A Loser's Thoughts on Life

Victim Blaming

YAY THANK YOU GUYS SO MUCH FOR 6K READS I LOVE U ALL

Now into this serious rant that does not fit the mood of this celebration at all.

I find it so sad to see that we live in a world where the most helpless and needy people are the ones who get the most backlash. That our world thinks it's okay to take someone who was abandoned, abused, hurt, mistreated, etc. and say that it was their 'own fault' or they were 'asking for it'.

Why would someone ever ask to be hurt? Why do we say that people need to act/dress/speak in a certain way to avoid getting hurt? Why is it that in this free country we are facing more and more rules, both written and unwritten?

I should be able to walk the streets of downtown Toronto in a dress without being afraid of being raped, kidnapped, or worse. I should be able to wear whatever I want without being called names. I should be able to do whatever I want and not face judgement.

I should be, but I can't.

And the worst part of all this is that girls get told all the time 'if you don't want guys looking at your butt, then don't wear leggings' and 'if you don't want to get raped, don't go out at night and get drunk', whatever whatever etcetera etcetera.

But that's not right! It's awful. People fought wars so that we could have our freedom. And it is never right to blame the victim in the situation. Sure, maybe getting drunk at that party wasn't such a great idea, and maybe that dress showed a little more skin than was called for, but that never makes it okay to violate someone. Nothing does! Nothing anyone could ever do or say would make it right for them to be mistreated.

But instead of teaching boys/girls how not to rape each other, we're too busy telling them how to act/dress/speak in a certain way to 'protect' themselves. Which is stupid. If we're telling people they can't wear what they want to because they might get themselves into trouble, and then when/if they do get into trouble we blame them for dressing in a certain way, there is seriously something wrong with our world.

Does it ever cross people's minds that maybe the non-victim was the one who caused the problem? That maybe they were the ones who were a little too drunk, the ones who made a mistake, or maybe they are just downright evil people. Maybe we should start putting a little more blame on the people who initiated the situation, instead of people who were just victims.

Now obviously every case is different, and I'm not trying to generalize everybody into victims and non-victims, but I just find that lately way too many people are facing judgement when really what they need is love and support after suffering through a difficult time.

Sorry that today's rant was so serious, I just had to get that off my chest.

xoxo Emmalynn