Satire is a literary strategy often exercised by the greatest, most intelligent writers. Unfortunately, the standard does not extend into the world of Cassidy Boon. A self-proclaimed satirist of feminism, Boon’s latest attempt at “shedding light” on rape culture and feminism may have gone too far.
In her narrative, Boon was knocked unconscious at a lake and was at risk of drowning, but was luckily rescued. However, she is “screaming inside,” since she had been touched while unconscious and was unable to give her consent. She continues to move forward, proclaiming she intends to “sue” her rescuer for rape. Now, please tell me that as you read that last sentence you gawked, because this is absolutely ridiculous — for an unlimited number of reasons.
I just wasted 5 minutes of my life thinking it was actually going to mean something. A big part of me died watching that. #SaveRape #WTF
— Autumn Stone (@autumndstone) September 28, 2015
A viewer can assume several things after watching Boon’s video, the first of which is that she is not intellectually capable of producing the intelligent satire we all know and love. Her statement of “suing for rape” in itself is not even plausible. If someone were to report a rape, the attacker would (hopefully) be arrested and charged according to the nature of his or her crime, and sent to jail — not merely “sued.”
Additionally, while her argument in unclear at first glance, it appears that Boon is satirizing two things: the ever-expanding societal definition of rape and feminist viewpoints on interactions with men.
In her defense, the term “rape” is often taken out of context in today’s popular culture. All over campus I have heard the phrase, “that test raped me,” but obviously an inanimate object could never involuntarily have sex with a human.
The doctor didn't have my consent to pull me from my mother's womb #SaveRape
— Ash (@EpicAshh) September 28, 2015
Isolated misuse and misunderstanding does not open the door for her diminish the importance and severity of the true definition. While it may be a stretch, it is important to note that a majority of rape victims already have a difficult time finding means of convicting their perpetrators, and making fun of the idea of claiming rape does nothing but encourage our rape-apologist society.
In terms of ridiculing feminism, again, Boon approached the issue so entirely unsophisticatedly that she cannot even be taken seriously in light of the issue. Sure, there are some man-hating feminists out there, and some women who do “cry wolf” when it comes to their “sexual” interactions with men, but they are the lesser minority (some say as few as two percent).
By definition a feminist is an “advocate of women's rights on the grounds of political, social, and economic equality to men.” Especially women of today’s generation are searching merely for last bits of equality in the common world, not superiority over men.
My biggest concern with Boon’s video and her (most likely) 15 minutes of fame is that she shed light on highly sensitive topics in today’s age in an unbalanced, uneducated and arrogant fashion.
Additionally, she used her catastrophically incorrect depiction of rape and feminism as a means of becoming Internet famous, while simultaneously confusing viewers. Unfortunately, much of Boon’s (young and impressionable) audience may have a difficult time distinguishing her satire from reality, and in that essence, she has gone too far in the wrong direction.
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