McKenna+C’s+OpEd+Article



We live in a society that teaches females how to protect themselves against rape by dressing modestly and being vigilant of social behaviors, while our males are taught that sex is a rite of passage. Rape under any circumstance is never okay; it has nothing to do with clothing or vigilant behaviors. A female dressing provocatively is not the same as giving her consent to sex. If she is wearing a short skirt, she is not giving consent to be raped. If her cleavage is showing, still not giving anyone the consent to rape her. If she choses to not wearing anything, she is still not giving consent. What a women choses to wear does not justify rape. Many men and women use the way a women is dressed as an excuse for rape by saying that “she was asking for it” simply by displaying her body in a manner that men may find appealing.

Society gives men the permission to act as if they have no control over their desires or urges. Are men not fully capable of rational thinking? You are not entitled to someone else’s body just because it is exposed. In conservative countries such as Saudi Arabia, there are laws that require women to be completely covered in hijabs and burkas, to “protect their virtue” and prevent the men from being tempted by their bodies. Yet women in these countries continue to be victims of high rates of rape. Such laws prove that rape is happening regardless of the way a woman is dressed, as well as the laws that the society creates.

Western society provides rapists the upper hand due to our patriotically views, providing justification for male actions. Society’s unspoken rules for women whisper that we should be careful of provocatively dressing in order to keep us safe from men being seduced into raping us. Women should be mindful of how much alcohol we are consuming because after a certain amount we are free game for rape. These sexist societal believes points toward the idea that men are incapable of controlling themselves, that it takes extraordinary effort for men to walk down the street without raping someone. Society telling men that women need to dress in a certain manner in order to not be provoked into raping women, that women require a certain dress code and certain behaviors in order to prevent men from raping us.

We live in a society were the blame for rape is being placed on the victim rather than the rapist.