“As for the alleged abuse, it’s time to ask some tough questions. First, there is a huge difference between being groped and being raped, so which was it Mr. Foley? Second, why didn’t you just smack the clergyman in the face? After all, most 15-year-old teenage boys wouldn’t allow themselves to be molested. So why did you?â€
Getting victim blamed for abuse and molestation ain’t just for the girls, apparently. Not exactly the kind of “gender parity” I’d like to see, though.
Via Darth Sidhe.
Whoa! Not only gender blaming, but the assumption that getting groped is less traumatic than being penetrated (what I assume is meant by “getting raped” in this context). Just knowing someone you trust and look up to WANTS to molest you is pretty devastating.
Not that any of this excuses Foley’s actions in the present day. If you choose to continue an abuse cycle instead of either getting help or just cutting yourself off from people you might be inclined to hurt, you are responsible for that choice.
The entire Foley thing is surrounded with horiffic stereotypes about sexuality and sexual orientation, especially for men. (It’s surrounded by a lot of other junk too, but that’s not quite as relevant. ^^;) Gay = pedophile, etc, etc. That’s a particularly stunning piece of victim blaming, though. Apparently, every 15 year old boy is as strong as a full grown man (especially any full grown man) or something, and never become confused in any situation. The sentence becomes even more related to masculinity when you focus in on the ‘boys wouldn’t allow themselves to be molested’, and the word boys. Get tougher and more homophobic, young boys, or else you’ll be asking for molestation (as opposed to the female ‘don’t walk alone at night/wear anything but a potato sack, or else you’ll be asking for it’.) Bleh.
-Mecha