Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Mainstream Feminism's Tacit Approval of False Rape Claims

In a recent post, we wrote: "Women are pressured by feminist-inspired norms to make themselves more available to men than ever, but they have also learned that crying rape after-the-fact is a culturally accepted, indeed feminist approved, antidote to sex they feel was too cheaply obtained."

On a Reddit MensRights thread, a feminist took exception: "I find the implication that feminists in general approve of false rape claims offensive. Yeah, there may be some feminists who are that sick, but those are fucked-up individuals who don't speak for the movement anymore than rape apologists speak for the Men's Rights movement."

The feminist raised an interesting point but one that is easily rejected. The topic deserves to be aired here.

Do feminists approve of false rape claims? Tacitly, yes, they do. The Hofstra false rape case (described here: http://goldenstatesociety.blogspot.com/p/lamb-to-slaughter-hofstra-false-rape.html) is a chilling case study in the harsh and byzantine ways our purportedly enlightened society not only tolerates but tacitly encourages rape lies as the price of battling rape, without regard for the terrible harm to the men and boys falsely accused. The persons who dominate the public discourse about rape -- feminists who serve in what can aptly be called the sexual grievance industry -- by and large have no regard, or feelings, for the falsely accused. Their sole goal is to encourage women to come forward and report they've been raped. The fact that this strategy encourages more and more rape lies and that every rape lie diminishes the integrity of every actual rape victim, is not a concern to them.  Men and boys falsely accused of rape are considered necessary collateral damage in this "more important" war on rape.

The feminist disdain for presumptively innocent men and boys accused of rape, including men and boys who are victims of false rape claims, goes beyond indifference and evinces a nasty streak of -- as Connie Chastain calls it -- "get-evenism."  Gender payback for the perceived historical sins of patriarchy. The same sorts of attitudes that found the Anthony Weiner Greek tragedy and the "man-cession" to be victories for women. See here.  To mold public policy around such hateful attitudes borders on pathology.
 
How does this feminist tacit approval of false rape claims manifest itself in practice?  A few reiminders:
 
▲Prominent voices in the mainstream feminist rape movement oppose even charging women for making false rape claims. The result is that women know they can lie about rape with near impunity.
 
▲Prominent voices in the mainstream feminist rape movement oppose anonymity for presumptively innocent men who are merely accused of and not yet charged with rape.
 
▲Prominent voices in the mainstream feminist rape movement favored lowering the standard of proof to a mere preponderance of the evidence on American college campuses for presumptively innocent men charged with sex offenses, thus making it much easier to punish innocent men.
 
▲Prominent voices in the mainstream feminist rape movement favor flipping the burden of proof to prove consent so that sex would become a presumptive crime when a woman cries rape, and it would be the responsibility of the male to disprove it or face lengthy incarceration.
 
▲Prominent voices in the mainstream feminist rape movement favor changing the way consent can be manifested for purposes of proving rape. In their proposal, even acts of consensual sex would be "rape" if the woman did not manifest it by uttering a verbal affirmation.
 
▲Prominent voices in the mainstream feminist rape movement routinely disparage the victimization of men and boys falsely accused of rape by referring to false rape claims as a "myth."
 
▲Prominent voices in the mainstream feminist rape movement preach to "always believe the woman" when, in fact, many presumptively innocent men and boys are falsely accused. If the woman is automatically believed, that means the man or boy accused MUST be a rapist.
 
▲Prominent voices in the mainstream feminist rape movement insist that rape accusers be referred to as "victims" in criminal statutes, a manifestation of the "always believe the woman" mindset.
 
And I could go on and on and on. These are not the views of marginalized or extreme feminists. These are the views of prominent feminists who are immersed in sexual assault issues. Each of these views and countless others are routinely covered in this blog.

The feminist's comment evinces a fundamental misunderstanding about mainstream feminism's attitudes toward rape claims. I am certain there are women who call themselves "feminist" and who are appalled by false rape claims. Those women are not schooled in mainstream feminism and would do well not to associate themselves with that movement.  Because in the rape milieu, feminism is actively opposed to the interests of innocent men.

No comments:

Post a Comment