by Chukwudi Madu
Society hasn’t really lived up to expectations in dealing with the issue of rape and ace comedian Basketmouth’s blunder reflects that collective failure.
The real reason for this short piece, however, is to establish that Basketmouth may be the guy in the eye of the storm, but most of us are as guilty as him or perhaps even guiltier with regards to trivializing rape, condoning it and even perpetrating it.
READ: Rape is no joke! Comedian Basketmouth Under Fire For Facebook Joke And Apology
A lot of people will say – “I haven’t raped anyone before.”
On a few occasions when the issue of a rape incident came up while having drinks with friends, I remember hearing stuff like – “Na she cause am, that girl too waka” or “It’s her fault, she dresses too skimpily.”
Those are much worse than what Basketmouth posted. It’s even more disturbing when one hears women make such dismissive remarks about rape considering the fact that women and children are the major victims of rape. Some of us watch rape videos online, recognize the culprits and yet relate with them as if nothing happened. Some get to hear a victim crying for help from the place of someone we know as a rapist in the neighborhood and just keep a straight face, turn a deaf ear and think ‘it’s not my business’.
Even convicts in certain climes are role models to most of us with regards to the perception of rape because they look down on rapists and give them a hard time in prison.
If you have – treated a rape incident with levity, used your position of influence to extort sex from a hapless person, justified an act of rape by pointing out the how the victim has a questionable character or incited the rapist by dressing provocatively and many more – then you need to apologize as well. One day after hearing from the guys how a girl had brought rape upon herself by always dressing too sexily, something hit me and I asked –
“How about one of you guys dresses up so cutely and all the girls are commending you and tripping, then you go somewhere and have the misfortune of running into a macho homosexual with black belt in Kung Fu who thinks you look too damn sexy, he overpowers you and rapes the shit out of your ass, would you blame yourself for provoking the guy who raped you by the way you dressed, pardon him and move on like nothing happened?” None of my homeboys could answer me.
If you have watched the movie ‘Con Air’, you would know one of the criminal masterminds, ‘Cyrus the Virus’. There was another convict ‘Johnny 23’ who was doing time for 23 counts of rape. Cyrus and Johnny had a discussion and this is what Cyrus had to say about rapists to Johnny –
“…I despise rapists. For me, you’re somewhere between a cockroach and that white stuff that accumulates at the corner of your mouth when you’re really thirsty.” – It was just a movie, but the remark was spot on.
Rape is evil, it can’t be justified and no one deserves to be raped; not a skank, not a prostitute, not you. Just like my brother Basketmouth has nobly done, I apologize too for having done too little to fight rape.
How about you?
Chukwudi Madu is a writer focused on creative writing, copywriting and technical writing. He is a proud alumnus of the prestigious Government College Umuahia (following in the steps of great Umuahians like Chinua Achebe, Vincent Chukwuemeka Ike, Elechi Amadi, I. N. C. Aniebo, Ken Saro-Wiwa and Christopher Okigbo) and an alumnus of the University of Nigeria Nsukka. He tweets @maduchuddi. His Facebook page is HERE. You can buy his books HERE.
The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author.
