The dictionary defines a victim as “a living being sacrificed to some deity, or in the performance of a religious rite” or “one injured, destroyed, or sacrificed under any various conditions (5).”  Some feminists wish to portray all women as victims and all men as the victimizers.  According to this group of feminists led by Catherine McKinnon, Eve Ensler, Andrea Dworkin, and Mary Daly this is the story throughout all of history.  Regardless of whether an individual or a group is scapegoating another, it is typically based on real social, political, ideological, cultural, or economic struggles.  Out of this social power struggle between the sexes, these feminists began to direct the feminist movement toward an ideology of victimization and scapegoating men as the cause of all of the problems women face in this world; leaving women blameless.  Instead of empowering women, which is what the feminist movement is supposed to be about, this ideology of victimization disempowers women. 

True Empowerment

In order to empower women, or anyone for that matter, they must be taught to take personal responsibility for their actions, acknowledging that they have power and control over what happens to them.  An ideology of victimization casts women as helpless prey of men, putting all the power in the hands of the male race.  This strips women of choice:  All women are prey; all are assaulted; all are harmed, one way or another.  Victimization ideology fuels female fear and disempowers them rather than enabling them to see themselves as citizens with both rights and responsibilities.

Another major problem with this ideology of victimization, as applied to the feminist movement, is that it is based on a contradiction.  Many feminists claim that there are no differences between men and women, and so the same equal rights given to men should be given to women.  On the other hand, these extreme feminists promote an image in which men are the victimizers and women are the victims, making men and women different.  Babette Francis sums up this paradox quite well by saying, “Feminists hold both doctrines:  if men and women are different, then the traditional division of sex roles and the traditional family is a natural development.  But if men and women are identical (men as a group are not oppressors), women would lose their claim to disadvantaged victim status, so the paradox is accepted:  men and women are identical but all men are oppressors (and usually rapists too) while women are oppressed (3).”    

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“Such an ideology promotes a special version of the ‘victim mindset’.”- Elshtain (5) 

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In the world of feminist victim ideology there are only two kinds of people:  female victims and male oppressors.  Such a skewed view of the world only promotes extreme paranoia and anger, where all men are potential batterers and/or rapists.  Radical feminist victim talk has fueled fear and taught women to think of themselves as doomed to be the victims of individual men, the male system, or both.  This paints a picture of women as debased, deformed, exploited, and demeaned.  With this kind of mindset, women find evidence of injustices against their sex everywhere- whether they are there are not.  

Abortion

Abortion, one would assume, is largely a female-dominated decision, considering the women is the only one who has to sign papers in order to have the procedure done.  Yet, according to extreme feminists, in a large number of cases men have forced or persuaded women to have an abortion, putting the man at fault, or if not the man than something else like the woman’s family or economic situation is to blame, but never the woman.  “In a Different Voice,” by Carol Gilligan, who found that in one-third of cases the father influenced the woman’s decision to get the abortion (1).  This number can be very deceiving without the further findings of Arther Shostak and Gary McLouth’s in a case study involving 1000 fathers of aborted children.  In this study, in which all 1000 fathers were interviewed, they found that only 4% of the women had been opposed to getting the abortion in the first place (1).  In the end the final decision is the woman’s, for her signature alone is required for consent, even in cases where men influenced the women to have an abortion.

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 “Radical feminists believe that sexual relationships within marriage are a form of legalized rape or legalized prostitution.” –Babette Francis (3)

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Feminism and Crime

Daphne Patai, a moderate feminist, warns, “Sexual harassment seems often to be little more than a label for excoriating men (2).”  As various cases of sexual harassment have gone through the courts, the definition of what constitutes sexual harassment has become more and more dependent on the feelings and discretion of the woman, rather than based on concrete evidence.  The courts have now defined sexual harassment as, "Any repeated or unwanted sexual advance, sexually explicit derogatory statements, sexually discriminatory remarks that cause the recipient discomfort or humiliation (3)."  The problem is that the traditional test for offensive conduct was abandoned, which was the “reasonable person” standard, and now the “reasonable woman” standard is in its place instead.    The increasingly vague and subjective definition of sexual harassment and rape and dangerous moves to abandon the presumption of innocence in sexual assault cases has led to an atmosphere of paranoia in the workplace and at universities (3).  Universities and companies now hire “sexual-harassment consultants” in order to help them avoid lawsuits.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     

Radical feminists speak of women as the principal victims of violent crimes, and this assertion is strengthened by the media’s portrayal of women in peril at home, the workplace, the factory, and on the street.  However, figures indicate that those most likely to be crime victims are young men, and these figures have remained consistent over the past decade:  “Most perpetrators of violent crimes are males; most victims of violent crimes are males similar in age and race to the perpetrator (7).”   

            “Victim ideology diverts attention away from concrete and specific instances of female victimization in favor of pushing a relentless worldview structured around such dichotomies as victim/victimizer, guilty/innocent, tainted/pure (5).”  The female victim assumes a stance of purity, and speaks in a voice more reliable than all others, as long as she remains a victim; incapable, helpless, demeaned, and blameless.  Defense classes are geared towards women, and encourage aggression, fighting, and unwittingly promote behaviors likely to provoke an attack.  Focus is on the wants and needs of women, while ignoring what other people want, feel, or need.  These extreme feminists insist on their own freedoms and individuality, but neglect the freedoms and individuality of others.  This is an extremely selfish and narrowly focused view, in which actual facts do not matter, for the female victim is never at fault no matter what she did prior to the assault.

