STFU: Richard Dawkins And The Arrogance Of Rape-splaining

TW: Rape, date rape

Boy oh boy. We’ve got an early dose of rape-plaining* today!

Richard Dawkins, a 73-year-old dude and evolutionary biologist, decided to voice his opinions on rape this morning.

And then, when people (ahem, rape survivors) tried to tell this dude that he doesn’t know what the fuck he’s talking about, he decided to go all I’m-a-biologist-and-I-will-use-“logic”-to-talk-over-survivors-instead-of-listening.

Since he clearly does not want—or perhaps doesn’t know how—to listen to women, I’m not sure why I’m doing this, but here we go:

1. Don’t talk over rape survivors on the topic of rape. The same way you shouldn’t talk over black women about what it’s like to be a black woman or talk over transgender people about their experiences as a transgender person. This is what happens when you mix logic with empathy. You can’t possibly know what it’s like to be someone else, especially if you aren’t willing to listen to them.

2. Even if you’re suggesting both date rape and stranger rape are bad, you’re finding the need to compare them. Why? Stick to tweeting about evolutionary biology, bro. As a survivor and someone who often shuts up and listens to survivors, I can tell you that date rape can often be worse for survivors because knowing the person who raped you can be more scarring than not knowing the person. It could be someone you trusted, it could lead to no longer being able to be alone with someone again. But rape is rape is rape. Comparing experiences is ignorant. All survivors have different experiences and it’s illogical to attempt to categorize types of rape. (What’s even the point?)

3. Stop trying to use logic to speak over survivors. Your masculinity won’t leave you and join the circus if you admit speaking over survivors and then telling them to “go away” was wrong.

Now comes the part where the empathy-lacking mansplainer* gets attacked so much they feel the need to half-assedly go back on what they say. Without actually apologizing or backing down. Because man! Chest hair! Biceps! No apologies!

Dearest Dawkins, get your head out of your ass and say sorry (and none of that “I’m sorry you misunderstood me” faux-pology BS).

Richard Dawkins should evolve…a clue! pic.twitter.com/WMcjSiTkwP

— Daniel Kibblesmith (@kibblesmith) July 29, 2014

*Mansplaining: a portmanteau of the words “man” and “explaining” that describes the act of a man speaking to a woman with the assumption that she knows less than he does about the topic being discussed on the basis of her gender. In this case it’s more like “rape-splaining.”