So recently I was hanging out in a chat room, and someone linked a video.  In this video a beer company asks the women to forgive men for a lot of things.  That wouldn’t be the problem.  The problem is almost everything they ask to be forgiven of is an example of Rape Culture.  It makes light of Rape Culture, and asks forgiveness as if it weren’t something to be upset about.

I find this extremely upsetting.  Forgiveness shouldn’t come easily for one who violates boundaries.  It’s insidious.  It’s something that plagues our society.  Rape culture says women should put up with unwanted attention from males.  That it should be expected.  That rape, and things that are like rape in boundary crossing ways, is okay and shouldn’t be a big deal.  How wrong this is.

Some examples from the video:

Forgive our tacky compliments (shown while a guy is making a masturbatory motion outside his car window towards a passing woman).

Seriously.  It’s never okay to make overt sexual gestures to women.  It’s not socially acceptable.  It lowers women to a status of sexual object, whose only existence is there to satisfy your lustful cravings.  All of this devalues women, and it’s something that’s grotesque in an enlightened society.

Forgive our hormones taking control of us (shown while a guy is undressing in the public area of a social gathering in a home, while woman is disturbed and disgusted).

Hormones are never an excuse to act rudely.  You are in control over yourself.  You choose what actions to take.  You can’t just pass that responsibility off to chemicals in your body.  It doesn’t work that way.  You’re drunk and decide to drive, you can’t blame the alcohol.  And to say that it should excuse your sexual actions is repulsive.  It goes against personal responsibility any way you look at it.  Nothing absolves you of personal responsibility.  Nothing.

Forgive us for thinking an open shirt is the ultimate weapon of appeal (shown while at a public park, perhaps at an even similar to a company picnic).

While an open shirt isn’t insulting of itself, the idea that you need to expose yourself to attract the opposite sex is.  It’s what causes thousands of men to post the infamous “cock shot” to their online profiles trying to attract women.  Most women aren’t attracted to that.  They can get a penis anywhere they look, and your penis isn’t going to appeal to them anymore than another.  It says flashing a woman is okay.  It leads to the behavior that makes guys think it’s acceptable to send unsolicited cock shots to females…that somehow sending their penis to a girl will attract them.  It’s a commonly accepted social boundary, don’t expose yourself or force your exposure on other people.  There’s not a problem with nudity in and of itself.  But when you are nude in a place that clothing is expected, or shoving your cock out there in everyone’s face like it’s some kind of water stick leading you to pussy, it becomes a problem.

Forgive us for taking a no, as a yes (shown while a guy is driving his date to a cheap motel).

Seriously, do we have to go over the concept of consent in this post?  No means NO.  Always.  And for a lot of things, only yes should mean yes.  Seriously.  Get affirmative consent before you try to stick your willy in someone.  It’ll save you a lot of heartache, and probably some jail time too.

Seriously, the video just got worse and worse.  If that isn’t a mainstream video promoting Rape Culture, I don’t know what is.