The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #127384   Message #2847820
Posted By: Ruth Archer
23-Feb-10 - 01:08 PM
Thread Name: BS: 'Some rape victims should take blame'- ??
Subject: RE: BS: 'Some rape victims should take blame'- ??
I think the discomfort comes from somewhat dubious language like "prick tease" and "your bitch and my unfortunate".

The basic problem is that there is this polarised characterisation of either the sexless innocent or the nasty, calculating, man-eating jezebel. It is as much a caricature as the notion of the slavering, voracious male who, once he's got a stiffy, MUST have his lust satisfied. Neither, I think, bears much relation to real life in 99% of cases. And both undermine the cause of ANY rape victim. Why? Because the "she led me on" excuse is used so frequently. When it is given this kind of credence - labelling "certain" women as bitches and cock-teases whose behaviour, somehow, mitigates the culpability of a rapist, it becomes one of the reasons many women will never report what has happened to them.