Question for Pierce Harlan, the guy behind the False Rape Society blog: Do you really think this is the best way to fight false rape allegations?
The real problem here isn’t that he’s recycled an old rape joke; it’s that he’s pretending that rapists are somehow a species apart from ordinary men. His big complaint is that the PSA in question “passes off a criminal deviant as a typical guy.”
Pierce, what do you think rapists look like? They’re not villains out of some silent-movie melodrama, twirling their whiskers and cackling with glee. They don’t have giant R’s tattooed on their foreheads. No, they look like “ordinary” guys. Exactly like them. Rape prevention — and crime prevention in general — would be a lot more effective if criminals could be easily identified at a glance. But the world doesn’t work that way. Most criminals look pretty ordinary, actually.
But the problem with Harlan’s stance here go beyond that. The fact is that most rapists aren’t sinister strangers hiding in an alleyway; the overwhelming majority – something like 70% — are people known to their victims. As someone who writes regularly about rape, Pierce is presumably aware of this, which means either that he’s being completely disingenuous, or that he’s simply pretending that date rape (and non-stranger rape in general) doesn’t exist.
The PSA in question is far from perfect. Aside from the terrible acting, the main problem with it is that it it’s victim-blaming. Its depiction of a rapist as an ordinary-looking guy – and a friend of the victim — is the one thing it gets right.
To get an idea of the sort of person who reads (and agrees with) The False Rape Society blog, here are a couple of comments on the, er, “controversy.”
Here’s a comment from YouTube, posted by someone who obviously got there from Harlan’s blog (it appeared after the video was linked at the FRS; before the recent batch of comments, the video hadn’t had a comment for three years).
So the message is that if a guy is being helpful at a party, he’s probably a rapist? This is not a fair psa. It did better than some though, by highlighting the fact that the female friend ditched her.
Apparently, in this guy’s mind, trying to remove the clothes of a woman almost completely incapacitated by alcohol is just a way of being “helpful.”
Meanwhile, on the FRS blog itself:
Anonymous said…
Wow- just like TV- apparently the only people on earth who ever do ANYTHING wrong are white males- preferably fat ones to give feminists a little extra to hate.
While we’re on the subject of false accusations, here’s a strange bit of paranoid word-salad on the subject that I ran across recently from a Reddit Men’s Rightser.
Is it really possible that anyone – including the author and the people upvoting the comment — could actually believe this nonsense? If so, what a strange, sad world they must live in.
EDITED TO ADD: Holly Pervocracy just wrote a great and highly relevant post on what she calls “Slavering Beast Theory.” As she explains:
In the Slavering Beast Theory, there are two kinds of men. Two species, nearly. … There are ordinary guys and there are Slavering Beasts. And they are very, very easy to tell apart. They act different, even look different, to the point where any adult should be able to distinguish them in any casual social setting. …
This dichotomy is how someone can simultaneously believe that women shouldn’t go out after dark because rape is such a big problem and believe that tons of rape accusations are false. It makes perfect sense if you believe there are Slavering Beasts out in the dark, but if an ordinary guy is accused of rape, there must be more to the story. It explains why people are angered by rape prevention tips aimed at men–those are insulting to ordinary guys, and Slavering Beasts won’t listen. And it justifies the belief that abuse victims had it coming: either they were abused by a Slavering Beast and should have known better, or they were abused by an ordinary guy and must have done something terrible to provoke him.
At his core, Brandon is a victim-blaming rape apologist. I am not surprised by that fact, only surprised that he tells us over and over with zero shame.
Holly, your post is spot-on. Pierce Harlan’s “ordinary guy” remark is a perfect example of “Slavering Beast” theory in action. I added a link and some quotes from you in my post.
And I agree that racism is a part of it — not usually overt, but there in the unspoken assumption that some not-diabolical-looking-white-guy can’t be a slavering beast.
Who mock and deride the notion that women even want to be aroused by their partners. “‘Gina tingles”
Honestly, I think part of it is old-fashioned projection. A lot of these dudes seem to be very uncomfortable with their own sexuality. They feel weird and conflicted about having sex, so they assume their partners will feel conflicted too. Their own arousal embarrasses them, so they treat women’s arousal as embarrassing. And they don’t see themselves (or other men) as physically attractive, so they’re freaked out by the idea of women finding men attractive.
@Pecunium:
Ya, I just want everyone to get friggin raped. Come on. Rape is terrible and shouldn’t be tolerated in any respectable society.
