Chrissie Hynde: ‘If You Don’t Want My Opinion, Don’t Ask Me For It’

The Pretenders singer/songwriter Chrissie Hynde recently angered many among anti-rape activists by declaring that woman can, in fact, “entice a rapist” by dressing provocatively.

“If you don’t want to entice a rapist, don’t wear high heels so you can’t run from him,” Ms. Hynde said in the original interview. “If you’re wearing something that says ‘come and f— me,’ you’d better be good on your feet.”

Now, after a week of viewing the attacks her comments have brought down on her, Chrissie still has no regrets and Ms. Hynde told The Washington Post that she has no regrets.

“They’re entitled to say whatever they want,” Hynde said about her critics. “Do I regret saying it? I don’t know. I haven’t really thought about it.”

Chrissie, like many celebrities, says she doesn’t read things, positive or negative, that others write about her.

“I’ve just had some e-mails from friends saying, ‘Do you want to hide at my place?'”

Giving the matter just a little thought, Ms. Hynde comes back with just one piece of advice for her critics.

“If you don’t want my opinion, don’t ask me for it,” says Chrissie.

Ms. Hynde continued just a few minutes later, considering the relevance her comments have had on society in general.

“At the moment, we’re in one of the worst humanitarian crises in our lifetime,” Chrissie said. “[You see that picture of ] a Turkish policeman carrying the body of a 3-year-old boy who got washed up on the shore. These are the heartbreaking images we have and we’re talking about millions of displaced persons and people whose families have been destroyed and we’re talking about comments that I allegedly made about girls in their underwear.”

The controversy over Hynde’s thoughts on feminism were originally prompted by the release of her autobiography, Reckless: My Life as a Pretender, in which Ms. Hynde talks about being raped by a motorcycle gang while she was in her twenties, reports Entertainment Weekly. Hynde “took full responsibility” for the assault, which ultimately opened her up to attacks that she was encouraging victim blaming.

“I would say there was an element of sexual assault, but frankly, if you go into the club house of the world’s most notorious bikers, it’s not going to be for a Bible reading,” Chrissie said.

Hynde also touched back on the issue of feminism, being particularly critical of female musicians using their body image to sell albums, while extolling the tenets of feminism.

“To me, it’s pornographic,” Hynde told Good Morning America.“I’m not trying to criticize other women, I’m just saying if you’re selling [music] through sex, then don’t say you’re a feminist on behalf of music. Because I think little girls get very confused by that.”

[Featured image: Chrissie Hynde courtesy of Tim P. Whitby/Getty Images]