It’s common sense to protect oneself

Published 6:53 pm Thursday, December 11, 2014

Rape on a college campus — like rape everywhere — is a crime and a tragedy. It’s the most personal violation imaginable short of murder.

So why are feminists responding so negatively to the idea of warning young women to avoid it?

In a completely serious article for the American edition of the London-based Guardian, columnist Jessica Valenti says it’s wrong to tell college-age women not to get debilitatingly drunk at parties.

She declares in her piece that “real equality is when women have the right to be as drunk and stupid as men.”

Now, her underlying point may have some political validity; she contends that “young women need to be able to move around the world with the same amount of stupid that men do because, if women are held to a higher standard of behavior, and we’re inevitably blamed if — and when — we don’t adhere to it.”

But political validity isn’t the same as wisdom, or even common sense.

Of course we should be able to tell young women to please, please, please avoid putting themselves in situations in which they might be more vulnerable.

That’s the simple point that Emily Yoffe was trying to make in Slate last week.

“Young women are getting a distorted message that their right to match men drink for drink is a feminist issue,” Yoffe wrote. “The real feminist message should be that when you lose the ability to be responsible for yourself, you drastically increase the chances that you will attract the kinds of people who, shall we say, don’t have your best interest at heart. That’s not blaming the victim; that’s trying to prevent more victims.”

Heather Wilhelm at the Federalist online magazine says she’s a feminist herself, but more and more lately, she’s been with the words and ideas like those advanced by women like Valenti.

Advising young women to protect themselves doesn’t excuse the predators one bit, she says.

“We all know where the blame lies: with the perpetrator,” she writes. “The goal is to encourage women to protect themselves, with reality being what it is. It almost leads one to wonder: Do feminists really care about women’s safety at all?”

Valenti contends that she does.

“Sure, binge drinking is a problem among young people — and, though men are far more likely to binge drink than women, the rate of women binge drinking has stayed steady as the rate among men declined,” Valenti writes. “No, we should not encourage people to do dangerous things (and there are dangers). But the freedom to have fun, make mistakes and participate in some youthful irresponsibility shouldn’t be limited to men.”

But let’s examine that sentiment, substituting another situation. Is it “feminist empowerment” to tell young women that they have a right to park in the far, dark corners of the mall parking lot at night? Maybe. But it’s common sense to tell them that lights and the proximity of other people are good things.

Doctrinaire political views are no substitute for safety.

Ladies, please be safe.