ext_46245 ([identity profile] leethet.livejournal.com) wrote in [personal profile] gilda_elise 2019-04-02 03:53 pm (UTC)

But for all the women who didn't speak, who didn't shout, who didn't fight back ... what? You surely don't believe they're all liars or undeserving of sympathy?

I fought back. Some people can't, physically. Some can't emotionally. Many are totally surprised and don't react, in the moment, the way history will later say they should have (I've been there too - most people have). That doesn't mean they weren't victims of assault.

Fighting off a man intent on assaulting you is physically impossible for most women. I'm not going to blame women for recognizing that. Maybe only another woman, or a pretty man in prison, would understand the feeling of threat when someone a lot bigger than you corners you somewhere alone far from help. I think a lot of men don't get that. "Why didn't you fight back?" "Because he punched me once and broke my jaw and I went down like a load of bricks."

Just sayin'. To be fair many women express the position you seem to be expressing - that you only have a right to talk about it, to call it assault, if you fought back in the moment. I just can't see that.

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