Wall Street Journal Writer Just Crowned Himself King Of Rape Culture
Conservative columnist James Taranto has a long history of misogyny, victim blaming and a general ire towards women. He’s basically the poster boy for Men’s Rights Advocates everywhere. So why should we even bat an eye at his latest column that claims drunk victims of sexual assault are just as guilty as their perpetrators? Because his vehicle isn’t some small angst-ridden MRA site – it’s the Wall Street Journal. With such a vast audience, he’s not just a hateful moron – he’s a danger to women everywhere.
His newest assault on women is called, Drunkenness and Double Standards: A balanced look at college sex offenses. It outlines the ever-popular argument among predators everywhere – that women who are drunk deserve what they get. He seems to forget that being intoxicated is not a crime. That this man even has a job is rape culture epitomized.
If two drunk drivers are in a collision, one doesn’t determine fault on the basis of demographic details such as each driver’s sex. But when two drunken college students “collide,” the male one is almost always presumed to be at fault. His diminished capacity owing to alcohol is not a mitigating factor, but her diminished capacity is an aggravating factor for him.
When two drunken students “collide?” Is that what we’re calling rape now? Taranto truly cannot understand why women aren’t held accountable for being drunk enough to rape. This attitude that women themselves can avoid rape if they act differently, dress differently, or never consume alcohol is fundamentally damaging. This is why reporting in rape cases is so low. A whopping 60% of rapes go unreported, and of the ones that are reported only 8% will be prosecuted and only 3% will ever spend a day in prison – and it’s because of commentaries like this one. Rape culture is rampant because avenues like the Wall Street Journal still give this line of reasoning their stamp of approval.
This is the definition of rape culture according to Wikipedia. I know, I know Wikipedia isn’t exactly the Encyclopedia Britannica but just bear with me:
Rape culture is a concept that links rape and sexual violence to the culture of a society, and in which prevalent attitudes and practices normalize, excuse, tolerate, and even condone rape.
Right underneath the heading ”Rape Culture” is a notation that ”the neutrality of this article has been disputed.”
The only solution for rape is to appeal to rapists to stop raping people and prosecute them for doing it. Rape is the absence of consent – period. When someone penetrates another human without his or her consent – that’s rape. The solution isn’t for women to stop getting drunk, or having consensual sex on their own terms, or wearing skirts. Nobody gets this as evidenced by this fucking dinosaur employed by the Wall Street Journal and a Wikipedia page that can’t even define rape culture without being disputed.
You can sign the Change.org petition that begs the Wall Street Journal to stop paying this guy here.
(photo: Getty Images)
