Responding Post: Brownmiller & Crenshaw

On the topic of girl’s asking to be raped, I thought of Dave Chappelle’s stand-up comment on that. He talks about the way women are dressed to attract that kind of negative attention. Unlike Callie, I was exposed to this argument and it’s something boys at my high school used to say; girls dress the way they want to be treated. The problem I have with these arguments is not so much that they disapprove of women dressing a certain way, but that they use that to rationalize and legitimize sexual violence. Nothing should be used to justify rape. Sentences about rape should never be connected with “but”. “It’s horrible that she was raped last night by three men, but—.” The argument that she was “asking for it” or was promiscuous and was probably fantasizing about it anyway is only serving to belittle the crime.

I also think that the fantasy theory is absolutely absurd. In fact, I think this fantasy theory that women secretly fantasize about being raped is a male fantasy. Why is it that we think about the sexual aspect of rape and immediately relate sex to pleasure? That is a completely male-dominated view of sex. Even when the situation isn’t rape, not all women experience pleasure during sex (something we talked about earlier in the semester along with the 2nd wave). We completely ignore the fact that rape is also about power and domination through the denigration of another.

Though Brownmiller’s language always seems to strike a bad chord because it seems harsh, partly accusatory, and completely ignores male victims, I appreciate her not beating around the bush. Her language says it like it is, which is very easy to understand. Her arguments do tend to villanize the entire male population, but I don’t think all feminist writers should feel obligated to add a little disclaimer about men every single time they publish.

Crenshaw brought up a lot of ideas that really made me think. She made me think about my family’s biography, about history, and about current events as well. Her mentioning of the Marriage Fraud Amendments connects with my first news flash – mail order brides. I have not found studies on how prevalent domestic violence is within those marriages, but I would venture to say that it’s not a low number. I think the arrangement invites an unhealthy relationship between the groom and the mail-order bride.

Another thing she brought up that I found to be highly interesting was about white women helping women of color. I do agree with her when she says how she fears white women might actually cause more harm than good by imposing their values and solutions on these communities already entangled in racism, poverty, and lack of opportunities in general. However, I also don’t think white women should just stay on the sidelines, watch, comment, and write books either. Instead, I think there should be an initiative to establish a relationship between these two groups of women and work together to fix these issues. We need to foster communication between these groups. This will prevent what Crenshaw feared and will give women of color the helping voice they need.