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Rape and Clothing

Rape and clothing correlation

  • I suspect women are wearing revealing clothes in most rape cases

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • I suspect that a man/woman will rape regardless of the victims clothing

    Votes: 24 26.4%

  • I think some women are inviting dangerous attention when wearing revealing attire

    Votes: 5 5.5%

  • I don't think clothes have anything to do with rape

    Votes: 52 57.1%

  • Other

    Votes: 10 11.0%
  • Total voters
    91
ChrisL said:
My point is that even if a woman is wearing a one-piece pantsuit, if she goes off with a strange man THAT would be putting herself at risk. Meanwhile, the girl dressed provocatively could be behaving in a much more safe manner, so it has much more to do with behavior than clothing. Putting yourself in risky situations and being unaware of your surroundings is the contributing factor IMO and it has very little to do with clothing. And even if a woman does happen to find herself in a risky situation and the victim of a crime, I still don't hold HER responsible for others taking advantage of her in that way. Perhaps she is just naive. :shrug:
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And someone wearing a one-piece pantsuit and acting in a safe manner would be safer than both of them. Just sayin'.
 
Cephus said:
And someone wearing a one-piece pantsuit and acting in a safe manner would be safer than both of them. Just sayin'.
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The key is the "acting in a safe manner" part though more than anything she might be wearing that makes the situation "safer". For instance, not going out alone, not looking vulnerable (if at all possible), paying attention to your surroundings, etc.
 
roguenuke said:
The key is the "acting in a safe manner" part though more than anything she might be wearing that makes the situation "safer". For instance, not going out alone, not looking vulnerable (if at all possible), paying attention to your surroundings, etc.
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It's all part of acting in a safe manner. It's not bringing attention to yourself. It's staying out of dangerous situations. It's not placing yourself into a position where you are at risk. Sometimes, you have no idea where you are at risk, but your own behavior is always under your control. It's like women who go out in skimpy outfits to boisterous bars and get drunk and then can't understand why they get raped or attacked or mugged or whatever. Well duh, look at the position you put yourself in!
 
rocket88 said:
The point I'm making is that people will rationalize it like "Well, she's dressed like a slut, she was asking for it." It's not a valid rationalization. Yes, nothings going to stop you if that's what you're going to do (you in general, not you personally I hope), but then "asking for it" still doesn't matter because it wasn't about what she was wearing.
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If a person leaves $500 on top of their car in a high crime neighborhood and his money gets stolen, that person did not commit a crime. Was that person being stupid? Yes. Does the person stealing the money deserve to go to prison? Yes. Does the person having the money stolen deserve to go to prison? No. Does the person having the money stolen deserve to have their money stolen? Yes.

Getting a ten year prison sentence is not the same as an asshole saying, "She was asking for it."

Laws are usually made based upon what works to increase safety. Laws aren't made so that politicians can prove how nice they sound when giving a speech. Requiring all people to speak nicely is a pointless goal. It accomplishes two things. Jack and squat.
 
vasuderatorrent said:
If a person leaves $500 on top of their car in a high crime neighborhood and his money gets stolen, that person did not commit a crime. Was that person being stupid? Yes. Does the person stealing the money deserve to go to prison? Yes. Does the person having the money stolen deserve to go to prison? No. Does the person having the money stolen deserve to have their money stolen? Yes.
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Yet there are a lot of people who would argue, in this context, that the person who left the money on their car not only didn't deserve to have their money stolen, they were totally and completely innocent of having anything whatsoever to do with having it stolen.

That's an issue.
 
Just seems that the assumption with a few posters is that the female is either dressing slutty or acting slutty in most rape cases.
 
herenow1 said:
Just seems that the assumption with a few posters is that the female is either dressing slutty or acting slutty in most rape cases.
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No, there's no assumption at all. We're saying that *IF* either of those is the case, that's something the woman should not have done, period. Most rapes are a crime of opportunity, but given two women who are equally opportune, one dressed like a slut and the other not, the one dressed like the slut is probably more likely to be selected than the one who is not. I'm not sure why this is so hard for people to understand.
 
Cephus said:
No, there's no assumption at all. We're saying that *IF* either of those is the case, that's something the woman should not have done, period. Most rapes are a crime of opportunity, but given two women who are equally opportune, one dressed like a slut and the other not, the one dressed like the slut is probably more likely to be selected than the one who is not. I'm not sure why this is so hard for people to understand.
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I guess that would be my first thought process too.. if I didn't know other rape victims who were wearing ''everyday'' clothes, or if I myself was only targeted for the way I was dressed. I will teach my daughter not to dress in a provocative manner for reasons such as;''People might not take you seriously''
-''People may misjudge you'', but it won't be b/c ''you can get raped''. It will be a self respect issue, b/c girls, young women, old women are targets b/c of our gender first!
 
herenow1 said:
Just seems that the assumption with a few posters is that the female is either dressing slutty or acting slutty in most rape cases.
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As I said before, I don't it is a factor in most rapes. I simply think that it can contribute to a woman's chances of being assaulted in certain environments, and that women should be careful to moderate their behavior in those kinds of environments as such.

