Alright so in general, this community handled this whole ordeal really well during the investigation. But now that it’s closed, turning it into a “meme” is still really harmful for anyone who has been sexually abused or has gone through the process of reporting sexual abuse.
Just, keep in mind that the jokes you make may seem harmless to you, but for people who have experienced this kind of thing (on both sides), it makes the community feel less like a safe space.
Yesterday, a bunch of people on the Discord were ripping the original story to pieces in a way that almost seemed victim-blame-y. While yes, I tended to agree with a lot of what those people were saying, anyone reading the reaction would likely feel uncomfortable or unable to come forward in the community if they had experienced sexual abuse without being “ripped apart.”
I didn’t see that much here on ChaCha, but it’s worth a reminder. So, just something to keep in mind while y’all are celebrating.
Edit: y’all this should not be considered a “hot take”
Edit2: alright this has been extraordinarily exhausting so I’m gonna just… call it quits for a lil bit on this. toodles.
Thank you, I absolutely agree. It’s disappointing to see so many people being like “Aha, I knew it was fake all along!” as soon as the investigation was closed. I have never experienced something quite like this, but I’d imagine it’s painful for a SA victim to be given the impression that secretly, silently, everyone who claims to be listening really thinks that they’re lying. And they’re all just itching for the moment that it becomes okay to say it, so they can make jokes and tear the thing apart. It’s a good thing that we treated the allegation seriously, even if some aspects seemed strange. Looking for specific reasons to feel like you “called it” just reinforces the current culture in which victims have to be flawless reporters in order to be taken seriously.
I’m one of those people. I refrained from commenting, probing into allegation, but privately I thought the allegations were suspect, and I said as much after the investigation was complete. I thought that it was a serious allegation that should be investigated, but now that it has, it’s odd to be told that I still have to pretend that a false accusation seemed perfectly credible all along.
maybe if you can’t handle not using victim-blaming tropes when talking about it, it’s best not to talk about it at all. and I’m not meaning you single you out here - I mean that for everyone.
What’s a victim-blaming trope in this context? I’m not trying to debate bro you here, honestly. I’m willing to have my mind changed, but it seems like what people are saying is that even saying that the allegations seemed less than credible or that there were suspicious aspects to the account is enough to constitute being victim blamey, even if it’s after the fact.
I was replying to the person who is mad that people were ready to see that the most outlandish story of all time was in fact false but thank you
