
I am beyond angry. I am irate and disillusioned at this generation that rears people with this sort of mindset. Yesterday, while I was racking my big, bold and beautiful brain for what to write on day two in November, a thunderstorm was brewing on my class group chat. It was not until I completed my write up and checked my messages that I saw the debris left from the terrible occurrence. What happened?
NASELS Dinner is coming up. Everyone is selling and advertising their product on the class group chat. This unique human, whom I don’t think I know, but I know is unique because we are all created uniquely, puts up her crochet wears on sale. They are all very beautiful and creatively designed by the way. I, who normally don’t download anything from the group except for PDFs or pictures of notes, pause to download them for further appraisal and possibly to purchase one or two. I scroll down the chat and not far from the pictures I just downloaded are the words:
“If female students continue to wear clothes of this kind, we shall form a coalition for defence of rapists’ right.”
Immediately, I become weak with sadnessn; sadness at the deterioration of a human mind. I scroll down and guess what? My course mates already served him judgment on a deep stainless bowl painted in bright colours. In fact, I discover a group chat specially created for him just to serve this purpose. It is not until I read all the one thousand, one hundred and one messages and go on twitter to see how his sorry behind has been dragged all over the place that my anger begins to brew.
I am confounded by the words some humans spew and for this reason I will dissect the above statement a little. What does coalition mean? Oxford Online Dictionary says, ‘A temporary group or unions of organizations, usually formed for a particular advantage.’ Defence, according to Oxford Online Dictionary means ‘the action of defending, of protecting from attack, or danger or injury.’ A rapist is one who has committed rape and what is rape? Again, the Oxford Online Dictionary has this to say, ‘The taking of someone by force; seizure, plunder; the abduction of a woman, especially for sexual purposes; the act of forcing sexual intercourse upon another person without their consent or against their will; originally coitus forced by a man on a woman, but now any sex act forced by any person upon another person.’ All emphases above are mine. If there is one thing I have learnt from Professor Daramola’s class, it is that in your definitions, highlight the salient words and discuss them accordingly. A coalition aims to give advantage or favour to its beneficiaries and to defend someone or something is to protect them at all cost. So, what advantage and protection does a predator who forcefully takes what does not belong to him need in addition to the power he wields? What does he need protection from, himself, the society or the victim or prey between his heavy jaws? Is the coalition meant to justify his actions and take his side no matter what? What right has a rapist; the right to force your genitalia on a non-consenting victim or the right to a lawyer? I agree to your right to a lawyer, but that is one of the disadvantages of democracy. It is sometimes constraining. Also, to get your sorry behind not to go to jail, you must have a very good defense attorney; one like Annalise Keating. But you and that lawyer might probably go to hell. I am not judging.
Now, the notion that a woman’s dressing attracts rapists is a fib. Do not believe it. What do we call people who rape and molest children? Do they do it as a result of being stimulated by the sexy lingerie on that child? Nikita Gill, a poet, who titled her book A Woman’s Body is an Ocean, did not lie. A woman’s body is a deep, wide and refreshing sea that should be explored and travelled on safe sails. Nothing should be forced in life; not even the relationships we forge. In fact, when you go online and search using the right keywords, you will see a museum of sorts where clothes worn by victims of rape are hanged for all to see. Those clothes are a far cry from revealing or sexy. Not to throw shades, it is just unfortunate that some people are retarded in their thinking. This can be proven by some other things the rape apologist typed later:
“‘You flaunt fried meat in front of cats.’ I don’t know the offence of one who rapes a lady that shows her cleavage.”
Imagine the unparalleled idiocy and imbecility in that statement. It begs for reproval and criticism. Humans like this think they own a woman completely, body and soul. Humans with this mindset validate their manhood from repressing women. Humans like this see a woman as a mere tool for the easing of the ache between their legs. Humans like this see a woman expressing herself through her dressing as oppression. Humans like this do not know how to absorb and filter and sift and look away. Humans like this make the streets and in fact, the home, unsafe for women. Humans like this make it difficult to be a woman in the fullest sense of the word. Seeing how heavy the criticism was, he typed:
“I am sorry guy, I just checked the veracity of this saying: truth is bitter. I’m sorry, please accept my apology.”
Does he sound like a truly sorry human? No. He sounds like a conceited Pharisee, who sees and sees and sees the numerous flaws of others without taking cognizance of the flaws written all over him in bold ink. He is blinded to his faults.
It is actually depressing the number of people who gets raped on a daily basis. It is heartbreaking and soul-shattering what things they go through just because some unfortunately fellow is horny and selfish and blind and many other vile things. I cannot imagine their pain and loss. Just weeks ago we witnessed the “sexforgrades” movement. Yet, here we are, stuck at the beginning of sensitizing some humans to the need for a liberal view. Perspective is a crucial determinant in these things and in as much as we can’t all see from the same angle, we need to adjust our lenses to accommodate others. It means accommodating the progressive and not the retarded mentality. Even primitiveness does not mean degradation or mental retardation.
Before I go back to savouring Eve Ensler’s The Vagina Monologues, I’ll just reiterate some points and probably add more:
* A woman’s dressing is not an excuse for rape, neither is it a recipe for disaster.
* Anybody can be raped; either you are a man or a woman.
* Sex should be between two consenting adults, who can take on responsibilities.
* Sadly, rape happens more often than we want, despite the campaigns against it.
* Rapists are not dealt enough punishment; can we just swish and flick a wand that’d inflict impotence on them?
* A coalition should be formed for rapist, but it should be one with a reversed purpose; the purpose of forever silencing a rapist.
* The word coalition and rapist should not be used in the same sentence.
* Rape is not a feminism thing, it is a humanism thing.
Well done, for staying with me till the end.! Is it too much to hope we get to that point where the topic of rape will be unnecessary because it has been eradicated?
