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Notes -
I tend to agree, although I would point out that some women might legitimately and truly want random sex with a bunch of men. So one could argue that for such a woman, things aren't ending badly at all.
The other area where this comes up is before-the-fact advice to people. So it's pretty uncontroversial for the police to advise people to lock their doors; to make their house look lived-in while away; not to leave valuable-looking things in the back seat of their car; etc. But the moment you start advising women not to go out late dressed revealingly; not to go alone to the residence of a man you just met; etc., suddenly you are a victim-blaming misogynist.
Anyway, it's interesting because these examples show that there is a distinction between what's best for women and what's most flattering to women. And when these two things come into conflict, feminists tend to go for what's most flattering.
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