Posts by Kracklite
Last ←Newer Page 1 2 3 4 5 Older→ First
-
Up Front: Respectably-Dressed Sensible…, in reply to Craig Ranapia,
-
Up Front: Respectably-Dressed Sensible…, in reply to Che Tibby,
There can be a lot more to it than that, I think. The term “rape culture” is one that bears constant repetition. There is a context that makes rape more possible and which can de facto excuse it. Many of the people who have been beating the drum of “individual responsibility” have forgotten that rapists are predators who adapt to and exploit their environment.
For example, one person, say James the Randroid, would say, “The woman who walked alone in the park at night was raped because she was stupid”. A more intelligent analyst looks at the environment and asks “Why is our park safer for men than women?”. A few years ago, Wellington City Council embarked on an extensive programme of clearing fallen trees and building new paths in Central Park. Rapists who had preyed in that park would chase their victims into pathways that had been blocked by fallen trees.
In another, very divergent case, the Pro-Vice Chancellor of a certain university college where I once worked congratulated himself on savings on the operation budget that had been achieved by turning off the ‘extravagant’ external lighting in winter. Thick coats, woolly hats and scarves aren’t particularly slutty, but you can imagine where that stroke of genius could have led. Fortunately it was only an ‘almost’ and it was decided afterwards that perhaps the expense of lighting the campus at night could be borne by the university after all.
It can come down to, even if you are not a person who is ever likely to commit rape, making decisions to allocate budgets to one thing and not another according to the perception of priority. It can depend on design.
It can depend too on refusing to make excuses for people, no matter what. Over at The Standard, there was a particularly vile torrent of rape apology openly tolerated by Prentice because Julian Assange had been accused of rape, but… well… it was ambiguous… apparently they gave consent at first, so… but he’s on our side and we can’t let these accusations be allowed to undermine his worthy cause and it’s probably a CIA honey trap… and in this case it’s different. Then it got worse. Whether or not Assange is guilty or not, the defence of Assange in particular rapidly became a checklist of rape apologies in general as the participants turned to trying to define rape itself.
Weird Al Yankovich wrote a song about a national holiday called “Weasel Stomping Day”. I think it’s a good idea; one should stomp on weasels.*
Then it can come down to not trying to divert the conversation when a woman needs to talk about her experience or concerns because “now isn’t the right time and place”.
One can choose not to commit rape, but one can also work to deny rapists their physical and cultural niches or lacunae.
*I'm not so sure about the Viking helmets and spreading mayonnaise on the lawn however. -
Up Front: Respectably-Dressed Sensible…, in reply to Emma Hart,
Which might suggest that the “problematic drinking” is not women’s.
Admittedly I'm replying far too quickly to have searched for the stats myself, but the vast majority of rapes are committed by persons known to the victim and predatory rapists target women who seem vulnerable and "demure" over the sort who seem likely to fight back. This was pointed out in Danyl's blog, but completely ignored, which, I thought, was very telling (I could go back to check, but I've just had lunch and I want to keep it down).
-
Up Front: Respectably-Dressed Sensible…, in reply to Emma Hart,
One thing I’ve noticed this time is a decided sideways shift from victim-blaming on the basis of clothes to victim-blaming on the basis of having had some drinks. I dunno if you’d call that progress or not.
I’m wondering if this is a darker side of White-Knighting. Many men will regard themselves as sympathetic protectors, but protection can unconsciously imply having a stake or possession. Women who behave as “sluts” (quotes necessary?) open display independent aggressive sexuality, directly challenging that structure. Men who style themselves as White Knights would not imagine themselves to be in any way to be rapists or to support rape, but will (unconsciously or not) use the ambient threat of rape by other men as a way of controlling women near them and feel very threatened when the structure that supports their position and self-image is challenged.
That was the impression I got reading Danyl’s blog, with James the Randroid in particular going on about the reality of it being a hard, dangerous world out there and the only sensible thing to do is not stray too far from the community of decent, clear-sighted, objective people who can be relied upon to advise what’s right…
Like that:
What with the ‘you’re not doing that there feminism *properly*, ladies!’
“Rape”, by the way, is derived from a root meaning “to steal (property)”.
Legends of the sidhe, vampires, the threat of excommunication have all been used to the same end, or vice versa.
Slutwalk then has a much broader objective than opposing rape itself.
Sorry if I’ve said what’s bleeding obvious to everyone (I have, haven't I?).
-
Muse: Hooray for Wellywood (Really!), in reply to Craig Ranapia,
325m tall lattice tower in the middle of Wellington. Just for the sheer entertainment value
Bah, if we’re going to be shamelessly derivative, we need the genuine audacity and virtuosity embodied in this:
It can even include cycle tracks.
-
Muse: Hooray for Wellywood (Really!), in reply to Craig Ranapia,
-pation.
...Rupert Graves very nicely plays him as The Brig to Cumerbatch’s Third Doctor...
Kewl. Casting is surely an art in itself. I've sometimes wondered what Star Trek would have been like with Stephen Fry as Spock, The Stig as Sulu and Anthony Hopkins as Bones (or Beans as he'd be renamed...).
Definitely looking forward to the DVD set with all the extras and commentaries.
BTW, The Truman Show was filmed here. I prefer Portmeirion.
-
Muse: Hooray for Wellywood (Really!), in reply to Sacha,
So I hear. I shiver with antici-
-
Muse: Hooray for Wellywood (Really!), in reply to Sacha,
Haven't seen it - I live in a gully where I don't get reception and I'm a late adopter when it comes to new tech.
I have however heard a lot of good things about it and I'm really looking forward to catching it on DVD. Since the series is a revision, I don't need to wring my hands over whether Benedict Cumberbatch is better than Jeremy Brett :)
I have also, just recently, by DVD, discovered that Matt Smith is definitely my favourite Doctor since Tom Baker.
-
Hard News: The Political Lie, in reply to Sacha,
It will be an exemplary case of "I wish I'd said that." "You will, Oscar, you will."
-
Muse: Hooray for Wellywood (Really!), in reply to Sacha,
Proof, inverting Hannah Arendt, that banality is evil.
Since its quotarama on Hard news, here's Arthur Conan Doyle: "Mediocrity knows nothing higher than itself." Hence Steve Fitzgerald imagines that he's a creative genius and has absolutely no idea why anyone should think that he's just a dick.