If nothing else, provocative clothing tends to draw a lot of attention to a person. There is always a risk that the attention in question might come from someone potentially dangerous.
 
Cephus said:
It's all part of acting in a safe manner. It's not bringing attention to yourself. It's staying out of dangerous situations. It's not placing yourself into a position where you are at risk. Sometimes, you have no idea where you are at risk, but your own behavior is always under your control. It's like women who go out in skimpy outfits to boisterous bars and get drunk and then can't understand why they get raped or attacked or mugged or whatever. Well duh, look at the position you put yourself in!
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But those outfits are no more likely to bring a woman unwanted attention than other outfits. It is the actions after the attention comes that can cause the problems (not that any rape victim should be blamed for her actions should a rape occur, no matter how immature or unsafe anyone thinks she was acting). It doesn't matter what you wear when it comes to gaining the wrong attention. That is simply a myth. I'm willing to bet that the vast majority of rape victims are not actually dressed in skimpy clothes at all.
 
vasuderatorrent said:
If a person leaves $500 on top of their car in a high crime neighborhood and his money gets stolen, that person did not commit a crime. Was that person being stupid? Yes. Does the person stealing the money deserve to go to prison? Yes. Does the person having the money stolen deserve to go to prison? No. Does the person having the money stolen deserve to have their money stolen? Yes.

Getting a ten year prison sentence is not the same as an asshole saying, "She was asking for it."

Laws are usually made based upon what works to increase safety. Laws aren't made so that politicians can prove how nice they sound when giving a speech. Requiring all people to speak nicely is a pointless goal. It accomplishes two things. Jack and squat.
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You know what, rape is not OK. Just deal with that.
 
Cephus said:
Yet there are a lot of people who would argue, in this context, that the person who left the money on their car not only didn't deserve to have their money stolen, they were totally and completely innocent of having anything whatsoever to do with having it stolen.

That's an issue.
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None of which makes theft OK either.
 
roguenuke said:
But those outfits are no more likely to bring a woman unwanted attention than other outfits. It is the actions after the attention comes that can cause the problems (not that any rape victim should be blamed for her actions should a rape occur, no matter how immature or unsafe anyone thinks she was acting). It doesn't matter what you wear when it comes to gaining the wrong attention. That is simply a myth. I'm willing to bet that the vast majority of rape victims are not actually dressed in skimpy clothes at all.
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I'm sorry, but I simply refuse to believe that. It stinks to high heaven of politically correct confirmation bias.

I wouldn't walk through a bad neighborhood in a tux, I wouldn't travel around a foreign country unfriendly to the United States in uniform, and I sure as Hell wouldn't enter a gay club in assless chaps. If a woman has even a lick of sense, she will observe the same kinds of precautions when it comes to environments that have the potential to attract female-specifc sexual predators, or, failing that, take some rather stringent precautions to ensure her safety even in spite of the attention grabbing clothing she has chosen to wear.

Anything less is simply tempting fate.
 
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Gathomas88 said:
I'm sorry, but I simply refuse to believe that. It stinks to high heavens of politically correct confirmation bias.

I wouldn't walk through a bad neighborhood in a tux, I wouldn't enter a gay club in assless chaps, and I wouldn't travel around a foreign country unfriendly to the United States in uniform. If a woman has a lick of sense, she will make use of the same make use of the same general principles when it comes to environments which have the potential to attract the kinds of sexual predators, or take some rather stringent precautions to ensure her safety even in spite of the attention grabbing clothing.
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Which still doesn't make rape OK. I don't know what's so hard to understand about it.
 
rocket88 said:
Which still doesn't make rape OK. I don't know what's so hard to understand about it.
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I dare you to point to a single instance of my ever saying anything even remotely implying that it was.

Advising vulnerable persons not to take foolish risks is not tantamount to arguing that rape is "ok."

"I don't know what's so hard to understand about it." :roll:
 
Gathomas88 said:
I dare you to point to a single instance of my ever saying anything even remotely implying that it was.

Advising vulnerable persons not to take foolish risks is not tantamount to arguing that rape is "ok."