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In Women’s studies there’s little respect or tolerance for divergence.”- Daphne Patai (2)

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            “By construing herself as a victim, the woman seeks to attain power through her depictions of her victimization, or to evade responsibility for a situation or outcome (5).”  Some women play the victim card in order to achieve both ends.  Tawana Brawley falsely accused six white men of rape in 1988, but instead of making her responsible for her false accusations feminist Patricia Williams portrays Brawley as a victim in her book The Alchemy of Race and Rights.  Williams rationalized the ideology of victimization using this example of the case involving Brawley.  Brawley was the victim in Williams’ eyes, no matter what Brawley herself had done to get in this situation.  “For Brawley was the victim of “some unspeakable crime,” a victim of a “meta-rape,” securing both her victim status, and the power plays of those who manipulated the situation.  With one ideological maneuver, such trivial matters as evidence and proof were dismissed (5).”  The only punishment that Brawley received was that she had to pay $180,000 to one of the men she accused of rape, while Brawley and her team of attorneys were asking for $150 million for the damages that Brawley herself had inflicted on herself.  Brawley still continued to claim her story was true, despite all the evidence to the contrary, in 1991 (8). 

           Blame it on Men

            These radical feminists blame all their problems on males, who are all oppressors and evil in their eyes.  While males do all the wrong in this world, females are obviously always in the right and do nothing to victimize others.  Some members of the feminist movement would have all sexual encounters between men and women amount to rape.    Extreme feminists disdain any distinction between the two altogether.  Such as Andrea Dworkin who suggests that all heterosexual sex is rape (1), and Catherine McKinnon, another extreme feminist, who was quoted as follows: “All heterosexual intercourse is rape because women as a group are not strong enough to give meaningful consent (1).”  If this is the case, then woman are not strong enough to decide for themselves in such matters as business contracts, surgical procedures, and other such endeavors.  Many extreme feminists have shunned Daphne Patai because of her view on heterosexuality as being normal.  Over and over, they teach that men are the rapists and women the victims; never the other way around.  Such a worldview only alleviates any personal responsibility of women who participate in sexual encounters, placing all the blame on men.  This takes the power and freedom to choose away from the woman, leaving her no choice as to what happens to her in these matters.

            The Truth

            There are real victims in this world, male and female alike, and there are real perpetrators of these crimes, male and female alike.  Radical feminists would have us believe otherwise.  They promote the message that leads a woman to believe that she is the Universal Victim; disempowering her by telling her she will fail to take her place in the world because she lives in a patriarchal society, and therefore, she has no escape from this role of victim.  Shifting the blame from the woman (victim) to the man (oppressor) leaves the women powerless for she takes no responsibility for her actions, and believes her choices to have no effect on the outcome, which is her as a victim.

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“Marriage as an institution developed from rape as a practice. Rape, originally defined as abduction, became marriage by capture. Marriage meant the taking was to extend in time, to be not only use of but possession of, or ownership.” - Andrea Dworkin (4)

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Not all feminists promote this ideology of victimization and do indeed seek equality for all.  Just the extreme feminists find some unfounded truth in this theory of women as the Universal Victim, such as Andrea Dworkin, Catherine McKinnon, and Mary Daly.  Many feminists do believe in equality for all, not just women, and that men and women alike must not be stripped of their moral and legal standing as responsible citizens.  They demand that all people should be held accountable for their actions, not that one who is victimized should be automatically excused should they, in turn, victimize.  Where would this cycle of victimization end if no one is willing to take responsibility?

In order to seek equality for women everywhere, we must be willing to incorporate everyone in this endeavor, not just women.  Everyone deserves equality no matter what sex, race, religion, age, etc. you are.  By viewing all men as oppressors and all women as victims, these radical feminists drive a wedge between men and women, alienating them from each other and creating an atmosphere of anger and hatred.  If we wish to see equality for women in every aspect of life- and that does not mean equal outcome as so many feminists think that it should; for there will always be more men in certain jobs than women, and more women in certain jobs than men- we must first be willing to seek it for everyone, and be willing to work with men in order to achieve this goal.  “A passionate rejection of men is one thing that unites feminists, a group normally splintered by lesser identities:  white vs. black, straight vs. lesbian, Western vs. Third World,” is one of the problems with the view of the feminist movement points out Julia Duin (2).  Instead of seeing the differences between men and women as a ravine that cannot be crossed, we need to try to understand one another and use our differences in union to create a better world to live in, where everyone (not just women) have equality.  Human dignity demands no less. 

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“We are the majority of the population, we raise the children, we keep the culture and the communities together, our bodies give birth to the future. When you’ve been violated, you don’t feel a future in your body, so you translate that to your children. Society just breaks down.” –Eve Ensler on the role of women in the world, obviously excluding men as having any effect on society (6)

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