Blaming The Victim: A Conservative Rhetorical Art Form

Posted by Myrna the Minx on October 15, 2007 | Comments (3) | Trackbacks (0)

Maybe its my proximity to the Darren Mack case, or my new theory about Battered Republican Voter Syndrome, but as I continue to think about the scapegoating behavior of Michelle Malkin and other conservative bloggers (in collaboration with a certain Senator’s office) toward Graeme Frost and his family, what comes to mind is what is commonly known as blaming the victim in sexual assault and domestic violence cases.

Unfortunately, we see it all the time. Remember LVRJ columnist Jane Ann Morrison’s stereotype-filled column about the Gibbons-Mazzeo sexual assault last year? Its a classic example of blaming the victim. Chrissy Mazzeo was too pretty, or too drunk, or dressed too sexily, or too dumb, and it was all that any man could do to control himself around her. His behavior was her fault. Forget about how wrong it is to make men’s sexual behavior every woman’s responsibility, its wrong to blame a woman for a man’s sexually inappropriate behavior. And of course Gibbons’ defense team did yeoman’s work in this area–digging up every little peccadillo from her past in order to help the police and the public feel better about suspecting her motives for reporting the assault. Blaming the victim is a classic tactic in sexual assault cases, and also of course in right-wing smear campaigns which shouldn’t be a surprise after the way the batter their own voters.

The conservative blogger attack on the Frost family can be no surprise–blaming the victim is an old school Republican tactic. Congressional Republicans blamed the victims of Mark Foley for not speaking out earlier (no doubt if they has spoken out, Hastert would’ve blamed them for that too). Conservative attack dog Anne Coulter blamed Max Cleland for his own war injuries to distract from Bush’s questionable war record. Then there was the Hurricane Katrina debacle where some Republicans blamed poor Louisiana residents for not leaving, not matter that lack of transportation and city and state intervention. So really, what better way to distract from real debate than blaming the Frosts for their SCHIP eligibility? And as usual, they went after them armed with inaccurate information.

The rhetoric and tactics are getting so bad that even the dependable supporter of conservatives, the Wall Street Journal editorial page, noted the negative effect the tired and regrettable tactics had on the debate. We cannot debate anything while engaging in these kind of tactics, and the fact that a Senatorial office was working with someone like Malkin to smear the Frost family should be unacceptable.

And Malkin is still at it. But now, she’s blaming Republicans who have grown too queasy about the SCHIP debate to pursue what she considers suitable opposition thanks to the unsavory actions of……Malkin and her ilk. She just can’t stop herself in her quest for more readers. One thing is true, Malkin will always find a victim to blame. Except herself of course. Who else isn’t wearing an American flag lapel pin?

Trackbacks & Pingbacks

[...] and pollute the public airwaves with sexist bile. Not only do you throw out the oldest sexist trope-blaming the victim, you go one sexist trope further and maintain that women are better seen (or at least sucking) and [...]

Pingback by I Prefer Men Who Do Something with His Mouth Other than Talk | Reno and Its Discontents on August 13, 2008 @ 6:45 pm

Comments

Well I have a comment - little late - but…Speaking of “battered”, I heard a couple of radio talk jocks discussing the issues - one is Republican and the other Democrat - the Republican was ranting on about the ills of the Bush administration, War in Iraq, Health care for children, oil, etc. The democrat asked him why he still voted Republican if he was so unhappy with the administrtion….his response was hmmmm…I guess it’s because that is what I know - what I ‘ve always done - kind of like a battered wife who keeps going back to her husband.

Comment by sistajoy on October 17, 2007 @ 6:49 pm

Women who express the sense that they’ve been sexually mistreated are often made to feel responsible for the man’s actions.

Men who express the sense that they’ve been sexually mistreated are often made to feel fortunate for being the subject of the woman’s actions.

Idiocy isn’t a two-way street, it’s an eight-lane Interstate.

Comment by Packherd on October 20, 2007 @ 11:31 am

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