Victim Shaming - An Apt Metaphor ... (CAUTION: TRIGGER WARNING)
A funny metaphor for victim-shaming that helps people see sexual violence from a different perspective.
“I am sorry for all the times I stabbed men, just a little, in my previous workplace. After years of counselling, I stopped stabbing men. My childhood was bad, I barely even stabbed them and some of them are liars. But I am truly sorry & will be spending time with my family.”
Kate Harding tweeted this on 28th Oct 2017 and the satirical comment immediately got noticed and one of the best, funniest and most terrifying thread was created. People responded:
“In the 90s, everyone was stabbing men, or chopping off their body parts. I understand now that this was wrong, but it explains the context” @tcarmody
“I’m not saying it’s good or bad, but it was the Bobbitt age.” @kateharding
"Many men dress, walk, talk, smile, eat, and drink in a way that invites stabbing." @vgreenswallow
"When a man says 'Don't stab me' he means 'Don't stab me' " @amoine
"Or does he really mean, 'stab me'. It’s hard to tell." @ivysuburbanite
"I know! Many times men go to parties, get drunk and just seem to be asking for a good old stabbing! smh." @amoine
"Convenient how no one saw the stabbing and he didn't report it until other men came forward." @ElsiDawson
"Actually, the men who complain about being stabbed are jealous of better-looking men." @CairnRodrigues
"In fairness, though they didn't explicitly express it, the men I stabbed often threw out that 'I want to be stabbed vibe'." @avonhausfrau
"I just start stabbing... Just poke. I don’t even wait. When you’re a star, they let you do it. You can do anything. Stab 'em in the gut." @NicoleV_MN
.oOo.
And then there was the best tweet of all ... from a man ...
"Why do I have to protect myself from stabbings. Can't we just teach women not to stab?" @BoneDragon5077
.oOo.
This Twitter thread will stay with me forever. I wept with laughter reading the thread but at the same time, every single comment ran shivers down my spine (and I read thousands of them). These are ALL things said to women (and some men) who have been victims of rape and sexual assault. They are the torrent of victim shaming that people go through by people who think they are right to say these things. Put in this context above it MIGHT just make them think, just for a moment, about what they are saying!
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