Based on this UK survey, and GWB's poll numbers, I guess it's safe to assume that, given a large enough population, any properly scientific survey will show that about 1/3 of the people will be psychotic idiots.

I wonder about the "partially responsible" aspect of the survey questions. We don't know whether these people are thinking, "if a woman gets really drunk at a bar, then maybe she is 5% responsible for having put herself in a risky situation" or "any woman who gets drunk is just asking for it." The former response, although, still pretty ignorant, is decidely less frightening than the latter response, and this survey doesn't seem to differentiate between the two people.

I would have liked to see the survey be a bit more specific, before Salon starts saying that 1/3 Brits think women are "Still asking for it."

We need to stop asking people if women are responsible for behaviour leading to rape, and start asking whether certain behaviour on the part of women justifies men raping them. It really is a different question, and I suspect the answer would be more encouraging. For example, I might feel that if a person walks down a street, in a dangerous neighborhood, late at night, alone, flashing expensive jewelry, they are partially responsible if they get robbed, because their actions were reckless. BUT, at the same time, if I were asked if such behaviour JUSTIFIED the actions of the robber, I would vehemently state that there was no justification for taking someone's property. There is a difference between acknowledging that some types of behaviour are reckless (like getting drunk with people you can't trust) and believing that those behaviours justify the negative consequences of the recklessness. There is never a justification for rape. At the same time, it is a good idea for women (and men) to take responsibility for their actions and not do things that might expose them to the predations of rapists(or robbers, or con men, or other victimizers).

I don't understand the need to make a hierarchy in regards to how much hurt you are allowed to feel when it comes to rape. I'm tired of hearing people say that in certain situations, it's ok to say "I was raped" or "I was almost raped" and in certain situations you should be ashamed to do so.

When people say that you should be careful, that you shouldn't take risks, I wonder what world it is, exactly, that they are living in. When do we not take risks when it comes to sex? Or when it comes to love? And since when is it not risky to have sex with someone that you are in a relationship with? Particularly when so much violence, sexual and otherwise, is perpetrated by people that you know?

When someone rapes or tries to rape you during a casual sexual encounter, it's "not really rape" because your slutty shenanigans put you in that situation. When someone rapes or tries to rape you within the confines of a relationship, it's "not really rape" because sex is expected. So when exactly is it that forcing someone to have sex crosses the line from "non-consensual sex" or "she should have known better" into being called what it actually is?

What did you expect? surveys showcase what the lowest common denominator thinks, or doesn't think. such is life in the times we live in. As the weaker sex, women will always have to deal with such judgements. The weaker sex of most animal species face this kind of discrimination. And we are animals.

I came upon the same survey while reading the UK Times and what I found most disturbing is that many women who took part in it, actually also seem to believe that a woman is partially responsible for being raped if she flirts, is drunk or dresses provocatively. That she's actually "asking for it". It seems like we haven't come such a long way after all, if many of us still believe it's only natural that we are, and always shall be, targets of sexual offense.

I think by using the phrases "asking for it" and "to blame," you are making the issue even more unclear than it already is. The word used in the study was "responsible," which is not quite the same thing.

I find it quite likely that many respondents to the study answered the question "Is a woman partially or completely responsible if..." with the idea that you are partially responsible for something if you make it more likely to happen. According to this thinking, you are partially responsible for your car getting stolen if you park it and leave your keys in it.

Now, the fact is that you ARE more likely to get raped if you are drunk and in a strange place. Does that make it your fault? No, but it makes the ascription of "partial responsibility" in the above context more understandable. Even if it is absolutely true that rape is never a woman's fault (and I agree that it is, unless of course she is the rapist), that doesn't mean that it is advisable for women to throw caution to the wind and not give any concern to their own safety. In a perfect world, we could. But even when you are not "asking for it," and it is not "your fault," it is still in a woman's best interest to be responsible.

Of course women share responsibility in what happens to their bodies - why this would seem "horrifying" to Triaster is beyond me! Every other crime always carries responsibility on the part of the victim: you didn't lock the door, you walked down a dark street, you flashed jewelry, you bought drugs from the wrong guy, you hung out with the wrong crowd, you got drunk and drove a car or gambled away the house or walked into a wall and broke your nose, but somehow, when it comes to rape, feminists treat women like children - it's not your fault - no matter what preceeded the rape, it's NOT YOUR FAULT... So if a woman gets drunk at a frat house and wakes up with a stranger- it's not HER fault. If a woman dresses in a sexually provocative way - she had NO RESPONSIBILITY for this action! Took a drink from a stranger that contains GHB - it's NOT HER FAULT. For some reason, common sense has been stripped from all conversations regarding rape - women HAVE NO RESPONSIBILITY to themselves...

That's why many men think feminists are full of shit and subject to ridicule - no self respecting man would EVER blame another guy for the mess he gets himself into - I make sure my doors are locked. I make sure that I walk down safe streets. I make sure I know what I'm drinking at the bar or anywhere. I make sure I know who I'm buying my weed from. I make sure that I know where I am at all times. And if I fuck up (and I have, many times) - I sure don't look to anyone else but myself for blame. But, unfortunately, feminists don't REALLY want women to take responibility - they prefer to make them VICTIMS... like children!