Brown Like A Paper Bag

Feminism? Skepticism? Me? vut

Bro, I’m doing a slow boil with the fire set on low. A friend of mine posted this from tumblr on her facebook wall earlier:

marxisforbros:

A woman walks to work one day while wearing a short skirt and a singlet. As she passes a group of men at a corner they holler and call her lewd names. She tells her co-workers and they say that those men are pigs.
The next day the woman walks to work while wearing jeans and a hoodie, and to her surprise she passes the men unnoticed. Her co-workers tell her that they probably ignored her because of her clothing. 
On the third day the woman wears the short skirt and singlet to work, and as she passes the men they holler loudly as they had done the first day. When she tells her co-workers, they are confused. They tell her that if she didn’t want the men to holler, then she shouldn’t have dressed that way. 

The blame shifts from the rude men to the woman and her clothing. Her co-workers think that she was inviting the calls by not dressing differently. 

That’s rape culture. 

In reality, every time those men holler at her, it is their fault. If she dresses differently purely to avoid their attention, then that is just as bad as if they had hollered at her anyway, as their hollering has forced her to behave differently simply so that she may be left alone. And that is their fault. The blame does not shift. In any circumstance where she is not wearing what she wants and feeling safe and being left alone; It is their fault.

Reality: There are men and it is their responsibility to not rape.
Rape culture: There is rape and it is a woman’s responsibility to avoid it.

In response I instantly commented because I agree with this post, but I wanted to know her thoughts in relation to the religion she follows:

Do you think the idea of rape culture is something communicated in Islam? I want your opinion on this question. I may be confusing culture with religion here also.

After not getting a reply for a while, I decided to read translations from an online version of the Quran. I entered in the keyword “women” and read excerpts that had any mention of females. I started to slowly boil with what I found. The translations lacked the fairness and equality I thought were at least somewhat established. I gave it a rest and went back to my friend’s original post to see if she replied to my comment. I wasn’t too content with her replies nor the input of a guy (who is most likely Muslim from the looks of his name) who compared the features that characterize a woman from a man to objects of monetary value, and rape to the theft of these objects.

I finally gave my rusty penny on the matter:

Hm, my opinion or thoughts on Islam are muddled, but I don’t doubt that some sort of respect for women is laid out in regards to this matter. 

I mostly feel though that it’s a matter of control and respect. Rape happens when both are lacking on part of the person who finds it an appealing prospect. Women could easily be targeted for their perceived weakness as prey, rather than their display of “goodies” because all women have them whether they’re covered, covered and tight, or all hanging out. What’s seen or isn’t seen shouldn’t matter.

I received a “like” by her on my post, as did everyone else who posted their thoughts.

Though it’s established that rape is wrong in Islam, I’m still confused about the intentions of the religion my parents follow. Are they really helping/looking out for the ladies when we’re told we are the ones who are supposed to change our ways (wrists and ankles are so sexy so they should totes be covered) as to not entice the thoughts or loins of men? Yeah, I used the word loins.

Disclaimer: I’m not trying to bash guys either here. There are lots of guys who care and respect women, their bodies and thoughts. I know this.

That’s all of my little rant. You may resume your day.