Rape happens! Does the moral high ground make it feel better?

This poster has apparently drawn a lot of flack:

The popular, if thoughtless, response on how it should have read is this:

Aw, shit - here I go as a male, having an opinion that the meat between my legs means I am not allowed to express.  But you would have to be clueless as a reader of this blog not to know how I feel about personal defense.  

So the problem here is one I've noted before; it begins with the fact that everyone, including "miss neverjessie" reads the top one as blaming the victim.  It is not blaming, it is identifying a means whereby risk is increased. It is like telling you that you have a greater chance of dying in a car crash if you are intoxicated. Murder, robbery, rape all happen when someone decides to commit the crime.  Are you really suggesting then that we should not try to teach people how to behave in safer ways? The natural conclusion (I guess it should not surprise me) is that we should not teach people to defend themselves, not teach them awareness and how to avoid danger; we should all pretend evil does not exist or that it is self-correcting. By this logic, we should not even look both ways at 4-way stops signs.

Hmm - no, no one should rape and, yes, rape happens when someone evil decides to commit it.  But evil people decide to and do commit evil acts all the time and it is up to each of us to do whatever we need to do for ourselves and to them to protect ourselves.  Be safe!  Be aware!  If that means, don't drink, then don't drink.  Is it somehow morally superior to make yourself an easy victim of an evil person who should not have done what they did?  I prefer not being a victim of evil to refusing to acknowledge that it exists and insisting it not. Until that magical day comes when evil people no longer thrive among us, I suspect we had better take care of ourselves.

So, what missjessie is demanding is her right to put herself at risk, to deny the real world of evil people and go blissfully along counting on the good will and morality of others while she is incapacitated or unconscious.  Good luck with that.  Shit, if I go to a party, get shitfaced drunk and pass out, chances are someone might rape me (well, not my ugly ass - probably just steal my shit). If I do that, then I have decided to put myself there. Does that excuse criminal behavior? No.  But, while I am not sure about missjessie, I do know that I will not feel somehow more righteous when I stand up later, say I did no wrong, but am missing my stuff.

You wait around, missjessie, insisting on your right to behave in risky fashion, to put yourself needlessly at risk, for the time to come when evil people stop doing evil shit all on their own.  You live in that fantasy land where you can demand that we not try to help people recognize and mitigate risk.  You enjoy the moral superiority of victimhood, when a bit of preparation and education might have avoided it. And, while you are at it, take responsibility for all the others who cheer on your message.

For those who prefer to avoid rape as opposed to expecting it to simply disappear when rapists get a conscience - get some training, learn to be vigilant, and don't get drunk or unconscious around groups of people, especially then they are drunk, too.

Take care, be safe.