Serious | Victim Blaming, what's up with that?

Google Images: Blaming a rape victim is a fallacy. 

In the true spirit of things, I'll like to get started by discussing a topic very close to my heart...

Blaming the victim of a serious crime-such as rape, physical assault or burglary-may seem incredibly problematic to a lot of us. But today many people still think that the victim of a crime is partially or sometimes even entirely to blame for the transgression perpetrated against them.

But why does this victim blaming happen?

Why do so many of us say things like "she was asking for it" or "it's his fault really?"

Though the scope of victim blaming is sadly vast and has varying applications, I'll be focusing on the social phenomenon of slut shaming, specifically towards women. In today's world, it is often suggested by socialists that we as a society commonly view sexuality and sex in general as taboo. Some would even go so far as to say that it was a highly stigmatized, yet exotic subject to talk about. 

So with that covered...

Historically women have been expected to adhere to traditional gender normative behaviors. In the past, women were depicted culturally as platonic, virginal, loyal, "pure" beings that did all the domestic work, got married, popped out children and lived as house+husband-orientated a life as possible. That meant absolutely no casual sex for the ladies. Standing in a room alone within the company of a man was considered scandalous, let alone having a one night stand with him! So girls were condemned to the domestic sphere.

Over time, these entrenched and reinforced stereotypes about the "ideal woman" pigeon-holed the female population into an expected role. If a lady deviated from this restrictive category, they were almost always regarded as disgraceful and were condemned, both privately and publicly.

So how does this relate to slut-shaming today? Well, as you can imagine, Victorian ideas about appropriate female behavior didn't exactly disappear overnight. Stereotypes stick around, do not easily get washed away and they affect us all.

The idea is that by engaging is certain behaviors traditionally considered "unfeminine", women "ask" for bad things to happen to them. Societal offenses commonly attributed to women include (but are not limited to);

1.) drinking alcohol until drunk
2.) walking around at night
3.) wearing "sexy" clothes
4.) taking nude photos for a partner or purely for sexual kicks and getting said pictures shared without consent (because god forbid women actually enjoy sex, right?)
5.) hugging, talking to and playfully flirting with male friends and acquaintances.

But when one takes a look at this scandalous list, it becomes very apparent that these supposed offenses are actually just rights and freedoms that every person is entitled to. And I am proposing we include women in the people category. 

Just imagine telling a man that the tailored suit he wore to work that day provoked the brutal robbery against him? 
Or that his cargo shorts encouraged his coworkers to sexual assault him? Or his tank top? Sound's ridiculous right?

And yet if a women is shamed for her completely human choices, then that's somehow justifiable?

No. For all the people who believe that a woman could have avoided rape or slut-shaming by following some magical rule list thing, then I can only stress that there is only one, sure, absolute way that a girl can avoid horrible things such as rape or slut-shaming. And that is if the person who is thinking about committing the transgression chooses not to.