely ignorant. This also implies that only minorities rape. My rapist was a white guy and someone that I knew and trusted. But that's a completely different topic for another day.
And clearly carrying a gun is the answer to rape. Let's say you're like me, 5'2" and relatively small. While I'm pretty strong for my size, I'm never going to be able to take down a 6' male. No matter how strong or quick or agile I am, I'm small and he will always be faster, bigger, and stronger than me. Now, let's just say that I'm carrying a gun and I'm attacked in the street. What if that attacker, we'll still have him be a 6' tall male, has gun training? Regardless of whether I'm trained or not, he's still larger and overtaking me wouldn't be out of the question. But I digress.
Then there's this lovely little doozie. She doesn't have common sense because she's arguing that guns are not the answer to the rape issue? Really? Yes, raping her again is going to solve the rape issue. I smacked myself in the forhead when I read this one. Literally. If I could smack the author of the original tweet, trust me. I'd be doing it. Guns and other weapons won't solve the rape issue and neither will further attacks of violence.
I hate to drag race into it too because that's also a whole different topic that would need more than a sentence or paragraph to cover, but is everyone freaking out because a black woman made the comments? I mean, not only a woman, but a BLACK woman. The world is going to end because she stated her opinion and it might possibly have some merit to it. *sigh*
At this point, I'm beyond annoyed. I'm pissed, I'm aggravated, and I'm not going to shut up. Not only is society trying to blame rape victims for their attack, but we're also trying to silence them. Silence is the problem!!! Silence is why most rapists go free. However, with more and more people speaking out against this "rape culture," we're scaring them. We're scaring society into admitting there might just be a problem. We're scaring media and lawmakers and politicians because we're not going away. And the louder we yell the more we're terrifying those who think they can get away with raping someone else.
Just try to shut us up now. Yeah, I dare you. Go ahead and try.
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