Our Reading Habits are Not Responsible for Sexual Assault

I never intended to get political on this blog. I’m not politically minded. At best, I find politics distressing and that has never been truer than in the last year and a half.
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However, since the release of the “Trump tapes” and the last debate, I’ve seen something happening on social media that bothers me so much I’ve been driven to distraction. And, I’m a writer. I often write about things to purge them from my brain. So, here. Watch me purge.

You might have seen the meme going around – something like, “If American women have such a problem with “dirty words,” who purchased 80 million copies of
50 Shades of Grey?”

​*sigh*

Okay. First off. Pussy. Pussy, pussy, pussy, vagina.

​It’s not the words that bother us. (Most of us.) Words printed in a book, spoken in a locker room, or spoken in front of a microphone aren’t the problem. The problem is the action the words condone. Whether that action took place in the Oval Office, a posh mansion, on public transportation, or in an alley behind a dumpster.

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I’m scared of the message this meme sends. To readers of all genders, age groups, and genre-preferences. But, especially to women who read erotica.

NOTHING YOU READ CAN GIVE CONSENT FOR YOU.

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Your taste in books is not responsible for sexual assault. Neither is your clothing or whether or not you choose to drink.

I don’t care who you’re voting for. I don’t care what a presidential candidate or presidential candidate’s husband did. (Okay, I care but it’s not the point of this blog post.)
​The point is that I care about people trying to police what others read. I care very deeply about someone using what’s on the bestseller’s list as a way to excuse assault or negate someone’s feelings about assault.

We should be able to read what we want and vote for who we want without worrying about being targeted because of it. We should be able to wear what we want and worship the way we want. Isn’t that the freedom that America was founded on? It’s getting harder to tell.
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But, for my part, I say, read it. Don’t let anyone shame you. Don’t let anyone blame you. Don’t let it into your head. God knows we need to turn away from negativity and divisiveness. Otherwise we’ll never survive no matter who gets elected in November. 

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