Dave_LF wrote:
<snip> (I think!) all Al really wanted to talk about was: did the punishment this guy received for his remarks suit the crime?
I agree, that is the question Al asked in his first post.
And what was the man’s crime? In my view, his crime was a badly worded query as to why women insist on engaging in behavior that puts them at risk for being sexually assaulted. I also wouldn’t mind an answer to that question. But as the incident demonstrated, that is not a question one is allowed to ask in a public forum.
River wrote:
Well, the thing about the "Women who don't take certain precautions are foolish" statement is it comes with a hefty side helping of "She deserved it because she didn't take certain precautions" and all fine variations thereof.
That isn’t true. It is foolish, imo, to jump into waters you know are shark infested. However, jumping into waters you know are shark infested doesn’t mean you deserve to lose a leg. It does mean that it is less likely you would have lost a leg at that point in your life, had you not knowingly jumped into shark infested waters. And there is absolutely nothing wrong with a person acknowledging that to themselves or to others. Understanding and acknowledging that fact might just preserve their other leg at some future time.
Quote:
<snip>I would totally deserve whatever might happen if someone were lurking in my car because I don't check before I get in<snip>
No. You do not deserve to be attacked because you didn’t check your car. But you would have had a better chance of escaping the attack had you checked your car. To understand and acknowledge that might spare you an attack in the future. Has thinking really become so crude that people cannot distinguish between these two ideas?
No one in this thread has suggested that anyone deserves to be assaulted. Continuing to state otherwise is just flat out dishonest (or indicates an inability to comprehend plain English).
Voronwë the Faithful wrote:
No, my stance is that deliberately focusing on criticizing women for not taking precautions that no man would ever have to worry about rather than focusing on the actual bad conduct, <snip> has the effect of justifying and/or normalizing sexual assault and/or harassment.
And being disallowed from talking about women taking precautions will almost certainly result in more women being sexually assaulted and having their lives ruined. I know which effect I am more immediately concerned about.