These aren't your father's Ninja Turtles!

Actually, they look like Grandfather's Ninja Turtles or something. Either that or Clover from Cloverfield.

Don't mind me, I'll be over here with my worn out old video tapes of the old TV series with Krang and Pizza and a proper Shredder with snarky jibes.

Important Stuff: Predator Theory.

TW: Discusses rape and rapist behaviour.

This should be something everyone reads. Everyone. Except survivors, of course, cause they already know this intimately.

Then, you should read this.

It bears repeating, and it can never be said enough. 1 in 4 women you know have been raped. One in FOUR. Count four women you know. One of them is likely to have been either raped or sexually assaulted. You hear that and you nod and you're like, "Yes, that's very bad" but what some might not realise is that for a vast majority of these women, the person that hurt them KNEW them. They knew their attackers. Chances are, odds on, you know them too.

Have you ever laughed at a rape joke? Have you ever criticised the behaviour of a victim? Have you ever said "Well, she shouldn't have..." You could have made a Rapist feel safe to do what they do.

This all links in to Rape Culture. I've bumped into a few people that don't like that term, or don't like the concept. They link it in with radical feminism, I think. This is not radical. Really, it's kind of simple. We live in a culture that sends out the message that it's Okay to Rape. Sure, there are laws against it and shit, but it's that horrible STRANGER rape that people think is Real Rape. You know. Silly lady walking alone at night, in high heel shoes she can't run in. She takes a short-cut through a dark alley and BAM. Guy grabs her and rapes her.

Of all the women I've ever talked to about rape, only ONE of them had a stranger rape like that. ONE.

The rest have been hurt by people they know, people they have reason to trust. That's how it happened to me. The man that hurt me was able to hurt me because Rape Culture made it really fucking easy for him. There was a culture of silence. Women, in the past, were hurt by this person, and they were too fucking afraid to say anything. I don't blame them, I didn't want to talk myself. But I did talk, cause I'm was going insane from the PTSD and making a noise is merely how I cope.

Now, things are far more difficult for assaulters/rapists in that particular social circle, because a) potential victims are aware and b) people in the circle don't want or abide unsafe spaces. A dialogue was opened and while particular people were brought on to be security staff with this specialty in mind, a much more important thing happened, something that made me feel hope again for the first time in years.

People said, "This is not okay, it will never be okay and I will not accept it. If I see it, I will not accept it and I will tell you that it's not okay."

This is what the wider community NEEDS to do. Not pick on any one person in particular, but say that "This set of behaviours is not okay. We will not tolerate them." Unfortunately wider community isn't *quite* the same as geek communities, cause the latter tends to be more progressive in nature. But it's something that works. And now Science is saying, "Shit... this is true. Rapists rape because they can get away with it."

It sounds insidious, and it is. It's very uncomfortable to read about. But it's all true, I've witnessed it first-hand. This is why they are called "Predators" and not "Alley-jumpers". Because like a predator, they will reserve their energy and only strike when opportunity is high, and risk of being seen is low.

Please note: I do not want to discuss the details of my assault. This is a post about the idea of Predator Theory, and I consider the details of what happened to me off topic. I prefer the references to be nebulous. Also, I've had some people ask why I keep talking about this. Believe me, it's not fun, and most of the time I really prefer to forget it ever happened. But sometimes I come across articles like this that need to be disseminated. It's at those points where my voice as a survivor has some weight, so I use my voice. If that bothers you, I can't help you.

ETA: More IMPORTANT READING! :)

-- At What Point Is A Rapist No Longer Responsible For the Harm Caused By Rape? This article is important, because a lot of people expect a period of about six months to a year, and after that, if you're still making noise, you're making yourself a victim. If I specified, to you, the complete damage as a result of what happened to me, all the opportunity lost, the years of dating opportunities gone, the thousands of dollars I've lost on therapy and work I never did because I was curled up in a ball under my doona terrified of living, the sheer fucking injustice of all I've been through and the fact that I have no recourse whatsoever - you'd cry. Or not believe me. Either way, it's true. I just live with it because I have to.

-- David Lisak says pretty much what I said above in the Washington City Paper. Probably in a far less incendiary manner.

Crazy Domains: The Final Slapdown.

I don't really have much to say on this. I'll just quote the PDF I was sent:

The complaints, they said, were the result of a deliberate campaign with the expressed aim of
harming the business of Crazy Domains. The advertiser cited a website to support this
submission. The Independent Reviewer considered that, if established, this might be something
that the ASB would consider in deciding the question of breach. At least it would affect the weight
it would give to the nature and content of the complaints.

The Independent Reviewer accepted the review because it would seek further responses from the
original complainants, who would know of this allegation of malice.

Originally there were 16 complaints, 7 complainants responded to the appeal and made further
submissions. They all rejected the notion that they had been motivated to complain out of
malice. Their submissions were directed to the Code and its meaning. There is no evidence that the
complaints were contaminated by the alleged campaign and no basis for suggesting that the ASB
was manipulated.

OH, and that thing about other commercials being sexist too?

The advertiser also argued that the ASB was "not consistent with previous cases and there is
significant existing precedent of other recent commercials that have had their complaints rejected
by the ASB despite their content being IDENTICAL (Independent Reviewer emphasis) to the Crazy
Domains commercial".

The Independent Reviewer viewed the commercials cited. They are of the same genre but not
identical. Good administrative decision making (as opposed to the decision making of courts)
should try for consistency in approach to all complaints. However the doctrine of precedent does
not apply to such decisions. The Independent Reviewer read the decisions of the ASB in this matter
and noted its attention to detail in regards to the submissions made and interpretation of the
Code. The decision was, as is conceded by the advertiser, an exercise in discretion in interpreting
the relevant clause. This was the task of the ASB. The Independent Reviewer found that the Board
made no procedural error in carrying it out.

The Independent Reviewer recommended that the decision to uphold the complaint under Section
2.1 and Section 2.3 be confirmed by the Board.

And in case Gavin Collins is nosing about, I have a final message for you: