Asking for It.

So it has recently came out that 200 ‘lads’ in UCD (A University in Dublin) are part of a Facebook group where they rate women that they have slept with. This group also contains explicit images of these women without their consent. They also share snapchat names of ‘girls who are easy’. All of this is what has been told to me anyways, both by the press and girls who have been victims.

I recently read a book called Asking for It by Louise O’Neill about a girl who was raped by a number of men and pictures were taken and uploaded on Facebook. Her life was ruined and the boys got off scotch free because ‘It would just be easier for everyone’. Its a brilliant book and brings light to the fact that just because a woman is wearing a short dress or lots of make-up does not mean that she is ‘Asking for It’. What has recently happened in UCD reminds me so much of this book.

I am reminded by this because yet again the comments from the public are directed at the girls: “Silly girls why would they send pictures like that”, “What a slut” etc. etc.  And to you people saying these things I’m sorry but haven’t you ever made a mistake? Haven’t you ever trusted or loved someone so much that you would send them intimate things? Many of these girls made a mistake. ONE mistake. They sent a picture to ONE person. Perhaps they were naive and trusted this person, maybe they loved this person. People make mistakes. These girls made ONE mistake that will haunt them forever. Their pictures have been seen by hundreds. Although I don’t think you should send anything over the internet that you don’t want others to see no one deserves this.

I’m sick of double standards, lads just don’t realize how much something like this can ruin a girls reputation. If an explicit image of a man is released no one thinks much they may even laugh. A girl? ‘Whore’, ‘Slut’, ‘Slag’. These names are the reasons some girls have such low expectations of themselves and send things that could potentially hurt them. I really think this UCD scandal has brought to light that ‘lads banter’ isn’t all fun and games. Men need to stop and think before they ‘rate’ someone or send something that was only supposed to be seen by their eyes. Everyone, girls included need to stop judging.

If you have an opinion on this topic please leave a comment i’d be really interested to hear.

PS. I would highly recommend Louise O’Neill’s Asking For It it is a great read and brings to light these important issues discussed. Link to her website -http://www.louiseoneillauthor.com/

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