According to a British study from 2010, one-third of Londoners blame rape victims for dressing provocatively. And the study found that women were substantially less forgiving than men in evaluating whether a victim is to blame for her own assault.
The trope is as old as time, lambasting a victim because her skirt was too short, and surely she was asking for it. In a now infamous incident from 2011, a Toronto cop told a group of female students, “Women should avoid dressing like sluts in order not to be victimized.” Just months later, women reclaimed the narrative and leaned into the worst of victim blaming, and thus, the “SlutWalk” was born.
Execution aside, the general sentiment embodies the best of shamelessness. But victim-blaming has persisted, and it’s now staked out a new territory: the political.
As exculpatory details unfold about a now-viral encounter between a group of MAGA-capped high schoolers, Native American activists, and Black Israelites, some media personalities — yours truly included — have apologized for sharing a dishonest version of events without fact-checking the story first. But a few have doubled down, impugning the kids — not for harassing the Native Americans, which they can no longer claim happened based on the evidence, but for being white boys at a pro-life rally and, most importantly, wearing those red “Make America Great Again” hats.
For what it’s worth, I didn’t vote for President Trump, and I probably won’t again. (Legalize weed and start to play hardball with the healthcare cartel, and then we’ll talk.) But to view someone’s mere support of a fairly elected president of the United States as sufficient evidence that they deserve to be publicly shamed, “doxed,” and harassed is downright dangerous for the future of democracy. It’s possible to oppose this president and think him personally unethical (as I do) and yet still understand why good people might support him and his policies — perhaps even enthusiastically. Opposing Trump and remaining civil toward his supporters should not be mutually exclusive.
Yet here we are. The same society that continues to blame women for their own rapes based on their clothing or alcohol consumption now blames children for the public harassment they receive for wearing the red hat. You can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar, but you can farm more retweets with public shaming than with a reasoned explanation for why a Trump fan should reconsider their support.
A university English professor emailed me a response to a previous piece about the saga, echoing and distilling the most disturbing talking point circulating among some on the Left. It’s worth reproducing a significant excerpt:
We don’t know why each of the students supports Trump. It’s fully possible that a number of them support the wall or the president’s off-color statements because they harbor racist sentiments. But to jump to that conclusion without a shred of evidence, just to blame a group of children, some of whom can’t even legally drive, for becoming victims of harassment and a public smear campaign? That’s an indictment of the writer and of those circulating this ridiculous tripe. It’s a damning commentary on our culture’s growing propensity for demanding submission of thought-criminals, and of victim-blaming based on political affiliation.
Don’t be surprised if the MAGAlytes respond to this totalitarian harassment by doubling down on their public support for the president. Just as rape victim advocates began to revel in SlutWalks across the country to throw misogynist demands for shame back in the faces of victim-blamers, Trump fans will get rightfully riled up about the Left’s eagerness to punish those wearing the hat.
It’s a divisive and vicious prospect, but one that we’re bringing onto ourselves and are slowly coming to deserve.
