This Just In: T-Shirts Don't Cause Rape

Posted by Lucinda Marshall, Feminist Peace Network at 8:33 AM on February 16, 2008.

No doubt about it, that is a headline I never thought I'd write, but thanks to Aussie MP Bob Such, apparently we need to clarify a few facts.

"Independent MP Bob Such has also accused the women who wear them of demeaning their sex.

The South Australian pollie and former Speaker of the SA Parliament yesterday said some clothing could lead to men losing respect for women.

"I am not one to say that it in any way justifies a sexual assault, because it does not, but I see women getting around in T-shirts saying 'Give me a few more drinks and I will do this or that' and displaying comments drawing attention to their breasts and so on," he said.

"People may say these are flippant comments but they do not help in trying to impress on young men a respect for women. Some of these women do not help, they actually demean women overall."

During his speech Mr Such also questioned how someone could be charged with rape if consent was withdrawn "part way through intercourse".

"I am aware in Western Australia men have been convicted of rape on the basis that they were part way through sexual intercourse and did not stop.

"I am interested in the Attorney's justification for that. I think that the everday person - male or female, and I have spoken to men and women about this - finds it hard to understand how, if intercourse is underway someone can say "stop the world I want you to get off" and how that is really a reasonable action that could result in someone being charged with rape.""

When I first saw the above, all I could do was sputter incoherently, so I asked UK activist Jennifer Drew if she would like to offer a response and she kindly obliged with this excellent response:

"Independent MP Bob Such was wrong in accusing women of demeaning their sex when they wear T-shirts with captions such as 'Give me a few more drinks and I will do this or that' etc. It is the manufacturers who print and sell these T-shirts who should be held accountable for promoting the normalisation of women as men's sexualised commodities.

Many women wear these T-shirts because they perceive them as either 'edgy' or simply humorous which is not surprising given the media claims such phrases are supposedly sexually empowering to women. T-shirts with captions saying 'Give me a few more drinks etc.' do not in themselves cause men to rape women. Male rapists choose to rape women irrespective of whether or not a woman is wearing a supposedly 'provocative T-shirt.'

I am surprised Bob Such claims a man should not be charged with rape if a woman withdraws her consent after a man has commenced penetrating her with his penis. It is well known that men are not suddenly rendered incapable of withdrawing once their penises have entered a woman's body. Imagine a scenario wherein a woman and man are engaged in consensual penetration and the woman's or man's parents enter the room unannounced.

Does the man continue penetration or does he withdraw out of embarrassment. Of course he withdraws because he has been caught 'in flagante.' Rape is rape and if a woman changes her mind after initially consenting to being penetrated, then her right of bodily integrity must be upheld. I am certain if a man consented to being penetrated anally and he changed his mind this would be upheld as his right.

No, Bob Such, it is not just parents' responsibility to teach their boys that women like men have the right of sexual autonomy, it is society's responsibility too. The state has a responsibility of safeguarding all its citizens and this includes promoting women's sexual rights. Male-defined ideas of what supposedly comprises 'consent' to any sexual act must be challenged, since true consent cannot occur unless both parties mutually and freely agree. Too often men presume they know precisely what women desire sexually and it always neatly concurs with men's sexual desires and beliefs."

Lucinda Marshall is a feminist artist, writer and activist. She is the Founder of the Feminist Peace Network. Her work has been published in numerous publications in the U.S. and abroad including, Counterpunch, AlterNet, Dissident Voice, Off Our Backs, the Progressive, Countercurrents, Z Magazine, Common Dreams, In These Times and Information Clearinghouse. She also blogs at WIMN Online and writes a monthly column for the Louisville Eccentric Observer.