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In reply to the discussion: Wall Street Journal thinks that rape is not a crime or that women are criminals for being raped. [View all]Vox Moi
(546 posts)It seems to me that this thread was too contentious and so I tired making a parallel argument about what is legally right but still questionable behavior and also about the difference between liability and responsibility.
Nobody got it. My bad. I wanted to drop this because it's such a hot-button issue but I still have questions.
In the driver analogy (a true story) the left-lane hog stood in his legal rights regarding the speed limit. No question that he was within his rights but also no question that he was creating a hazardous situation. The outcome was not unexpected.
Although my friend was not liable for what happened in any way, I always felt that he shared responsibility. It was an accident waiting to happen. Later, a law was passed that makes passing-lane hogging illegal for just that reason.
Some of the rape scenarios imagined by the author of the article in question seemed similar to me. A woman is completely within her rights to drink or party with a guy but that is also a hazardous situation that she is contributing to. That is what I believe the author was saying. He did not say that the woman is guilty of anything and neither do I. It's a question of responsibility and common sense.
The reason for posting at all is that it makes me very sad to see threads like this devolve into vitriolic exchanges and not gravitate towards something more positive. If it is clear that rape - or car accident - are known to be likely in a particular circumstance then both parties should take the responsibility to avoid that situation. If defensive driving is a commonly acceptable idea, maybe defensive dating - for both sexes - should be too.
Like my lane-hogging friend, the woman might be perfectly within her rights and like my friend she might end up in the hospital. Like the guy who hit my friend, the man might be guilty of something he did not set out to do. Everyone involved lost and everyone involved could have done something to prevent it.
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