I wouldn’t really call drawing dicks on faces “abuse”…a stupid prank, sure. Labeling it “abuse” is kind of a stretch.
In some perfect utopia, everyone would treat each other well and we would have no fighting or crime at all. But that isn’t the real world and the real world is actually dangerous. So one should take practical precautions to avoid major risks (which passed out at a party is a huge blinking. beeping risk).
Yeah, bitch, don’t get so drunk that you get raped! Let that happen to the next drunk girl the rapist comes across! Let’s be honest — if women are drinking someone’s gonna have to get raped to appease the gods of misogyny, so might as well aim for it not to be you! It’s like that bear joke — I don’t have to outrun the bear, I just have to outrun my friends! LOL.
…So in other news, Brandon is still cool with a morality system of “didn’t happen to me, so who fucking cares?” :p
One time my friend became passed-out drunk (it was the anniversary of her father’s death and she hadn’t drunk much before). A friend took her home, put her in his bed while he took the couch and made her eggs in the morning. He neither raped her nor drew dicks on her face. This is because he is not a douchebag.
I don’t think it’s too much to ask that people not be douchebags.
Brandon: Right. So, if you walk around, flaunting the fact that you wear clothing and probably have some money (or access to money via ATM) and someone mugs you… Well, you put yourself in danger with your clothes and probably money having!
A thirteen year old girl is walking home from school, wearing baggy jeans and a tshirt, minding her own business – clearly flaunting her… whatever the fuck. So when a guy pulls up next to her at an intersection and tries to kidnap her, then waves his willy around when she won’t go with him… Obviously, it’s her fault for… being on the street. And female.
It is not my responsibility to control the sexuality of those around me. Neither is it yours, or Ashley’s, or that thirteen year old girl’s. People are responsible for controlling their OWN sexuality. Plenty of guys get inconvenient erections and SOMEHOW manage to deal with them without rape or sexual assault. Fucking morals, how do they work?
You should stop crossing the street, Brandon. If someone decides to run you over, it’s clearly your own fault. I mean, I’m not saying it’s <entirely your fault exactly, but you shouldn’t be putting yourself in dangerous situations like that.
Brandon: Ya, I just want everyone to get friggin raped.
I didn’t say that.
I said your response shows a lack of care about the actions of the rapist because you focused on what the victim did, “wrong” as opposed to what the rapist did.
In some perfect utopia, everyone would treat each other well and we would have no fighting or crime at all. But that isn’t the real world and the real world is actually dangerous.
And no small part of that is people saying, “oh bad shit happens and if you didn’t make sure it didn’t, well that’s what happens because people are shit.”
I don’t expect a utopia, because I know there is no such place. You, however, aren’t at all interested (from all evidence) on making the world any better. If you don’t have a personal relationship with someone, who cares if they are passed out drunk in the street, who cares, no skin off your nose.
I just walked to the convenience store. It’s nighttime. Thankfully I didn’t get raped. If I did would it have been my fault? As I was walking there I was thinking about this thread…what would happen if I did get raped or attacked, or even cat called? would I partially be to blame for daring to be female and outdoors during the night?
The thing is I was really paranoid and on edge while walking to and from the store. I’m always like that walking at night alone. The sad irony is that the same MRAs that would deride me for walking at night would also accuse me of being a man-hater for being paranoid and on edge.
This is the shit women have to deal with everyday. And probably some men who somehow don’t fit the stereotype of manly-man. Try to show at least a bit of understanding for this fact Brandon.
Well, it’s true that passing out drunk is high-risk behavior, for men or women. It doesn’t give anyone license to victimize you, but it is higher-risk than remaining conscious and cognizant of one’s surroundings. It takes the presence of a rapist for rape to be committed, obviously, but rapists can only be identified retroactively. I’m cautious because it serves me well to be cautious. I can’t remove the possibility of rape entirely from my life. I’m sure I’m statistically more likely to be raped by my husband than by some grope-happy guy at a party, but it seems like remaining cognizant is an aspect of self-defense. Sure, it would be better if we lived in a world where self-defense was unnecessary, but we don’t.
Pecunium:
See that is so fucked up and stupid. WHY are they so stupid? there are so many reasons why a rape accusation might not lead to conviction. Insufficient evidence, intoxication, drugs, recanting out of fear or not wanting to go through the hell of a trial. I’m preaching to the choir here I know.
And will it really reduce false allegations? because the fear of jail or even the death penalty doesn’t seem to stop serial killers, thieves, people who commit assault and other crimes…not even actual rapists. That’s not to say that false accusers shouldn’t be punished, but it will do more harm to those who are actually raped because they will be too scared to come forward.
