Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
Those of you who know your rock history may be familiar with Chrissie Hynde, the lead singer of legendary '80s band The Pretenders. She was a female pioneer in the rock world, but Hynde's recent victim-blaming comments about rape make her sound way more retro than her music.
In her new memoir Reckless, Hynde recounts a harrowing tale about a gang rape she survived at the age of 21. Men from a motorcycle gang told her they'd take her to a party, but instead they drove her to an abandoned building and forced her to perform sexual acts on them under threat of violence.
Horrifying, right? It's amazing how she recovered from that trauma and continued to perform and tour. How did she do it? Well, if you're waiting for an inspiring story of survival and empowerment, click away now. In a Sunday Times interview, Hynde put a very depressing spin on the incident.
For fans who used to admire Hynde, every word she says about her rape breaks our hearts a little.
"If I'm walking around in my underwear and I'm drunk. Who else's fault can it be?" Crack!
"Technically speaking, however you want to look at it, this was all my doing and I take full responsibility." Ping! Smash!
"Those motorcycle gangs, that’s what they do." Snap!
"You can’t paint yourself into a corner and then say whose brush is this? You have to take responsibility. I mean, I was naïve." Creeeeeak!
"You know, if you don’t want to entice a rapist, don’t wear high heels so you can’t run from him." Clang! Shatter! Smash!
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
SOB! Say it isn't so, Chrissie! Tell us you don't really believe women who wear high heels and get within arm's reach of men who ride motorcycles deserve to be raped. Who are you, even?!?
More from The Stir: Serena Williams Apologizes for Blaming the Steubenville Rape Victim
Hynde indulges in some pretty dark victim-blaming in her book, too:
If I'm walking around and I'm very modestly dressed and I'm keeping to myself and someone attacks me, then I'd say that's his fault. But if I'm being very lairy [flashy] and putting it about and being provocative, then you are enticing someone who's already unhinged—don't do that. Come on! That's just common sense.
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
Chrissie, don't get me wrong, but I can't stand by you. There is no middle of the road here.
Look, we all know what she means about using common sense and not putting ourselves in danger. Every woman has been warned, over and over again. But it's one thing to regret exercising good judgment -- it's another thing to say you're responsible for your own rape. Because no, you're not. The rapist is. That's common sense.
[code]
Chrissie Hynde saying that dressing provocatively will entice rapists is like saying standing too close to a BBQ will entice cannibals
— Cara Sutra (@TheCaraSutra) August 30, 2015If there's any relief in these Chrissie Hynde quotes it's that the backlash has been so loud. People have been tweeting their disappointment, and I'm happy to say that several men are among them. After all, the idea that women entice men into committing rape is insulting to them. Like they're just stupid, helpless rape machines who can't be held responsible for their own actions!
[code]
Chrissy Hynde believes rape victims only have themselves to blame? Tempted to just throw my Pretenders records in the trash.
— Beardo (@Mechaphil) August 31, 2015[code]
Oh Chrissy Hynde. No. Just no.
— Jim O'Toole (@JimOToole) August 30, 2015[code]
I realise Chrissy Hynde is a great example of a victim and self blame, but her comments are fucking horrendous. Totally fucking horrendous.
— Cosmo Demonic (@cosmodemtel) August 30, 2015It saddens me to think that Hynde has been carrying around this tremendous blame all this time. Maybe that's how she's been able to live with the horror -- by telling herself a little story about how if she just dresses differently and stays away from bikers she'll be safe from rape forever after. We've all told ourselves that story from time to time.
But unfortunately, that will only take you so far. What's more, that kind of thinking robs men of their responsibility and leads too many women to live half a life. We celebrate women like Chrissie Hynde for doing precisely the opposite, for daring to be bold, for bringing attention to themselves, for raiding a male-dominated world and creating a place for women there.
As Hynde herself once sang, "Gonna make you, make you, make you notice."
Like it or not, our society actually needs women to be loud, to dress provocatively, to wear high heels and to drink and to flirt. And most men can handle that without some monster rapist switch going off in their heads. I don't know why Chrissie feels the need to defend these "helpless" rapists from their own actions, but I know her words aren't going to stop women from wearing high heels and low-cut dresses. That's not the world any of us want.
Image via Fortunata / Splash News
Image may be NSFW.Clik here to view.