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Notes -
Whenever the subject of feminist narratives comes up on this forum, one of the recurring arguments is that feminist messaging is ineffective, self-defeating even, the usual reason being given that it doesn’t reach the men it’s supposed to reach, and only reaches men who don’t need feminist messages in the first place because they’re pretty much acculturated in a feminist milieu anyway. (I know all this doesn’t necessarily sound fair or unbiased, but let’s ignore that for a moment.)
The most fitting example of this that is usually mentioned is the message that “we need to teach men not to rape”, which is supposedly a favorite of feminist activists on college campuses, corporate HR boards and elsewhere. Apparently they promote essentially the same idea as a great tool to combat sexual assault and harassment.
I don’t think I need to explain in detail why this argument sounds so dumb to the average man. Even when I come up with the most benevolent interpretation of this tactic that I can think of, it still seems misguided and, well, dumb. But then it occurred to me: the message makes 100% sense if we start from the assumption that modern feminists, eager to right cultural wrongs of the past that they perceive, really want to make sure their messaging never ever entails even a hint of the notion that women need to exercise any level of agency in order to avoid rape, assault or harassment of any type i.e. avoid bad men, because in all cases that would be “victim blaming” and horrific etc.
From that perspective, it all makes sense, sort of. Am I correct, or is there something else going on as well?
This seems pretty much correct and is a staple for all of modern identity politics. You never blame the oppressed group, always the oppressor. You don't blame Blacks for underachieving, cultivating violent norms of behavior, reproducing in an unconscientious manner, etc. You don't blame gays for their sexual behavior when contracting HIV. And you don't blame women for getting blackout drunk when they had an unwanted sexual encounter. The main point is to wrestle power away from the oppressor towards the oppressed, never the other way around. That is the main purpose of identity politics, not solving the individual problem. Otherwise, the focus would be to a significant degree on the things that are already in the power for the oppressed to do.
Pretty much. “Teach men not to rape” is less consistent with a general principled stance on victim-blaming and more consistent with the usual Who? Whom? and efforts to maximize female freedom and minimize female accountability.
Hence why “teach men not to rape” is A Thing, but “teach men not to murder” sounds farcical and “teach black men not to murder” would be considered hateful and offensive by many.
Those who shriek against “victim-blaming” when it comes to advising women to be responsible for their own safety are disproportionately likely to immediately suggest that a victim of black-on-white or black-on-Asian violence said or did something to provoke the attack, a victim of pitbull-on-pretty-much-anything-not-a-pitbull nannying did something to trigger the pibbie’s reactivity (such as making a sudden movement, making a loud noise, or breathing).
They may also advise to leave your car windows and trunk open when you leave it as a good faith signal to Persons of Burglary that you have nothing to steal, and if you don’t it’s your own fault that your windows got smashed.
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