Last month, Rolling Stone ran a feature article about a young woman raped by a gang of frat boys at the University of Virginia in 2012. The story set off an explosion of controversy, prompting UVA to take action, and leading to calls for universities across the nation to do something about the prevalence of what feminists call “rape culture.”
Well, it turns out that Rolling Stone‘s reporting was, how to put this, less than exhaustive. Written by a journalist named Sabrina Rubin Erdely, the story has come under withering criticism from both inside and outside the feminist sphere. One notable point of contention came from the Washington Post‘s Erik Wemple, who took issue with Erdely’s failure to interview any of the men allegedly involved in the incident. He referred to her piece as “flimsy,” accusing her of “half-hearted” reporting.
Giving Credence to Feminist BS
While Rolling Stone is starting to back away from their support of the story, the bigger issue here is this notion of rape culture that so many seem willing to buy into. Under this principle, everything from jokes about rape to a friendly greeting between a man and a woman invites harsh scrutiny. Ever on the attack against “victim blaming,” feminists have taken the approach that only men can stop rape. And while it’s true that we have for too long allowed the “she was asking for it” excuse to stay relevant, that failure doesn’t automatically make room for an even more ridiculous philosophy.
The tenets behind “rape culture” have their origins in the radical feminists of the 1970s. According to them – and their slacktivist descendants – it involves a culture where men are encouraged to rape women through the normalization of sexual violence. So prevalent is this culture that women are constantly victims of it, even when they aren’t. It doesn’t help that many of today’s feminists have stretched the definition of rape well beyond the breaking point. To them, consensual sex following drinks at the bar falls squarely into the category of rape. Some have even gone as far as to claim that any sexual interaction between men and women is rape, because of the patriarchy or something.
To solve this crisis, feminists want to change society. That means modifying laws, disseminating lies, and raising boys to be subservient to women and ashamed of their own sexuality. Rape, however, was against the law when they started this crusade. It remains against the law today. And while it’s all well and good to say that only men can stop rape, that’s just simply not true.
How About a Cold Glass of Reality?
To use an outdated meme, rapists gonna rape. If you’re the kind of scumbag who enjoys rape, you’re not going to be swayed by a wild pack of angry feminists. On the other hand, women can be taught to avoid situations where their chances of being victimized go up. This isn’t about blaming the victim; it’s about protecting the victim. Sure, in an ideal world, we could snap our fingers and make rape a thing of the past. When feminists get their own planet, they can design it that way. For now, though, we have to deal with the one we live on.
There was a time when feminism was aimed at empowering women. Today’s feminism – obviously having learned from the larger lessons of liberalism – is aimed at making women perpetual victims with no control over their actions. Their cries of rape culture harbor bad news for the next generation of men, but they will have even more damning consequences for the next generation of women.