"I don't know what's so hard to understand about it." :roll:
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Defensive aren't we? You're here rationalizing how it's the fault of the raped, rather than that of the rapist.
 
Gathomas88 said:
I'm sorry, but I simply refuse to believe that. It stinks to high heaven of politically correct confirmation bias.

I wouldn't walk through a bad neighborhood in a tux, I wouldn't travel around a foreign country unfriendly to the United States in uniform, and I sure as Hell wouldn't enter a gay club in assless chaps. If a woman has even a lick of sense, she will observe the same kinds of precautions when it comes to environments that have the potential to attract female-specifc sexual predators, or, at the very least, take some rather stringent precautions to ensure her safety even in spite of the attention grabbing clothing she has chosen to wear.

Anything less is simply tempting fate.
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Why wouldn't you travel in a "bad neighborhood" in a tux? It is just as likely that they would be afraid of you as they would attack you.

But on top of that, you have to add qualifiers to those statements. You have to add locations as to where you would not wear certain clothes.

For women, if we are anywhere that might "attract the bad element" then it won't matter what we are wearing unless we actually go out of our way to make ourselves smell or so undesirable it is ridiculous. If a woman knows she is going through a place like that, sure it is best if she would take precautions, but ensuring that she isn't wearing revealing clothing isn't likely to be one of the more important precautions because a woman is just as likely to gain that unwanted attention in the environment described in jeans and a tshirt as she is in skimpy clothes. Heck, it could even be argued that in certain places, jeans and a tshirt would be so out of place, that it could gain a woman more unwanted attention.
 
rocket88 said:
Defensive aren't we? You're here rationalizing how it's the fault of the raped, rather than that of the rapist.
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No, I am simply pointing out intellectually dishonest idiocy where I see it. I'm not surprised that you would fail to recognize the difference. :roll:

I don't know how many times I have to repeat this basic fact, but "fault" has absolutely nothing to do with anything being discussed here. The sooner everyone simply drops that idea from their heads, the better.

All that matters here is safety. Women can either behave in a responsible manner, and minimize the risks intrinsic to dangerous environments, or they can throw caution to the wind, and cast the dice.

They should simply bear in mind that reality tends not to favor those who take foolish risks while doing so.
 
roguenuke said:
Why wouldn't you travel in a "bad neighborhood" in a tux? It is just as likely that they would be afraid of you as they would attack you.
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Yea... I'm simply not buying it.

Don't go looking for trouble, and, by and large, no trouble will come to you.

Common sense dictates that drawing overt attention to oneself in questionable environments tends to be a bad idea. I don't care how many agenda driven "P.C." ideologues try to say otherwise.

They're almost certainly wrong, and I'm sure as Hell not about to risk finding out just how wrong they happen to be the hard way. No responsible person should.

For women, if we are anywhere that might "attract the bad element" then it won't matter what we are wearing unless we actually go out of our way to make ourselves smell or so undesirable it is ridiculous. If a woman knows she is going through a place like that, sure it is best if she would take precautions, but ensuring that she isn't wearing revealing clothing isn't likely to be one of the more important precautions because a woman is just as likely to gain that unwanted attention in the environment described in jeans and a tshirt as she is in skimpy clothes. Heck, it could even be argued that in certain places, jeans and a tshirt would be so out of place, that it could gain a woman more unwanted attention.
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Again, you can believe that if you wish, but I'm not buying it.

I'm a man. I know what kind of women catch my eye. I really don't see any compelling reason to believe that a potential rapist, or (more relevant to this discussion) date rapist, would be any different.

Not all rapists are pathological predators, after all. Sometimes attacks are more circumstantial, and clothing which is inclined to give a man the "wrong idea" really doesn't help matters in those cases.
 
Gathomas88 said:
Yea... I'm simply not buying it.

Don't go looking for trouble, and no trouble will come to you.

Common sense dictates that drawing overt attention to yourself in questionable environments tends to be a bad idea. I don't care how many "P.C." ideologues try to say otherwise.

They're almost certainly wrong, and I'm sure as Hell not about to risk finding out just how wrong they happen to be the hard way. No responsible person should.



Again, you can believe that if you wish, but I'm not buying it.

I'm a man. I know what kind of women catch my eye. I really don't see any compelling reason to believe that a potential rapist, or (more relevant to this discussion) date rapist, would be any different.

Not all rapists are pathological predators, after all. Sometimes attacks are more circumstantial, and clothing which is more inclined to give a man the "wrong idea" really isn't going to help matters.
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But you have no idea what kind of woman will catch a potential rapists' eye. Even if you are one yourself, not all rapists will be attracted to the same things in a woman or the same types of women (or even women at all really but that is a different argument altogether). Just like men in general, rapists are attracted to many different things. To say that you know that skimpy clothing is more likely to attract a rapist in any area is simply a false assumption by you that all rapists think similar to you and share your attractions.

