Downtown street scene with two-story-tall white sculpture of a woman’s head and neck, with her armless hands covering her eyes. PHOTO PROMPT © Roger Bultot
{This photo prompt from Friday Fictioneers reminded me of the three monkeys of yore, covering their eyes, ears and mouth, respectively, and how, at least in the olden days, some things just weren’t talked about or acknowledged. I have preserved here what I hope is a relic of a former time. Thanks for the prompt and for reading!}
Melissa wandered downtown in her mod pink pumps, dangling her matching faux-patent-leather, short-handled clutch from her wrist. Her flip hairstyle was held firmly in place by means of a psychedelic hairband and hairspray.
The subway kept taking her back here. Against her will.
Nobody knew. Not her boyfriend. Not her parents. Not her guardian of secrets, Gwendolyn.
Not even her.
They’d never guess. Never even think, to ask.
And even if they knew, what would they have done?
Blamed the miniskirt?
Faulted her, for wandering the streets alone?
(Even in broad daylight!)
She was asking for it, even now.
Maybe I’m wrong but this sounds like someone with a split personality disorder if she’s dressing that way and going to a place against her will. If it’s modern times, it’s odd she’s dressing like a woman from the 1970’s. She needs help in my opinion. Her physical well being is not the only thing at risk here. Or, maybe she likes retro fashions but the rest of the description puts that at doubt. A good story and well written, Andrea. —- Suzanne
Thank you Suzanne for your interesting interpretation.
I did leave a lot of room for interpretation, not naming the act of rape itself, which i meant to imply (through the feeling of being forced to (re-)visit the scene of the crime, the mention of the miniskirt and the expression “asking for it.” )
I also tried to imply the timeframe by the clothing she wore. It wouldn’t have been”retro” then, but modish, stylish.
I wanted to convey that the woman was interested in looking her best, and stress what a contemporary (2019) audience would already know: that her looks had nothing to do with the violence perpetrated upon her, that clothes don’t provoke rape, and therefore she is in no way responsible for what was done to her.
And yet once, she would have been treated as if she were.
Your interpretation is a perfectly valid reading which would take the story in a different direction entirely.
I got another comment from an anonymous “someone” which i did not approve merely because I prefer to know my commenters by their names. He or she saw a mysterious woman, thirsting for blood and attracting victims.
How fun it would be to write all three stories to completion!
Such is the nature of 100- word fiction. What we the authors leave out, the reader’s imagination fills in!
This is powerful and well-done. I think it’s easier to blame the victim than to accept responsibility. Even though we’re not all responsible, the majority of us would never perpetrate such a heinous act, this is our society. We’re all part of a society wherein these types of things happen. We should all feel guilty and ashamed that one of us could be so evil. We should also feel guilty and ashamed about victim blaming because that perpetuates the “rape culture.” Of course, pointing a finger isn’t seen as being as destructive as the actual act.
Thank you nobbinmaug! There’s always enough guilt to go around.
I concur with the comments of your other readers!
Thank you Liz!
Melissa was tasting her freedom! She did not care.
In the first paragraph she reminds me of “That Girl” the 60’s-70’s tv series with Marlo Thomas as a cheerful, empowered young woman on her own.
But i meant to imply in the rest of the story that she was revisiting the scene of her recent sexual assault.
Perhaps I was too subtle. My husband had to read it twice before he understood.
But carefree–no. Thanks Abjhit!
I really enjoyed this piece, well written, thought provoking, and deep layered. It surprises (and horrifies) me that even today people often wonder what the victim did to “deserve it.”
Thank you Brenda! I imagine that, for the victim, returning to the scene of the crime must bring the memory back so vividly.
The restraint. The indifference to one’s wishes. The aloneness.
And yet it seems to me that the very nature of a traumatic violent incident is to haunt the victim, to trap her perpetually, in a recurring cycle of nightmares. Which become all the more intolerable when, for fear of shaming and shunning, they cannot be shared.
Faulted her, for wandering the streets alone?
(Even in broad daylight!)
Above everything else in your story THIS says so much. I only point that out because everything else says a lot. Well done.
Sadly enough, that mindset still hasn’t disappeared and it gets new support in too many places. Great scene-setting.
Thanks gah!
It’s unbelievable that these days that attitude of “asking for it” still persists…
Indeed. But in this story, women are still safely tucked away and protected by mid–twentieth-century mindsets. I find it interesting that a society insisting on being protective of the fragile female of the species can be somehow co-dependent in secret violent acts against women.
I think this kind of inner dialogue continues to be the norm for a lot of females. We are programmed to be the blamed. Good story, Andrea.
Thanks msjadeli!
You’re welcome, Andrea.
I’m looking forward to the day where this “asking for it” crap disappears…
Well done Andrea!
Thanks Dale.
Dear Andrea,
Fortunately some of this is changing but not enough and for too many it’s too little too late. I love where the prompt took you. Well done.
Shalom,
Rochelle
Thank you Rochelle! The problem with change is, it’s hard for those accustomed to it, to understand why it didn’t happen sooner.
Topical and hard-hitting. Well done.
Thank you Iain! It’s my best answer to the age-old question–why didn’t she tell anybody at the time?
This mentality needs to be stamped out, no body asks for it.
You painted a solid picture. Well done Andy!
Thank you, Tanille. Old habits–and beliefs–die hard.
I assume the last line is what “they” would say.
Exactly. But I think to some degree such social beliefs were internalized.