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A review by kevin_shepherd
Asking for It: The Alarming Rise of Rape Culture--And What We Can Do about It by Kate Harding
5.0
I wish I lived in a country where my politicians didn’t say things like…
“Rape is kinda like the weather. If it’s inevitable, relax and enjoy it.” ~Clayton Williams, Texas
“If it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to shut that thing down.” ~Todd Akin, Missouri
“Rape victims should make the best of a bad situation.” ~Rick Santorum, Pennsylvania
“Even when life begins in that horrible situation of rape, it is something that God intended to happen.” ~Richard Mourdock, Indiana
…but I don’t.
I wish I could turn on the television and not hear things like…
"I know it wasn't rape-rape. It was something else but I don't believe it was rape-rape.” ~Whoopie Goldberg on Roman Polanski vaginally and anally penetrating a 13 year old girl
or…
“The situation here for this kid looks to me to be a lot more fun than what he had under his old parents. He didn't have to go to school. He could run around and do whatever he wanted.” ~Bill O’Reilly on the kidnapping and repeated raping of a 15 year old boy
…but I can’t.
I wish people would believe Dylan Farrow when she writes…
“…when I was seven years old, Woody Allen took me by the hand and led me into a dim, closet-like attic on the second floor of our house. He told me to lay on my stomach and play with my brother’s electric train set. Then he sexually assaulted me. He talked to me while he did it, whispering that I was a good girl, that this was our secret, promising that we’d go to Paris and I’d be a star in his movies.”
…but they don’t.
I wish the term “Rape Culture” was a ludicrous exaggeration…
…but it isn’t.
Kate Harding writes with both fervor and exasperation. Published in 2015, Asking For It predates Harvey Weinstein and #MeToo and the 2016 election of our “grab ‘em by the p*ssy” POTUS.
I wish the people that most needed to read this had actually read this, but they didn’t, and they haven’t, and they won’t.
“Rape is kinda like the weather. If it’s inevitable, relax and enjoy it.” ~Clayton Williams, Texas
“If it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to shut that thing down.” ~Todd Akin, Missouri
“Rape victims should make the best of a bad situation.” ~Rick Santorum, Pennsylvania
“Even when life begins in that horrible situation of rape, it is something that God intended to happen.” ~Richard Mourdock, Indiana
…but I don’t.
I wish I could turn on the television and not hear things like…
"I know it wasn't rape-rape. It was something else but I don't believe it was rape-rape.” ~Whoopie Goldberg on Roman Polanski vaginally and anally penetrating a 13 year old girl
or…
“The situation here for this kid looks to me to be a lot more fun than what he had under his old parents. He didn't have to go to school. He could run around and do whatever he wanted.” ~Bill O’Reilly on the kidnapping and repeated raping of a 15 year old boy
…but I can’t.
I wish people would believe Dylan Farrow when she writes…
“…when I was seven years old, Woody Allen took me by the hand and led me into a dim, closet-like attic on the second floor of our house. He told me to lay on my stomach and play with my brother’s electric train set. Then he sexually assaulted me. He talked to me while he did it, whispering that I was a good girl, that this was our secret, promising that we’d go to Paris and I’d be a star in his movies.”
…but they don’t.
I wish the term “Rape Culture” was a ludicrous exaggeration…
…but it isn’t.
Kate Harding writes with both fervor and exasperation. Published in 2015, Asking For It predates Harvey Weinstein and #MeToo and the 2016 election of our “grab ‘em by the p*ssy” POTUS.
I wish the people that most needed to read this had actually read this, but they didn’t, and they haven’t, and they won’t.