A Crash Course in Feminism Mk. II (or, why everyone should be a feminist)

[Deadlift]

Deadlift, sorry to hear something has happened, hope everyone is doing ok.

Thanks guys, It's the not knowing what to do. Understandable my wife is able offer more support than me and I kind of feel I'm not doing enough. The person in question has moved in with us for a bit and they are talking though what happened. But only to my wife and of course the police. I have to respect that she dosnt want to talk about what happened to me at all, feeling shame I think despite me saying everything to the contrary. I just am offering hugs and a shoulder to cry on when needed. It's the 1st time I've ever seen the effects up close. It's an unpleasant eye opener.

[Kirsten]

it is a difficult situation to be in, not knowing how to help, or if you even can. I was once facebook messaging a friend who was in Vietnam travelling, literally whilst a hotel staff member was trying to break in to her room to assault her.

[Mr Mystery]

Thanks guys, It's the not knowing what to do. Understandable my wife is able offer more support than me and I kind of feel I'm not doing enough. The person in question has moved in with us for a bit and they are talking though what happened. But only to my wife and of course the police. I have to respect that she dosnt want to talk about what happened to me at all, feeling shame I think despite me saying everything to the contrary. I just am offering hugs and a shoulder to cry on when needed. It's the 1st time I've ever seen the effects up close. It's an unpleasant eye opener.

Long as the attacker ends up in prison, you have no need to risk it yourself.

From what I understand from a Warden acquaintance, there's a lot of justice in Prison.

[YorkNecromancer]

Long as the attacker ends up in prison, you have no need to risk it yourself.

From what I understand from a Warden acquaintance, there's a lot of justice in Prison.

Yeah, that's not a helpful attitude. Speaking as someone who appeared as a witness in a crown prosecution case where the defendant was charged with 10 counts of sexual assault (everything from indecent exposure to four counts of rape) I can tell you now: the system is not set up to put these people away. The chance of justice is very, very low, EVEN IF there's physical evidence. There are more than enough stats on rape prosecutions on this thread to prove this.

Now, assuming this guy gets off - which is very likely - what is actually going to happen? Vigilante justice? Deadlift should go off and physically attack the guy? Can you not see the pressure your statement puts on him, however small? 'If you don't get justice, you need to kill this guy, because that's what a man does' is the horrible undercurrent of your statement. I'm sorry, Mystery, but this is the f***ing real world, where if you do some stuff like that, you endanger your family, livelihood and friends - and those people f***ing matter too.

As for the comment about justice in prison, well, the idea that prisoners attacking other prisoners is okay is monstrous. Rape is never okay, never. WE HAVE TO ACTUALLY BE BETTER THAN THESE PEOPLE OR WE'RE AS BAD AS THEM. So if he goes away, he should go away and serve his time unmolested. The punishment is the loss of freedom. Torture is never, ever okay. Yeah, it's a satisfying idea - I won't lie and say I haven't fantasised about hurting the guy I testified against, I surely have. But the fact is, we can't set a standard then make exceptions. We just can't.

How this thing is likely to go down, is that there will be a long court trial, and the guy may go to prison, or he may not. And do you know what happens to those of us who see justice fail?

We live with it.

We don't go around like some action hero. We get up and go to our job and tend to our families and watch television, and we do this knowing that a criminal f*** is free, but that there's nothing we can do about it.

Because that's life. Life is not fair. It is not just. It is not kind. Bad things happen to good people all the time, and those responsible go unpunished.

The only answer - such as it is - is to work to make the world a better place in ways that we can. So, in my case, I try to spread the word online. I read as much as I can. I contribute to charities that protect people, I learn about ways to improve the system, and I do what I can.

Because I am one man, and the world is big and I am small. Like all of us. There is no way to fix the world as a whole, because we're so utterly, laughably insignificant. So powerless. So I take the anger, and the hate, and the disgust, and I channel it as positively as I can.

And yes, I have had to recieve counselling to cope with it. Because when the world finally truly shows you how cruel it can be, not just first world problem, but actual, real horror, it's f***ing awful and there's literally nothing which can make that okay.

/rant over.

[Mr Mystery]

Wasn't espousing mob justice at all.

[Gotthammer]

It's weird like the people who hurt those close to me I could quite happily see die in horrible, painful ways. But the person who hurt me I don't feel like that, I just wish I wasn't reminded of them by so many little things. Strange things like Gustav Klimt art, Robert DeNiro and rollercoasters. I don't want them punished, I just want to forget.

[Morgrim]

[url]http://www.newsweek.com/gamergate-about-media-ethics-or-harassing-women-harassment-data-show-279736[/url]

An analysis shows that #gamergate has many many more tweets dedicated to harassing women than to its supposed cause of looking for journalistic integrity.

[CoffeeGrunt]

Good ol' Matt Melvin tellin' it like it should be.

[eldargal]

Then a fouth panel with the half of guys from panel 4 claiming she is only into it for the attention she gets in panel 2...

[CoffeeGrunt]

Republicans are hypocrites? Never!