http://freudian-slip.org

Poor Julian Assange.

He has to be a rapist when Kobe Bryant, Ben Roethlisburger, the Haidl boys get to be upstanding citizens.

I have a heard a lot, of course, that the rape charges against Assange are a smear campaign, used only to tear down a good man.

Or, you know, you can call them “hooey” like Michael Moore did (which sounds just like what the majority of rape victims hear when they attempt to report).

Or you can, like Naomi Wolf, who has lost her feminist mind, privilege stranger rape over date rape and then go on to disparage an incredibly normal and common reaction to sexual assault (if I act like this didn’t happen, then it didn’t happen).

And I can be upset about all those things and still think WikiLeaks is awesome.  Disagreeing with these stances does not make Assange guilty or innocent.

It means that Assange has been accused of rape and the ways people are talking about these accusations are incredibly fucked up and problematic. I find it fascinating that progressive men will buy into the rape culture before they think to examine the behavior of one of their own.  The way this is being handled alone should be a giant wake-up call for feminists and women everywhere.  There is a line in the sand and we are on the wrong side of it.  That issue is going to continue to exist long after Assange fades out of the spotlight, guilty or innocent.

Here, by the way, is what is actually wrong with the Assange rape case.  Suddenly, rape is something we all care about.  I’d say…oh…25% of women are fascinated by  this brand new turn.  Why, this is the most aggressive date rape prosecution ever!  That couldn’t have anything to do with the fact that Assange has embarrassed and upset some very important people.

After all, Roman Polanski is a genius, right?  This is just some schmuck with a website.  Oh wait.

There is a way to frame this discussion that
a) Looks critically at the desire to discredit and villainize Assange
b) Does not play into the rape culture

We are being told that A and B are mutually exclusive when they are not.  We can have both these discussions at the same time.  We ought to be having both these discussions at the same time.

To say that Assange is accused of rape is to say nothing but the fact of the matter.  To say that we are being told to care (when we are told, repeatedly, through a million avenues otherwise, that women’s bodies do not matter) because the government really wants Assange to be a villain…is probably true.  To say that these women are a part of the roving band of hysterics flinging millions of false rape accusations a year is bullshit.  To say that what happened to them is not real rape is bullshit.  To say that their reaction to what happened to them is indicative of his guilt or innocence is bullshit.

The villianization of Assange is being done on the backs of women by suddenly acting like rape matters when it has never mattered before last week. When this fades away, it will no longer matter in the large public eye.  We will go back to talking about how much of a genius Roman Polanski is or how talented an athlete someone is.

However, the conversations progressives are having about the villainization of Assange are now also being conducted on the backs of women.  And, frankly, I expect better from you because there’s nothing progressive about “Was she really raped?”  There are plenty of ways to critique this without contributing to the rape culture and disparaging the experiences of millions of women.

Stop conducting progressive politics from the backs of women.  We are not disposable and Assange’s work is not more important than us, either.

And Naomi, I recall when you accused Harold Bloom of sexual harassment after 20 years of silence, and Andrea Dworkin, who was never really your biggest fan, said, “I believe you.”

You’d do well to remember that in the future.