Well well well, it appears that a University of Arizona student is big on picket signs and not so big on our fairer sex! The self proclaimed Brother Dean says that his fellow students (or any woman at all I imagine) who are of the female persuasion, that might happen to wear shorts, short skirts or any other clothing which he might consider to be too revealing…well those gals deserve to be raped.
Now, honestly, he’s not the first person to think this, nor is he the first person to say this…or something like it…and I doubt that he will be the last.
Survivors of rape have, throughout history, had to defend themselves against society as well as their assailants. It is something that most survivors of rape just know is going to come…someone…even if it is one person, is going to say that the victim was somehow asking for it.
So this story, well it’s just not as surprising as it should be. With the two rape cases currently in the media, an ignorant college student really isn’t just that hot of a topic for my little brain to mull over that much.
However, it did get me to thinking…although I am not suggesting this at all, in fact as spiritual leader of the world, I do decree rape as inexcusable and unforgivable sin, a free ticket to some new horrific realm of hell that I will think of at a later date, but what if men were the more frequent rape victims? I know, there are already male victims and my prayers go out for them as often as for the female ones, but what if that was the most common victim? Some man, who through no fault of his own, fell victim to a crime which is known to be driven by violence rather than lust, and he was then told that had he not been so good looking, had he not been walking alone that day, had he not been drinking that night, had he not been wearing his snazzy nicely tailored suit at that specific moment, perhaps he may not have been violated.
What if that was the case? What if men, in all of their glory, were to be told that they must start looking as if they are slouches, as if they had nothing beautiful about them, that they needed to stop taking care of themselves, stop dressing so nicely, stop wearing shorts that showed off their legs or shirts that fit snug? What if they were told that it is their fault that this was occurring in society, that if they would just stop exhibiting themselves in such a way as to incite lustful thoughts in women, then rape would just go away?
Pfoooooof….
Just like that, in a blink of an eye, hide all of your men away…and then with no victims, there can be no perpetrator. Right?
So of course, I think, that there would be stricter laws regarding sexual assault. I think…and remember, I totally failed my political science class, that if men were the primary victim of sexual assault, our patriarchal world would have a fit. I think that we, as a world, as a society, we would make it more of a big bad, to commit the big bad. We would set up stronger preventative measures, such as self-defense in grade school, accessible counseling and in depth education at each grade level, to educate and counsel children in social behavior, to recognize potential threats, behavioral issues, and so forth. I think that we would make the justice fit the crime, it takes, in some cases, entire lifetimes to recover from the violation and victimization, why should the perpetrator be out in time for the two year anniversary of the assault?
This is of course, my imagination going wild….zip…see, there it goes….right out the window.
My preference, of course…would be that parents would teach their children about healthy social interactions and healthy interpersonal relationships…from birth. My preference is that anger management counseling would begin as soon as folks recognize that their little ones have a bit of a temper. My less than humble preference would be that society would be sensible and reasonable, and realize that a survivor of rape, is never, never, never, asking for it, deserving of it and should never be blamed for it.
No matter what Brother Dean might say.
Hellish Behavior 