Blaming the victim

Many people in the US today seem to be professional victims. They are very good at it and have even raised it to an art form. These people have no responsibility for what occurs to them. It is fate, historical issues, poverty, disgusting people, or nasty white (or other) men who are to blame.

It is probably a good bet that all of our ancestors suffered. That is a given. We have been on earth as Homo sapiens for some 100,000-300,000 years. One can guess that at least one and probably many of our ancestors suffered at the hands of others. 

This brings us to the topic of blaming the victim. If a young and attractive woman, against the advice of her mother and friends, wears a tiny skirt and low cut blouse and wanders into a strange ghetto at night, does she have to accept any of the responsibility for being raped?

According to Wikipedia,

• Victim-blaming consists of holding victims of crimes or other misfortunes wholly or partly responsible for what has happened to them.

Wikipedia then provides two examples:

• For example: a motorist who leaves a car unlocked with the keys in the ignition may seem partly responsible if another party steals the car. Or persons who use verbal abuse may count as partly responsible if they suffer a physical assault.
• In the context of rape, this concept refers to popular attitudes that behaviour such as flirting or wearing sexually provocative clothing may encourage rape: that such actions resemble leaving one's car with the keys in the ignition or provoking an assault by "winding up" the assailant. In extreme cases people may accuse victims of "asking for it" by not behaving demurely.

This theory, Wikipedia goes on to write, "depends on the view that a prospective victim should know and acknowledge either human nature or other facts of life when making decisions. Thus persons may appear blameworthy if they act recklessly or with negligence. Laws acknowledge this concept in some areas, for example when a driver ignores the rules of the road.