Well Past Her "Sell By" Date.
14 years ago
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Unbreakables
Rape is a terrorism invented by men to limit the freedom of their victims. It is no doubt a horrible crime meant to scare and scar, both physically and psychologically. Our society has come a long way from the typical 'rape myths' to viewing the perpetrator as the wrong doer. Women have told countless stories about their experiences on countless talk shows and as a result, have shown that rape brings suffering and you can't just chalk up rape as a kind of 'boys will be boys' behavior. Along with their stories, though, always comes psychological distress. It makes me feel hopeless, helpless, and breakable to think that if this ever happened to me or anyone I knew that they would have no hope of leading a normal life again. The rape victim is portrayed as the fallen angel who is in need of repairing. So what does this say about the raped, yet unbreakable woman? Do we view her as weird or sick? Are there even unbreakable women out there? I think yes, and there are probably a lot more than we think. I'm not in any way relinquishing the right to human emotion or the right to be distressed from experiencing such an evil crime. I think if we could see more of these rare, resilient women we could feel empowered by knowing that we are not all collapsible and that we don't have to succumb to the terrorism imposed by the thought or act of rape. I just wanted to know what you think about this. Could an unbreakable woman inspire women to live more freely or could this unbreakable woman undermine the severity and significance of rape?
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I think that women who are raped may have a very tough time recovering from the trauma that has occurred in their life. I do believe that these kinds of experiences can shatter a woman, but it is her choice to deal with it and get the help she needs so that she may move past it. I believe that the women who go through this awful experience can become such a strong influence in helping other victims come through this horrific experience. I think that women should stick together and that there should be no blame to a victim. There is a law that tells us if we say "No" to anyone for sex that that means "No". We need to be protected by this because nobody should have the right to rape another person.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that rape is terrorism invited by man. This is not happening because boys are being boys. This is going on because society lets it happen. Many rapist do not get jail time and if they do its a short sentence. Look at the Duggard girl. She was kidnapped by a rapist who was sentence to 50 years and got out in 11 years. Our jails are filled with violent men that committed crimes against men, also for drugs, however if a women is hurt , that is not considered to be high priority . The Chris Brown incident showed that society does not value women.
ReplyDeleteRape does shatter lives for a period of time, but it does get better. It is not that the woman is broken , it is the fact that her world as she once knew has changed. She thought she lived in a safe , trusting world, and she realizes that that was the myth. Its not a rape myth, exactly. It's a myth that we live in a safe society.
Just like with domestic violence, a woman has to want to take the steps to recovery. She has the power. For her to keep the power and gain control of her life again she needs to be in control of how to deal with this trauma. To be able to gain the ability to have power in one's own life will help such a woman to realize she has power and she is not a victim.
I can honestly say from experience a normal life can be lived. It takes time. It does not happen over night. But it can be achieved. I live a pretty normal life.
I would definitely say that an unbreakable woman could inspire others. Many women today live in fear or rape and domestic violence. But is that necessarily our fault? Rape is an AWEFUL thing and I feel its horrific significance is not recognized enough. I remember in one of the women’s bathrooms here at Anne Arundel Community College says, 1 in 3 women are raped! That is scary. But strong women are out there and I believe they could definitely help other women out there see they can stand up for themselves. That it is awful and it's not their fault. Society, Law and a lot of men and even women see the victims of rape 'asking for it.' "Police ask, what were you wearing?" or "How did you get in that scenario?" That's not fair though I think. The act of rape is just like any other crime, the criminal and the criminal alone takes responsibility for it. Don’t you think? And with strong women out there, presenting a life of standing up and moving on is so pertinent, as a role model self worth and not submitting to society’s ideals.
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