HANNON writes:

Here is a rather striking example of official British cowardice in all things social. A poster campaign by police warning women that drunkenness may end in “regret” has roused the ire of feminists, who say the posters blame rape on women.

Personally I have always found this a difficult subject to engage with women. If I say, “It is only common sense that you are responsible for your actions in public– manner of dress, alcohol consumption, etc.” they will typically reply that “rape is rape” as if contributing factors do not bear any consideration. This position gives them an inviolable green light to do whatever they please, without obligation to consider the consequences of their actions. It also puts all blame on men. It is the worst of both worlds.

I thought it was interesting that the rape crisis group cited in the article made the minor concession that drinking is a “vulnerability factor” for rape. A curious choice of words. It seems to imply a degree of self-responsibility but if this is so then why such a backlash against a programme that seeks to raise awareness to abate this very factor?

Laura writes:

Instead of joining with police to warn young women that drunkenness may jeopardize their safety, feminists object to police efforts. So, in effect, they want to see women continue to endanger themselves. In what sense, do they care for their welfare?

Drunkenness does make a woman more vulnerable and creates serious problems for a woman when it comes to testifying on her own behalf. So you would think feminists would be urgently behind this effort. But they are not. They cherish every freedom for women — even the freedom to get drunk.

—– Comments —–

Kevin M. writes:

So, in a civil society, one in which personal accountability means something, if you are drunk and in charge of a motor vehicle, you are held accountable for your actions. You are non compos mentis, and in charge of a vehicle. You’re busted.

Oh, but if you’re female and drunk out of your gourd, it is the man’s fault you got [raped.]

Okay, Snowflake. I get it now. Women are never responsible for what happens to them. Men are always responsible for your 24/7/365 reality.

Women are children. Officially.

Gotcha. (sarcasm)

Laura writes:

The analogy of the drunken driver doesn’t work. In the case of unwanted sexual intercourse, there is an act of aggression.

A better analogy would be someone who leaves his doors unlocked and is burglarized. He is still a victim even if he left his doors unlocked, and the thief is still a criminal. But it is reasonable to view the burglary as something the victim could have prevented.

The more important issue is why so many British women get stone-dead drunk for fun.

Jane S. writes:

A few years ago, I read an article about the spring break tradition, and how it has evolved from a holiday at the beach to a week-long free-for-all of excessive behavior. Nowadays it’s popular for college kids to go to resorts outside of the United States that cater to the spring break crowd, where authorities are prone to look the other way.

In the article, they interviewed college women, who told how they would spend spring break engaging in extreme abuse of alcohol, drugs, and lewd behavior in public. It was horrifying to read.

What struck me was that none of the women described it as fun. They weren’t like, “Get over it, I’m having fun.” Instead, they kept saying, over and over, that they had to do these things to prove they could take it. For them, it was a mandatory test of bravery and toughness.

To hear them talk, you would never guess that there was a time when people went on spring break to enjoy themselves. They made it sound exactly like some kind of barbaric endurance ritual.

Mary writes:

This is such a sad and delicate issue that it’s hard to speak candidly without seeming heartless. It is startling that a campaign to address this issue by helping young women use their heads when consuming alchohol could be offensive to anyone. What would have to happen, and what has happened, first is for women be raised without the understanding that they have something worth protecting; on the contrary teach them that they have something worth protecting only from any and all restriction. Ideology has blinded young women to the most basic common sense in dealing with the opposite sex.

There is another component here which has been in play for some time. I was given a pamphlet back in the 80’s which stated in no uncertain terms that all rape was an act not of sexuality but of violence against women – hence the view that dress, levels of inebriation, etc. won’t affect the outcome, and the emboldenment of women to risky behaviors due to a total lack of understanding of human sexuality. It makes perfect sense that this line of thinking was followed quickly by a sort of date rape crisis on college campuses in the 90’s.

I think a lot of the backlash comes from a heartfelt desire to comfort the victim, to tell her what happened is not her fault. And it isn’t, really. If a young woman has been raised with the above thinking by the adults in authority over her she truly doesn’t understand why what happened to her happened; she just knows she feels terrible and certainly didn’t set out to feel that way. The real injustice is that the waters have been so muddied, for girls and boys, and from a young age.

Perhaps the only solution here is for these young people to attend classes in the basics: Drunkenness 101, in which we teach them that drunkenness lowers inhibitions in both women and men; that both drunk women and drunk men will always say and do things they wouldn’t in a sober state; that drunkenness destroys good communication; that in sexual encounters both women and men will likely therefore be misunderstood by their partner or might also misunderstand their partner; and that the sad and grave outcome could easily be that one feels one has been raped against one’s will by a partner of equal inebriation; or that one might be accused of rape by a partner of equal inebriation. Parents need to convince both daughters and sons of the dangers of drinking to excess, once considered unseemly but now for many young people a weekly pursuit.

Please follow and like us: