it's a sad, sad truth...

I felt relieved to have learned that Daniel Smith has finally been convicted of the rape of Nicole. But I felt nauseated to also have learned that there still are people out there who live up to patriarchal idealisms/perspective.

Months before the Subic rape case was resolved, I heard this man comment on radio (while I'm aboard an FX on my way to work) that it's the girl's fault that she was raped, and that women like her, who party until dawn under the influence of booze, doesn't really deserve sympathy. That women like her (assuming she's a prostitute) really deserve to be abandoned after being used, just like a tissue paper. The pig! I just felt vindicated when the radio commentators answered that pig back, saying that if he thinks women are like a sheet of tissue paper, then he must be the toilet bowl. Hurrah!

And then the other day, someone I know commented that he doesn't believe Nicole to be telling the truth; that if the girl doesn't want anything to happen, then nothing would; and how can someone as good-looking as Daniel Smith rape someone like Nicole? Besides, "no one gets raped nowadays." I felt aghast! How can someone like that person say something like that? I had to control myself the moment I heard those words. So does that mean that if you're not good-looking, you just have to shut up and sulk in a corner after being raped by a handsome guy?

The thing here is, it's more than being "rape-worthy" (I apologize for the term). No one, NO ONE, should ever be rape-worthy, regardless of whether she looks like Angelina Jolie or Bakekang. And it doesn't also follow that only ugly men are rapists. You must be living under a rock on some forsaken island to believe that.

Plus, as truth would have it, men are physically stronger than women, so when the assailant punches the victim (or does anything that would physically hurt her), could the girl do anything else aside from passing out?

And WOMEN and CHILDREN STILL DO GET RAPED. Statistics even show that there are so many unreported cases of sexual assault these days. Even wives get raped by their husbands, hence the term "marital rape".

Also, let's not miss another important point here: No matter if a woman is earning her living by selling her body, NO ONE HAS THE RIGHT TO RAPE HER. (Just to reiterate, "rape" means forcing someone to engage in sex. That means that even if you're a prostitute, and a customer forces himself on you WITHOUT your permission, THAT IS RAPE.)

Though I do understand the reason why some women are forced into prostitution, I do not vouch for it. Women are NOT sex slaves. But given the status quo, we still can't go on blaming those in this business when they get raped; it's not as if they feel so grateful for what they've been forced to do.

Forgive me for venting like this. It's just that such narrow-minded thinking irks me. Maybe it's partly my fault, thinking that at this day and age, people would be more clever–more intelligent and humane–to be gender-biased.