What better way to kick off the first "thoughts on" post of the new year than by attempting a vlog?
Feel free to argue with my ideas in the comments below! I love seeing discussion. (I know, I know - it's annoying with the Blogger comment system, but I don't want to install DISQUS. I'd hate to lose all the awesome comments already here!)
[EDIT] A clarification on the term "rape culture":
Kelly commented on this post and said:
I think a lot of her kerfuffle comes from the term "rape culture", which I don't think is accurate. I assume you're taking it from the idea that girls are being told this kind of behavior is okay, but that's still a long way from rape.
The term "rape culture" doesn't come from me going, "Because a guy does this they're going to rape you omigod!" It comes from the idea that certain things are okay to do, and this leads to thinking that other things are okay to do, and that leads to thinking that other things are okay to do.
If you're in a room with 20 men, statistics say one of them is a rapist. (Even if they don't believe it was rape.) Let's say a joke is made about rape or hitting a woman or just a generally offensive joke towards women.
Sure, that's not rape. But that one man in the room is nodding and going, "Yeah, yeah, they get me." People see that one thing is okay to do and they think people won't mind if they take it one step farther.
If it's okay to follow a girl home against her will or say mean things to her that she doesn't want to hear or invade her personal space, why wouldn't it be okay to take it to the next level and do something to her that she doesn't want done?
That's where rape culture comes from: not because it IS rape, but because it encourages a mindset that makes it okay TO rape.