[WikiEN-l] Is Slate an attack site?

[William Pietri]

George Herbert wrote:
> While I agree that the mishandling of stalking / abuse situations has
> largely gotten us where we are today, I would have hoped to see people
> make that point in a civil and respectful manner rather than crossing
> the line into blaming the vicitms as you did above, Phil.
>
> This was not constructive, even if it was wrapped around an important point.
>   

I'm glad you're pushing  for civility, but I think you might be misusing 
the phrase a little, George.

Traditionally, "blaming the victim" involves saying the victim deserved 
the bad things that happened to them. The classic example is saying that 
a rape victim "was asking for it", perhaps by the way she dressed. 
That's an abhorrent thing.

What I heard Phil expressing was his dissatisfaction with her behavior 
in response to her maltreatment. And more strongly, he was condemning 
his behavior and that of others in response to what she did. So although 
he did assign SV part of the blame for what went on, I don't think he 
was blaming the victim in the usual sense of that term.

William



-- 
William Pietri <william at scissor.com>
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:William_Pietri