Amanda Hess of Washington City Paper’s TheSexist blog has a great takedown of the whole slut-shaming extravaganza surrounding any women, but particularly
“celebrity” women, who ever, anywhere, for any reason, mix sex and cameras. And while you should definitely go read the whole thing (a conversation with Sadie Doyle who’s also just sharp) one particular piece really stands out.
It’s about tisk-tiskers who fret endlessly about “vulnerable” victims without… well, here’s Amanda
...while I understand the practical concerns involved here, and think everyone should be educated about the risks of sexual intercourse, people who trump up “personal responsibility” while doing no fucking work to help make bad “consequences” of sex any better just essentially think people who have sex OUGHT TO BE punished for it. These are the same arguments against abortion, the same arguments against working to stop HIV, the same arguments against working to stop rape.
The reason they do no fucking work to help make bad consequences is that at the end of the day they endorse the consequences! 100% The victim’s suffering and humiliation makes them object lessons (cough, objects, cough) that ideally encourage others not to follow suit.
