There is a specific argument constantly being discussed in what is known as rape culture in today’s society, that argument being discussed is what women are wearing during a sexual assault incident. During one of these incidents, some people believe that women must have been wearing “provocative” or “revealing” clothing to promote the incident themselves, which is definitely not the case.
It’s unfortunate to know that majority of the time a sexual assault incident is discussed, one of the first questions asked is what was the victim wearing. Every woman has heard the statement, “If you dress in revealing clothing, then you’re just asking for it,” which rape culture activists completely disagree with. The statement people believe should be taught is that “Men need to learn how to control themselves,” which falls into the victim’s favor.
A photo shoot took place in Point Park University’s village park last week where students were asked to write a sentence about rape culture down and have their photo taken with it. There were some students wrote about the issue of women’s clothing being a provoker of rape and how it is completely absurd. A few of the statements written are as followed:
“If my clothes could speak, they still wouldn’t say yes,” wrote Madison Turiczek
“What I’m wearing does NOT matter,” wrote Abby Kim
Clearly, people agree that what a woman wears has nothing to do with the sexual assault incident she was a victim of. Women are able to dress any way they please, and they can do so for many different reasons. But one of those reasons is definitely not to provoke rape. No woman or girl (or male for that matter) is ever asking to be raped. Just because she is wearing a “revealing” outfit doesn’t mean she is asking for a random person to take advantage of her without consent.
The lesson to learn here is that women and girls shouldn’t be told to change the way they dress, but boys should be taught to control themselves. And realize that a women’s outfit doesn’t mean “yes.”
#HCAgainstSexualViolence