Is it really my fault that you looked at this description? I mean, sure I posted it and you never would have seen it if I didn't, but you were the one who looked at it after all. And yes, I am well aware that I slapped some fancy cover art on my page to catch your eyes, but if you really think about it, you probably would have looked anyway. I mean, you know how you are with those stray eyes of yours. You just can't keep them to yourself. Sure, you could say that all of my tags and keywords drew you in the first place; you could go that route...if you don't want to take responsibility for your own actions. I mean, you picked up the electronic device you're holding, not only that, you searched for a podcast didn't you? You're also keeping your eyes open, even though you could very well close them at any time. Well, this is an open and shut case. You clearly sought this podcast out, this particular episode, not any of the other episodes I published, found this specific topic, and listened to it. So, yeah it's your fault, not mine. The above example is a very crude form of victim blaming. You may have heard of this tactic before, most likely in regards to physically abusive relationships; in this form of victim blaming a person is beaten or tortured and then told that they, the abused, were the one who brought those violent actions on themselves. Physical abusers will often blame the victim for their violent attacks in order to keep their victim under control. Some abuse victims will actually start to develop empathy for their abusers, making it more difficult for them to leave, and often resulting in extreme harm or death of one or both parties involved. But victim blaming can be a solely mental tool as well, and it is often used in politics to squash popular movements that contend with party narratives. This victim blaming is often accomplished through entertainment, news or social media. The objective is simple: discredit your opponent and make them look foolish. This can be done in several ways, but it is often done with stand up comedy, online articles, youtube videos, political satire, and good old fashioned advertising. It is essentially propaganda, but a specific kind of propaganda that is meant to devalue the victim. This often starts by discrediting any valid argument the victim of abuse had to begin with, but not in any way that is intellectual or even informed; it is your basic, brute, all force and no remorse brand of politics that most people love. For the victim blamer, it is not that one particular feminist said something that you disagree with; it is that the very basis of feminism was based on falsities and needs to be abolished in its entirety. It is interesting to note that, as acidic as the victim blaming is when it comes to feminism, feminism has not really seen much of a rise in popularity since I was a child twenty years ago. Sure, more women are working, and we definitely have feminists to thank for that. But one need only look at the way women vote in this nation to realize that they are just as moderate as men for the most part. The idea of this part of our culture being some sort of inherent threat to men because it is pro women is an exercise in delusion that was carefully crafted for years by propagandists. Now, armed with this idea that the weak need to be reeducated (sound familiar?) millions of far right nuts troll the internet looking for someone's day to ruin, someone's problems to minimize or mock. We need to be told how to deal with our problems by people who did nothing but cause problems for the past four years, and way before that too? I don't think so. I think it is high time that we start blaming the victim blamer for making us feel so inadequate that we neglect ourselves. We have to make clear distinctions on who is at fault. We cannot just let bygones be bygones and move on. Do not let them blame or shame you when you are in agony. Speak your pain so that you can heal.