In a society as toxic as ours, the prevalent narratives tell women ‘not to get raped’ instead of telling men ‘not to rape’. Consequently, which considers a woman saying no as her meaning to say ‘convince me’; and which sees women as objects of sexual desire and not as autonomous human beings. Recently, a Pakistani news anchor got trolled by a Twitterati for wearing revealing clothes on air and now he is in hot waters for his statement.
A tweet of a Pakistani man is brought to the forefront which has given a rise to the issue of what causes rapes. Do the dresses provoke? Are women clad in burqas not raped? We have instances where men sexually abuse animals. Should we clothe animals too?
Heck, men do not even spare the minors, infants, old and aged women, women suffering from unsoundness of mind, women in comma, or the buried dead bodies. How do you explain that? What could they have possibly done to catch a rapist’s fancy?
We certainly do not lack misogynists in our society. Especially, in a country like Pakistan, where a CCPO, a senior police official, responsible for the protection of citizens, blames the Lahore motorway rape victim for not taking precautions instead of taking the blame and promising to catch the absconders, men are prompt to point fingers at women for their rape.
Anyhow, coming towards the tweet of yet another misogynist; according to him, obscenity and pornography are the real cause of sexual violence. Moreover, this Pakistani man did not even hesitate to capture a picture of a female news anchor and point out her revealing clothes.
Here’s what he tweeted
Apparently, it is our TV channels that promote provocative dressing. Not only that but also, as a result, promote sexual violence in our country. Is that so? Sadly, the way women dress is routinely cited as an incitement to rape.
How about these men with filthy brains, for once, not look at a woman as a sexual object? If you see anything wrong with the anchor’s dressing, you, yourself, contribute to the problem. Maybe it is the very existence of women that needs to be blamed for turning our holier-than-thou men into rapists.
Having said that, the ongoing rape epidemic in Pakistan is sheer evidence of rape being a stigmatized crime wherein vilifications are cast on the victim instead of the accused.
Moreover, society is the criminal at hand for every rapist that walks free. Instead of drawing focus on the criminal and its punishment, people are quick to start question the state of the woman prior to being raped or harassed.
Reaction of the Twittersphere
“This is the problem of the oppressed upbringing of the society. If this was the case then there would be more rapes in western countries than in Pakistan and Saudi Arabia. But it is the other way around. Ten rape cases are daily reported in Pakistan. 12 in Saudi, and 6 in Europe.”
“What kind of clothes do children wear in madrassas when they are raped?” one asked.
“May God give guidance to these lustful eyed shameless men to mind their own business.”
“What’s wrong with these clothes? Change your way of thinking for God’s sake.”
There are many, many examples and different manifestations of the way in which dress is used in this context against women seeking justice for rape. Ask yourself- what does the assumption that dress can contribute to rape say about men?
What do you think of this story? Let us know in the comments section below.