Posts Written by Laura
By Laura • 11 years ago

Outdated victim blaming – will the police ever learn?

Worcester police force last month distributed hundreds of these posters around towns in the West Midlands. The posters tell women they can prevent rape or “regretful sex” by not drinking or wearing a dress. The woman in the photo seems to be both drunk and wearing a dress, so she was really asking for it.

Thankfully, due to anti-rape campaigners, the police have issued an ‘apology’ but why did the police force, in 2012, approve this campaign in the first place. Our attitudes are still not close to blaming who should be blamed.

Another thing that pisses me off about this poster is that the phrase rape and “regretful sex” are used together – which is a really dangerous thing to do. Are they suggesting that when women say they are raped that it’s could just be “regret” (They lied because they changed their mind when they woke up and are lying bitches and whores.) Or – are they saying that regretting consensual sex is rape? This message is wholly confusing. These two terms should not be used together; people already accuse victims of lying or exaggeration enough.

By Laura • 12 years ago

The fight against spousal rape

Four years ago, Crystal Pretzer Harris was repeatedly assaulted and raped at home by her own husband while her two young children were in the house. Although her husband has now been convicted and is serving jail time for his horrendous crimes, Crystal illustrates that it is extremely difficult for victims of rape to receive the justice they deserve. She is currently continuing to fight against the law and court system which has ordered her to pay the legal fees and spousal support to the man who abused and raped her.

While she was trapped in the abusive relationship, Crystal was afraid of what her husband would do if she tried to leave him. She realised that a restraining order ...

Four years ago, Crystal Pretzer Harris was repeatedly assaulted and raped at home by her own husband while her two young children were in the house. Although her husband has now been convicted and is serving jail ...
By Laura • 12 years ago

Telling women to smile is sexist

I’m not a happy smiley-smiley person, I’m just not. You’re more likely to find me deep in thought and frowning because that seems to be the natural way my face decides to rest. So maybe I’ve been affected by this much more than other women but quite often I’ll just be walking along, or standing along – in a public place and a complete stranger will whiz past and instruct me to “give us a smile” or simply “smile!” This happens only when I’m alone, the stranger is always male and he usually finishes off his demand with a “love”. The most annoying part is that there’s never enough time to roll out a satisfying comeback.

The obvious problem is that ...

I’m not a happy smiley-smiley person, I’m just not. You’re more likely to find me deep in thought and frowning because that seems to be the natural way my face decides to rest. So maybe I’ve been ...
By Laura • 12 years ago

Rape myths exposed in ‘Trishna’

Note: Major ‘spoiler’ warning.

The most common perpetrators of rape in the UK are partners, so it’s about bloody time British film started showing the realities of rape rather than the stranger-in-dark-alley-with-knife stereotype. Indeed it was the reinforcement of this stereotype for me which led me to believe that it was simply impossible for anyone other than a stranger to rape me. So when it happened, I wasn’t sure what it even was, never mind how to react. That’s why it’s really important for acquaintance rapes, which make up 92% of all rapes, to be depicted in the media so both survivors and members of the ever judgmental public can understand that this is real, it’s just as serious as stranger-in-the-alley-way ...

Note: Major ‘spoiler’ warning.

The most common perpetrators of rape in the UK are partners, so it’s about bloody time British film started showing the realities of rape rather than the stranger-in-dark-alley-with-knife stereotype. Indeed it was the reinforcement ...
By Laura • 12 years ago

Jealous Women

Jealousy is a trait which is much more widely accepted as a ‘natural’ female trait rather than male. Although the false report rate for rape is no higher than for any other crime, the finger of jealousy is often automatically pointed at rape victims. We, along with some members of the police force, are still using a phrase derived from a fictional play written in the 1600s as an explanation of women’s ‘natural’ disposition to be vengeful. “Heaven has no rage like love to hatred turned, Nor hell a fury like a woman scorned” is now fact. Law. Science. We can’t really have been raped, we can’t really dislike celebrity culture or pornography. Women can’t really be ...

Jealousy is a trait which is much more widely accepted as a ‘natural’ female trait rather than male. Although the false report rate for rape is no higher than for any other crime, the ...
By Laura • 12 years ago

The femme fetale in modern film: An illusion of empowerment?

The femme fetale archetype featured prominently in the 40’s and 50’s classical genre of film noir. The fatal woman was the ‘love interest’ of the protagonist whose beauty and sexuality bestowed power over the male characters, often to a dangerous end. In Gilda (1946) the eponymous heroine (Rita Hayworth) uses her glamorous looks and sexuality for revenge; she publicly dances and flirts with other men to make Johnny (Glenn Ford) jealous. On the surface, Gilda’s sexuality bestows her with immense power which is able to affect the actions of the male characters. However, Gilda demonstrates that she can only use her appearance rather than intellect or physical power; she is dominated by male characters who physically punish her. The ...

The femme fetale archetype featured prominently in the 40’s and 50’s classical genre of film noir. The fatal woman was the ‘love interest’ of the protagonist whose beauty and sexuality bestowed power over the male characters, ...
By Laura • 12 years ago

Uni Lad misogyny is “just banter”.

So I just heard about Uni Mag which is a misogynistic magazine and website for university “lads” teaching them to treat women (who they call “sluts”) as sex objects. Usual articles for them consist of advice on how to hunt “vulnerable” students down for sex. They have just shut down their website due to complaints about a severely pro-rape article.

In the ‘cleverly’ titled article ‘Sexual Mathematics’ we are told that 75% of women are sluts, implying that women are automatically going to sleep with you. However if you’re unlucky enough to meet one of those rare non-sluts the Uni Lad’s are told to “think about this mathematical statistic: 85% of rape cases go unreported…That seems fairly good odds”. They add ...

So I just heard about Uni Mag which is a misogynistic magazine and website for university “lads” teaching them to treat women (who they call “sluts”) as sex objects. Usual articles for them consist of advice on ...

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