Katie Price 2

I've recieved a massive response to my first post about Katie Price. And I am not backing down

...so extended version of rant (which is actually a response to a commenter who called me "disgusting"):

The fact that Katie Price’s rape has become a daily tea time gossip topic – perpetuated by the tabloid media and fuelled by her own PR – is not only making light of the topic in my opinion: it’s extremely dangerous for women and insulting to other rape victims. The difference between Ms Price and other rape victims – which some people fail to recognise – is that Katie Price opened this dialogue herself by writing about it in a trashy magazine in order to advocate Alex Reid’s appearance in a porn film which feature scenes of violent rape. To young girls and victims of sexual assault, to see a media personality and supposed role model speaking out about her “horrendous” rape in the public domain, then flaunting her relationship with a violent porn actor using the same platforms is confusing to say the least. I agree that some of her testimonies following the disclosure of the alleged rape are somewhat typical of a rape victim’s but only in that she is supposedly and/or conveniently too scared to report the crime. What makes her decidedly atypical is her behaviour in disclosing the story, baiting the media almost daily in order to profit from it, and then asking for the public to “forget about it” when the press attention was less than sympathetic. How on earth is this not damaging to other women who have gone through rape and find themselves unable to “just get over it and get on with [their] lives” and aren’t popular enough to make a few bucks on the side?

The pseudo feminist rants like Barbara Ellen's in this week's Observer aren’t feminist at all because they don’t accept Price as an individual and evaluate her behaviour objectively. Not all women are homogenous victims of rape and other sexual discriminations and sticking up for anyone who claims they’ve been raped isn’t a feminist argument; it’s actually sexist. Women get raped, yes, and the law is weighted out of their favour. But women also lie about rape as well. Who’s to say which is which in this case…I actually haven’t – but the supposedly typical “feminist” argument here has already made a decision on who’s the victim.

Regardless of gender our laws still maintain the “innocent before guilty” idea. Don’t you think that immediately assuming Price is the victim of the situation – particularly with the lack of evidence, forensic or otherwise – is actually a little anti-feminist?

Finally, the difference between Price discussing *gasp* her own life and other people having a discrete chat over a cuppa is this (and this is hypothetically imagining Price is a rape victim): not all other rape victims have the world press on tenterhooks for their next “revelation”. Not all other rape victims choose to talk about their rape as a means to endorse rape-based pornography. Not all other rape victims reveal purposefully tantalising details about their attacker to everyone other than the police, and maybe help stop the same thing happening to someone else.

I simply don't believe other rape stories are alike to what has happened to Katie Price - that's not a crime is it? Not all women are the same, neither are all rape victims - it's insulting to women and to rape victims to think they will all prescribe to the same coping strategies and assume because "I did, she must".

Katie Price

I wish I didn't have to post this but I feel I have to. When I go into my office, the girls are all talking about Katie Price. What she's saying and doing actually seems to mean something to the general public. And is not that the point? Doesn't she make money from the general public? I'm not sure that this hasn't gone a little bit too far. This woman is - clearly - far from stable. But she has three children. Those three children one day are going to research their mum and dad. And it will be a whole lot more interesting than my Google search on my dad (I wish he was a neuro astronaut!) but the thing is, they aren't going to like their mother slagging off their dad and claiming they were raped to get press. And that's the thing - the police have had to drop Katie Price's rape claim as they have no substantial evidence. Hmmm. Is that because there is none? There is nothing I hate more than people making light of rape. Those that sling the accusation around make it harder for genuine victims to get justice, as if it is not hard enough. Katie Price dropping the accusation in the press and then hiding the accusation is terrible for victims. It's saying that she is either too scared to disclose it - just what the rapist wants; or that she's making it up; making it 10 times worse for genuine rape victims.