While collecting data on women’s juridical and economic agency in colonial Spanish America, I came across this fantastic bit of analysis:
Women who brought suits against men, for whatever reason, might have their sexual behavior scrutinized or even be accused of promiscuity, tying sexuality to their credibility.
Hot diggity, that sounds pretty darn familiar! It continues:
And not all women merited protection under the law. Only “honorable” women’s safety was defended by Spanish courts. Women whose sexual conduct was in question could not demand justice for rape or physical mistreatment. They were tainted and not deserving of legal protection, no matter the circumstances.
And of course:
Lastly, Spanish gender ideologies dictated that women be much more harshly punished for sexual crimes than men.
Hold the phone here, kiddos.I feel like I’ve heard this before somewhere… By golly, I do believe it’s in contemporary Western ideology surrounding law, gender, and sexuality (aka rape culture). Do you know what that means? I’ll tell you what it means, and I’ll tell you with bolded text and an isolated paragraph that I hope indicates just a smidgen of how pissed off I am. Ready? Here goes:
Western Europe, Australia, and the Americas have had the same exact bullshit rape culture ideology about female-sexed bodies and gendered behavior and creating piss-poor excuses for enacting violent crimes for six goddamn hundred years at a goddamn minimum. I mean, Jesus Christ on a cracker, people.
Granted, the Americas and Australia may have had— and did have, if I recall my pre-colonial history correctly— a marginally less abhorrent example of the ideologies of human, especially female, sexuality.
(Source: Women in the Crucible of Conquest - Karen Vieira Powers)
LGBTQ* Infographic / Law Graphics You Should See
Want to know more? Read Cornell Journal of Law’s article HERE.If y’all didn’t know, now you do.
“Search through our list of women’s shelters including homeless shelters, family shelters, residential treatment centers, transitional housing other women’s assistance resources. We are continually updating the website with new resources.”
Obama-Wan Kenobi
Guys, why is the president so cool?
Honestly, I often wonder how sincere these photos and quotes and such are, or whether they are staged specifically to appeal to a younger crowd and allow us to relate to Obama as a person as well as viewing him as a politician that we by and large agree with.
The FBI currently defines rape as “the carnal knowledge of a female forcibly and against her will”, which, as Vanessa explained back in April, excludes statutory rape, same-sex rape, forced anal or oral sex, rape with an object and victims who are male or transgender or have disabilities, not to mention those who have taken drugs or alcohol and therefore had their ability to consent taken away.
The Uniform Crime Report Subcommittee voted unanimously to change the definition of rape, which had not been changed for 80 years (!) and rape will now be defined as, “penetration, no matter how slight, of the vagina or anus with any body part or object, or oral penetration by a sex organ of another person, without the consent of the victim.”
Finally
