Whilst I agree that she should be given a looking over by the men in white suits, it's ironic that cases like this are a miniscule fraction of the rape culture/rape apologism society we live in which destroys the lives of countless more women per year than a few men falsely accused, yet people will rage at things like this and shrug their shoulders at the other.
Well said. I completely agree.
There are women who make false rape allegations, but there are a tiny tiny minority. Most women who make allegations are telling the truth, but they get dismissed and shunned anyway.
at least when a woman is raped she has the sympathy and empathy of everyone around her. with the man you will still get the 'no smoke without fire' people gossiping, he could well lose all his friends and family too.
Do you know anyone who has come forward about being raped? Rape victims do NOT have the sympathy and empathy of people around them. Since most rapes are committed by people already in the woman's social group - supposed friends or family - this puts her friends in the position of having to choose between her and their other friend. And most times, they say, "well, my friend is a decent chap, he would never rape, so the woman must be lying." Or, "um, this is all rather uncomfortable, let's talk about something else."
The woman very rarely gets support from most of her friends, and because the rapist is still welcomed in her social circle, she often gets isolated from the people she thought were her friends because its too painful to see them. Or she suppresses her pain and stops 'making a fuss'.
Can't say I agree with that - the whole reason why a case like this gets people raging is as a result of the fact that rapists are (quite rightly) despised... thus a deliberate false accusation like this is going to destroy someone's life. You can't really have it both ways - if rape isn't taken seriously then false accusation of rape is no biggie either... fact is rape is taken seriously and is very difficult to successfully prosecute - cases like this highlight the reason why.
The thing is, false accusation of rape affects men far more often than it affects women. Actual rape affects women far more often than it affects men.
In our culture, things which affect men worse than women are considered more important. Most people who read this thread are men. For them, the threat of being accused of rape is something that might actually happen to them, so they care more about it than rape, which is generally thought of as a woman's problem.
Now lets be clear about something: Being falsely accused of rape is NOT as bad as being raped. While both may affect you for a long time, one is clearly worse than the other. So when people say, as has been said in this thread, "women who falsely accuse men of rape should get the same sentence as rapists," they are contributing to rape culture. They are dismissing the experiences of a lot (a LOT) of women, in favour of prioritising something that happens to a tiny number of men.
This distorted perspective, by the way - diminishing those men who have been raped, as well as minimising women,
and dealing sensibly with rape accusations - is something feminism would correct. It would help both men
and women.
I'm a massive feminist and think that this forum is full of rape culture and rape apologist, and I think its an absolute disgrace that this woman didn't get prison time, ideally the same kind of prison time the guys were looking at for her original false claims. She needs help, she is clearly mentally ill, maybe a psychopath of some sort.
Yes, indeed. This thread itself is evidence of rape culture and rape apologist. One woman makes a claim counter to people's opinions here, and she is jumped on relentlessly. This thread has grown to 6 pages in a few hours, mostly by people not liking their world view being challenged.
Let's be clear: Mademoiselle was NOT saying you (the reader) are a rapist or defender of rapists. She was saying that in society there are a lot of people who do. I've illustrated above how it happens.
But I'm not, either, saying
you do that. If you don't, then you can simply shrug and say that's not my experience. And I'd respect that.
But if you instead jump on a woman who makes claims you don't like, and angrily demanding her to answer your specific counter-claims, because your feelings are hurt, is just proving her point. Where do you think your entitlement comes from? The answer is rape culture.