And their being a "pathological predator" won't go your way either. Either a) the rapist has a specific type of person they are attracted to and it would be almost impossible to predict or b) they will go for any person that fits their general profile when they see her (him) when they pass by or whatever circumstance they require.

The only time clothing would be an issue is if there is something like a serial rapist, and that specific rapist is identified as targeting specific women (men) as wearing specific articles or types of clothing. But this would be a special circumstance of attention, not an everyday precaution.
 
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well theres two answers that are factually true for me but they basically say the same thing


I suspect that a man/woman will rape regardless of the victims clothing
I don't think clothes have anything to do with rape

clothing is meaningless in rape

a person rapes because of power and because they are a sick demented ****

I dont care if a women walks into a frat party naked and passes out in the corner.

100% of the blame is with the mentally inept and broken rapist :shrug:
 
While people perceive dress to have an impact on who is assaulted, studies of rapists suggest that victim attire is not a significant factor. Instead, rapists look for signs of passiveness and submissiveness, which, studies suggest, are more likely to coincide with more body-concealing clothing. (140) In a study to test whether males could determine whether women were high or low in passiveness and submissiveness, Richards and her colleagues found that men, using only nonverbal appearance cues, could accurately assess which women were passive and submissive versus those who were dominant and assertive. (141) Clothing was one of the key cues: "Those females high in passivity and submissiveness (i.e., those at greatest risk for victimization) wore noticeably more body-concealing clothing (i.e., high necklines, long pants and sleeves, multiple layers)." (142) This suggests that men equate body-concealing clothing with passive and submissive qualities, which are qualities that rapists look for in victims. Thus, those who wore provocative clothes would not be viewed as passive or submissive, and would be less likely to be victims of assault.
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Does provocative clothing protect women against rape? | Club Troppo

Myth Women who are sexually assaulted 'ask for it' by the way they dress or act, rape only happens to young women.

Fact Many women are led to believe that if they are not part of a certain category of women then they are 'safe' from being raped. Women and girls of all ages, classes, culture, ability, sexuality, race and faith are raped. Attractiveness has little significance. Reports show that there is a great diversity in the way targeted women act or dress. Rapists choose women based on their vulnerability not their physical appearance.

Sometimes women see themselves as 'unworthy' or 'undesirable' because of their age or physical appearance and therefore 'safe' from rape. Some men joke or make comments about women's appearances or age to indicate whether she is sexually desirable or available, or as part of their defence in court, saying he thought 'he was doing her a favour', using her appearance or age. Women are raped from the age of three to ninety three.
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Common misconceptions about rape

It is true that women should be aware of their surroundings as a way to reduce their risk of attack but remember that rapists carefully plan assaults and look for opportunities of vulnerability. There is no fail-safe method of victims can use to prevent assaults.
“Most women make false reports or ‘cry rape’ to get back at men.”

MYTH!
The Fact is… 2-4% of all sexual assault reports are false accusations. Other felony crimes have the same false report rates. Because of this myth many survivors are afraid to report and/or hesitate to tell someone because of the fear that they may not be believed. This myth sometimes stems from our inability to believe that some man we know could possibly rape a woman. We would rather believe it isn’t true than face seeing someone we know is a rapist.
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Sexual Assault Myths - TWU Project REV - Texas Woman's University



Having been in police work for 40+ years, I can say that how a woman is dressed has little or nothing to do with sex crimes. It's about opportunity. Our local serial rapist, The "South Side" rapist, attacked some 30 women in their homes. He could not even see them before hand, he forced his way in through a window and raped the victims at knifepoint.
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http://skeptics.stackexchange.com/q...exually-suggestively-more-likely-to-get-raped
 
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roguenuke said:
But you have no idea what kind of woman will catch a potential rapists' eye. Even if you are one yourself, not all rapists will be attracted to the same things in a woman or the same types of women (or even women at all really but that is a different argument altogether). Just like men in general, rapists are attracted to many different things. To say that you know that skimpy clothing is more likely to attract a rapist in any area is simply a false assumption by you that all rapists think similar to you and share your attractions.
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There are certain sexual cues that basically all men tend to be drawn towards. A reasonably attractive woman showing a lot of skin, or wearing extremely tight clothing, is going to grab basically any man's attention regardless of whatever other superficial preferences he might happen to carry.

For instance, I don't think you'll find a man alive who would find this woman to be blatantly unattractive, even if she wasn't necessarily his "type."

IMG_1205-vi.jpg
 
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