A Slut In The Family

I have seen the footage of Randall Margraves lunging at Larry Nassar four times today. The father of three daughters that were assaulted by Nassar, requested five minutes alone with Nassar. He was denied an opportunity to speak to Nassar privately by the judge. “Well I have to do something,” he muttered, before he lunged at Nassar, quickly being taken down by law enforcement. This exemplifies the reality that sexual assault has a significant impact on victims as well as a considerable effect on families. Slut-shaming is still a common practice in the United States. It is usually directed at women, and it almost always begins in the family. Although many other advancements have been made since the 1800s, Americans are still not ready to accept that women have sex drives. Girls are told, as soon as we begin to dress ourselves, not to wear anything too short or revealing. We are discouraged from interacting with boys, beginning with the common dad thing, “My daughter can’t date until she’s (insert age)! I got a shotgun for any boy that tries to take to my daughter!” For women, being a “slut” is seen as the ultimate shame to her family, a disgrace to the family name. The families, especially fathers, of sexual assault survivors often have a hard time coping with the idea that someone has touched their daughter, although it was unwanted. Fathers especially feel that it is their duty to protect their daughters, and often feel like they are to blame for allowing them to be assaulted. This is a toxic mindset that has kept many survivors from speaking out to their families.