The classic Pretenders frontwoman said in a recent profile that she took responsibility for being sexually assaulted when she was 21. In Chrissie Hynde’s world, bad people can be enticed to force you into sex, based on your clothing.
The internet was not happy, particularly amid all the talk about consent and sex after that mess-of-a-case in New Hampshire. Hynde is crying out from decades ago, when we women had to take responsibility for our own sexuality and the sexuality of our male peers, because they were incapable of doing so for themselves. I’ve prefer to think that men — young and old — are fully capable of being in control of their own sexual lives.
Dating Jesus 
I think you can blame yourself for a lot of things that can happen when you’re being reckless. Rape isn’t one of them. Letting men off the hook like that is just wrong.
It’s kind of sad…really…that she’s lived with that for 40 years. I wonder how her daughters would respond.
We agree. There are steps you can take to be safe. I advocate we all take those steps. But in the end, a woman who has been raped cannot be held responsible for that rape. And it’s interesting you say that this is sad. There was a lot of that on the web, sadness for Hynde that she thought that way, blamed herself, for decades. That says a lot about the good will she’s built up. Even the haters were muted.
It’s not like she’s made a campaign out of it or anything. She wrote a book…a memoir…she’s being honest. Have to respect that.
Yep. I just worry that young girls see this stuff and it becomes part of their DNA. I mean, that notion that women are to blame for their own victimhood is pretty prevalent already.
I can appreciate that. But how many young girls…or young women…are going to take a 63 year-old dinorocker that seriously?
I think Miley Cyrus, Taylor Swift, Beyoncé, Rihanna, Lady Gaga…just from the top of the pops…would hold more sway. I think the backlash communicates how out of step victim blaming has become. Unless you’re in church. I don’t think Hynde’s personal revelations propose much of a threat.
I worry that older men & women read it and the message, already there from the past, is reinforced. These may be victims who have been silently suffering or parents & grandparents who pass on these messages to kids. Boys/men need to follow the law and take full & complete responsibility if they commit the crime of rape. It is not a crime to be a victim of crime.
Thanks for bringing this to light.
You’re right. It’s not just about setting an example for young people.