I also have a very hard time believing that those accused of rape are just thrown in jail with no investigation or evidence. What BS. And is it treated any differently than if one person accused another of a different type of crime?
Quackers: Yes, it’s fucked up. The point of it is that it makes anything but violent stranger rape too risky to even try to prosecute.
Which is what they really want. Non-violent, non-stranger rape doesn’t bother them.
Being told they can’t do that… that bothers them.
@Quackers
“Yea I see what you mean. I guess that’s why they are so outraged by false accusations and supposed shaming of men, yet they turn around and say women should expect rape if they dress like sluts/drink/walk alone at night. They insist rape is about sex and not violence or control. They deny a rape culture without even attempting to understand what it actually entails, and they are against rape awareness.”
It’s a mystery why any man would be, “outraged by false accusations.” I mean hell, odds are he only loses his job, gets ostracized by society, friends and family and the opportunity to be a bum on a grate for the rest of his short life, provided he doesn’t get tossed in the cooler.
Men don’t say women should expect to be raped, they say women who are sluts should be treated like sluts. Or drunken sluts, or drunken sluts walking home alone who slur out, “sure let’s have sex in the ally.” Yea right, some drunken slut suddenly feels a twinge of regret when she sobers up? Ya got autonomy when you choose to get sloppy drunk, ya got sexual agency when you choose to have sex in an alley. It’s time to put on your big girl pants and woman up with a little responsibilty.
Ya can’t have rape without sex, ya can’t have theft without stealing, ya can’t have murder without death. So yea, rape IS about sex.
Rape culture? Wouldn’t that be a culture where rape isn’t a crime? If ya wanna have rape awareness, ya better damn well have false rape accusation awareness as well. We got us a zero sum game goin on. You wanna tell men rapists are the normal boy next door, ya better tell women living next to him is the lying little bitch who can turn on the waterworks of deceit, and bring the guns of Big Daddy. Does that work for ya?
———————-
“All this sounds like is them basically saying “deal with the fact that rape exists and that it might happen to you because we don’t understand consent, but keep your mouth shut and don’t accuse anyone ever.”
We understand what rape is. Forced sex, anything else isn’t.
———————–
“I get the anger at false accusations, I get angry when I hear about them too. But how is denying that rape is a problem and trying to bully feminists into shutting up about it going to help?”
This from someone who says a man who is accused of rape but not convicted isn’t actually innocent. Someone who cries rape conviction are too low? What? Don’t the bullies like being bullied?
————————
“I wish there was a way to approach this topic without diminishing or pretending that rape isn’t that big a deal and trying to silence awareness about rape. From what I saw on the False Rape Society blog, false rape accusers are getting arrested and given jail time, so what more do they want?”
The miniscule amount of time and rarity of any woman serving time is good enough for you. Lock the fucks up for 10 years in a violent hell-hole and throw em on the sexual offenders list. You’d want that punishment for a man who raped, right? Zero sum game princess.
————————–
“And of course, the generalizing about all women being vengeful bitches out to harm men. I’m starting to see why some object to stories in the paper about false accusers. On one hand it’s important to know these stories exist, on the other hand it makes people like MRAs think all or most women are going to falsely accuse men and fosters hostility.”
Oh, “the generalizing about all women being vengeful bitches” seems a bit harsh, yet the, “rape culture” you so casually accuse men of supporting is such a pleasant description. It’s a zero sum game in our rape culture of lying, vengeful bitches.
Oh heavens to betsy, let’s not besmirch the appearance of womens angelic demeanor by daring to actually report women lying. But let’s make sure we splash mens name all over the front page at a womans mere accusation. It doesn’t make just MRAs know women can be lying, deceitful, vengeful bitches. It seems men who’ve never even heard the phrase MRA have a clue.
Also, Quackers, since nothing happened, and I’m sure nothing has ever happened on these walks in the dark, what’s your fucking point? You’re paranoid? Thanks for the information, but it’s not just wymyn who have a monopoly on that emotion.
I’m reading Haunted by Chuck Palahniuk, and the poem “Anticipation” is pretty much how I imagine all the feminists here think.
It’s a mystery why any man would be, “outraged by false accusations.” I mean hell, odds are he only loses his job, gets ostracized by society, friends and family and the opportunity to be a bum on a grate for the rest of his short life, provided he doesn’t get tossed in the cooler.
or continues to be a huge basketball star and everyone forgets about it eventually a la Kobe. I don’t even remember if it was actually proven to be consensual, or at least close to proven but i know that’s the public opinion. I don’t know any stories about regular people being falsely accused, not to say it never happens, but it’s certainly very very rare.
