Tuesday, September 25, 2007

Rape and Oppression

Rape is oppression.

Rape is, regardless of what the federal government believes, a hate crime. The vast majority of victims are female and the vast majority of the perpetrators of this crime are male. It's a fact. Yes, there are female perpetrators and Yes, there are male victims. However, it still remains a fact that those cases are far less common.

The society wide consequence of this fact is that all women must fear rape - and thus must conform to a fairly silly code of conduct in order to "protect themselves" from rapists. By silly code of conduct, I'm talking about includes, but is not limited to, how women dress, how they conduct themselves in business and socially - being friendly but never actually flirting - and keeping doors and windows locked, looking over our shoulders, and never never having the blinds or curtains open if we change our clothes. Nudity, even in private, is scandalous. Women who are known to have a drink or socialize are suspect. The real kicker is that most of these behaviors are ignored or over looked - until a woman is raped. Then, suddenly any behavior is reason she "deserved" it.

The problem with this line of thinking is that it prevents our society from addressing the phenomena of rape as it truly exists and it allows individuals to blame the wrong party for the crime.

And this is why rape is oppression. I know that people around the country are talking about the issues of oppression as the Jena 6 situation is rehashed and reexamined. Racism is oppression. And so is rape. As you talk about the Jena 6 situation, remember that oppression is one of those ills we, as a society, have been combating for generations. All oppressions. But, we must be honest with ourselves about the perpetrators of oppression - and the victims. We can't come to conclusions and remedies until we first see the issue clearly.

No comments: