People of the Male variety… take note.
This is a funny line, in a funny movie, but is it really something we should find humorous or amusing? Little passing jokes about rape or sexual abuse have become common amongst our generation; memes, social media posts and comedy movie quotes, where is the line between joking and being serious? Do the young and old truly understand the fine line between friendly and “please take a step back you are creeping me out”?
There has been an increasing amount of reports on sexual predators and rapists on the news in the past 6 months. In my suburb alone there has been 3 cases of sexual attacks or attempted abductions of young women in the past 10 months alone, so naturally being a young woman myself, this alarms and frightens me to no end. Not to forget the tragic and disgusting circumstances of Jill Meagher’s death, which is still stirring uneasiness amongst young women of Melbourne.
However, I was appalled that the medias response was to provide tips for their female viewers in staying safe at night. Why should we women, be constantly wary of strange men who could be potential rapists/sexual abusers? Why not provide tips for MEN on how to not rape and sexually abuse women?
This is exactly the momentI came across this blog post written by Phaedra Starling. I strongly suggest all young men read this and avoid becoming “schrödinger’s rapist”…