NWO, we know you’re just pissed you can’t have your own slave to dress up and rape at will. Now stuff it.
also if that woman did falsely accuse Kobe not to brush that off as an okay thing to do, no one should do that, but it’s just not something that occurs common and waaaaay less common than someone being actually raped so it’s the wrong thing to focus on. but duh, everyone on here knows that.
@LyssatakeaBow
“I don’t know any stories about regular people being falsely accused, not to say it never happens, but it’s certainly very very rare.
The regular folks are the ones with little resources. They have a very un-rare story. We call them inmates, bums, homeless, drifters, suicides.
Has anyone tried to explain to slavey that when we talk about rape, we aren’t talking about “some woman decided that she didn’t particularly like that person she had sex with, so she’s gonna just say he raped her for the hell of it?” And that “sex” is not “being held down or incapacitated and be penetrated against your will?” I think he would do well to learn these things…
@NWO:
“This from someone who says a man who is accused of rape but not convicted isn’t actually innocent.”
Isn’t this trivially true? A non conviction =/= proven innocence? You do know this is in response to people saying “If a conviction fails, the accusation was false, so the accuser should be punished,” right?
“Lock the fucks up for 10 years in a violent hell-hole and throw em on the sexual offenders list. You’d want that punishment for a man who raped, right? Zero sum game princess.”
Apparently not… Look, you do realize you are suggesting that if a woman says she was raped, but there is no conviction (the majority of cases), then the woman should be locked up for “10 years in a violent hell-hole” and labeled as a sexual offender? For failing to prove someone guilty? Seriously??? It’s like, on the playground, if a kid say a bully punched him, and the teacher didn’t see it happen, then the kid should get detention or suspended. O_O
“Oh heavens to betsy, let’s not besmirch the appearance of womens angelic demeanor by daring to actually report women lying. But let’s make sure we splash mens name all over the front page at a womans mere accusation.”
Alright, NWO, this is getting old. Nothing in law happens on a “mere accusation.” Nothing. I defy you to find any court ruling where the evidence was a “mere accusation.” In most cases names are withheld until the trial happens, to prevent exactly what you are afraid of. Yeesh…
i know inmates, bums, homeless people, drifters, and people who commit suicide exist i’m just not so sure they’re that often falsely accused of rape. you would have to provide some evidence to back that up (i know i know how this goes)
@LyssatakeaBow
” also if that woman did falsely accuse Kobe not to brush that off as an okay thing to do, no one should do that, but it’s just not something that occurs common and waaaaay less common than someone being actually raped so it’s the wrong thing to focus on. but duh, everyone on here knows that.”
Do I have your word on that? Do you use intuition to determine that false accusations are waaaaaay less common? How do YOU know who is lying in a he said/she said case where no actual violence took place? Please enlighten me. Because it sounds to me like you’re taking a womans word as truth and a mans word as a lie.
What Hellkell said, NWOSlave. You came right out and told us last night that you believed all women should be assigned to men (through a process you failed to specify) as rape-slaves. Did you think we’d forget that quickly? Your opinions on justice aren’t worth a damn thing anymore.
You just keep rambling on Slavey, I’m not even going to waste time bothering to reason with someone who has none and who, in the previous thread, said women should do whatever men say and basically being their slaves. That right there effectively made everything you say null and void. You aren’t someone who can be taken seriously, just a giant ball of misogynistic rage. Nowhere did I say we shouldn’t punish women for lying or to not report that they lie. I just said I want the issue to be discussed reasonably and not by pretending rape is no big deal and to silence women or feminists for bringing up the topic of rape. As usual you don’t even bother to understand what it is people are trying to say, just spew out the same old “women are evil scheming man hating bitches rawr!government” crap. And what’s “treated like sluts?” so sluts deserve to be raped then? “sluts” don’t get a choice whether they want sex or not? You’re a twisted person you know that?
You can cut the patronizing “princess” bullshit too. You know nothing of my life and you don’t get to assume men ever treated me as a princess or even as a human being. I’ve been treated like crap by random guys plenty of times in my life (and no, it wasn’t in relationships by “bad-boys”) and I still don’t harbor hatred for the opposite sex like you do because I actually treat people like individuals and give them the benefit of the doubt unless they prove otherwise that they are a jerk.
In short, fuck off and respond to me when you can intelligently and rationally, which will never happen, so just fuck off period.