‘Some Rapes Are Just Learning Experiences,’ Says ‘Princeton Mom’ Susan Patton
Rape or any form of sexual assault is bound to be a traumatic event. However, controversial author Susan Patton, who had last year suggested young women to secure a husband before they graduate, addressed the situation a whole lot differently than is the convention.
While speaking on CNN with Carol Costello about the state of sexual assault on college campuses, Susan seemed to be concerned that it is all the media and people on college campus seem to be discussing today.
“We’re talking about nothing but rape on campus, it seems like, for the last several weeks or months, but I think what makes this conversation so particularly prickly is the definition of rape.”
Patton, who is fondly referred as the “Princeton Mom,” continued to break apart the topic of rape, and seemed to suggest that the way it is discussed is wrong to begin with.
“It no longer is when a woman is violated at the point of a gun or knife. We’re now talking about, or identifying as rape, what really is a clumsy hookup melodrama, or a fumbled attempt at a kiss or caress.”
Surprisingly, Ms. Patton wasn’t too kind to the victims of sexual abuse. In fact, Patton seemed to blame the victims, shame sexual activity, and encourage women to drink less.
Interestingly, she even indirectly compared rape to everyday burglary by asking the victims, “Why don’t you just leave?”
But what stood out of the otherwise hard-hitting conversation, which explored the parameters that normally aren’t taken into consideration about a rape, was her blatant disregard about any form of rape that didn’t involve strangers with knives or other threatening weapons. She simply referred to these “regrettable” instances of sexual assault as “learning experiences.”
Ms. Patton shared that she strongly felt so because rape statistics routinely indicate that the perpetrator was well known to the victim, reported the Daily Mail. So when Costello, who has openly shared her trauma owing to domestic violence, attempted to point out that rape between people who know one another is, in fact, a real (and extraordinarily common) form of rape, both on college campuses and in general, Patton posed a question.
“If so many women do know their attackers, I don’t understand why they don’t tell their rapists not to rape them. Well, then it makes one wonder, why do you not just get up and leave? “
Asked how she would justify her views, Ms. Patton continued, “I believe that she [the victim] experienced something that she regretted. I believe that she got very drunk, and had sex with a man that she regretted the next morning. To me, that’s not a crime, that’s not rape. That’s a learning experience. That’s a learning experience that has to do with making choices and taking responsibility for the choices you make.”
Rape is an undeniable risk that many teenagers routinely face. It certainly isn’t pretty, and non-consensual sexual activity should always be considered as a crime. What do you think?
[Image Credit | CNN]
