Not normalizing sexual assault

[osewalrus]

In this piece, the author makes an important point. 

"In my life, I’ve had experiences of all kinds. Unfortunately, I have been assaulted. I have also not been assaulted. The difference was never what I was wearing, how much I flirted, or how much I was drinking. The only difference was whether or not the men felt it was okay or not to assault."

Mind you, that relatively simple statement needs a fair amount of unpacking. It is further complicated by the fact that even if we agree that 90% of men are not rapists, are actually not interested in assaulting a potential partner, and will desist as soon as they get any verbal or non-verbal indication of uncomfortableness. That still leaves an awful lot of predators. 

Comments

[marahmarie]

What the author fails to mention is how women defend such men, too. And you can't even have this conversation without including them in it, because what they say also matters. Just as much. There are many examples of this, of women dragging other women down to protect and glorify and honor and further the careers/reputations/family lives of men. I don't know where they think it gets them because for every assault that goes unaddressed there's another attacker free to victimize anyone, including their female defenders, again.

[vettecat]

Good article, thank you for sharing.