This week’s post surrounds a controversial and highly
charged subject, the recent sentencing of two male high school students for
rape in Steubenville, OH. The reason for my bringing this up stems from an
interaction that a friend and I had this past Friday night. A typical weekend
night out for me these days includes going to hear live music, very often with
my daughter and her friend. When these two go out they have a blast. They love to
be up front and center dancing, and don’t care one iota what people think of
them. They’re just there for the music. Both are very cute and are each in completely
committed relationships; though because of their carefree spirit (and cuteness)
attract a lot of attention, of which they are often oblivious.
This last Friday night I noticed a young man repeatedly glancing
at my daughter’s friend. After the band quit, I was talking to her when he
walked by. He stopped and looked at her, and then said to me, “she’s very
pretty.” I responded with a “yes, she is.” He then mumbled something about her
dancing and she gave him a less than inviting look, to which I added, “She’s
also very married.” Then he said something that took me off guard. He accused her of dancing the way she did to get attention, that “she did it
on purpose.” Wow. He was basically blaming her for any attraction he felt for
her, like he had absolutely no responsibility for any of it. Thankfully she
didn’t hear the gist of what he said, or he’d most likely be sporting a black
eye right now.
This interaction made me ponder the subtle undercurrent
of “rape culture” in our society. It’s so ingrained, that it’s commonplace to
blame a woman for being too attractive, too sexy, too whatever. How dare us. If any men reading this have
thoughts on the matter, I’d love to hear from you. I know that many of you are
thoughtful, decent and respectful, though if Steubenville is any indication, we
still have a very long road to social equality.
Time to shed some light on this dark subject.
With Love.
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From Over There:
“The desire to
control another through physical force is born out of primitive thought patterns.
As the human race evolves, critical thinking overtakes the need to dominate
through force. A more enlightened interaction includes reasoning and sharing of
information. As each individual chooses responsibility of thought and action,
so will humankind move toward a more egalitarian society.”
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Featured Guest: Henry Rollins
Punk icon Henry Rollin might seem like an odd ‘guest’ for
my post, but I really appreciated his insight regarding the Steubenville
incident and wanted you all to have the chance to read it, if you so desire:
If you'd like more information, to book an appointment, or check out the current class schedule, please visit molliejensen.com.
