She was asking for it!
Assumed invitation occurs whenever a sexual invitation or openness to sexual advances is assumed, rather than confirmed by affirmative action. More specifically it can, and often does, include the additional assumption that since a person is, assumedly, "looking for it", they are inviting or sexually open to that specific person, or are obligated to accept them.
The idea that a man, or any person, should ever have right to assume what a woman is thinking, feeling, or wanting, is a vein that runs deep and strong in Rape culture.
Issues
Issues with the existence of assumed invitation include:
- Shift of responsibility to women to restrict their self-expression and actions in order to avoid being assumed to be sexually available
- victim blaming, including internalised victim blaming.
Bases used to claim assumed invitation
- She's a woman (because All women are horny)
- She's wearing specific clothes (because the primary use of clothing is signalling whether a woman wants sex or not)
- She's wearing specific makeup (ditto)
- She's alone (because women never are alone unless "looking for it")
- She's in a specific place (because women never have any business to certain streets, buildings, events, clubs, parties, bars, rooms, corners, etc etc unless "looking for it")
- She's out and about at a specific time (because women never have any business to be outside of their door unless "looking for it")
- She is, or was, or perceived to be sexually promiscuous (because she's "giving it away" anyway)
- She is, or was, a stripper or a sex worker (because she's "giving it away" anyway)
- She was looking around all bedroom eyes like (because no way she was tired, bored, tipsy, annoyed, or blinded by bright lights)
- She was talking/smiling to me (because women never are sociable unless "looking for it")
- She was dancing all come hither like (because sexy movement never occurs in women's dancing unless "looking for it").
Counter-arguments
When invitation-assuming is challenged, the two most usually encountered counter-arguments are:
- "Next thing we know it, guys will need a notarized form to even touch a girl!"
- You should know that certain things excite men, of course they'll think you're doing it on purpose.
Commentary =
- Pervocracy: Grand Game, on why women don't smile to strangers
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