So Youtubers Hannah Witton, Leena Norms and Lucy Moon are running a book reading club called #BangingBookClub. As opposed to making a video, I’ll be participating via my blog!
The first in this year’s list is…
Asking For It by Louise O’Neil
**trigger warning:novel contains rape and descriptions of self-harm**
{Blog post will be referencing these}
Is it possible to want everything to change and nothing to change, all at the same time?
This book got me thinking a lot about how we treat victims of rape, how every societal institution plays their part in victim blaming, through the eyes of the media, the law, local communities, and family & friends etc.
Admittedly, yes, the main character Emma was portrayed as an absolute bitch from the very beginning: she belittled her own friends, bullied her fellow students, and was generally a right pain in the arse. However, that dislike of her character I had felt at the start instantly disappeared once she became a victim.
While she wasn’t there for Jamie, her friend who also tells her that she was raped,she soon learns what it actually means to be. None of her friends are truly there for her, although after some initial hostility her friends talk to her again, there is still a sense of blame from them (Ali: “forgives” her for sleeping with Sean, the guy she fancies, the guy who rapes Emma).
Her parents are also very oblivious to how their behaviour is affecting their daughter. Emma’s Father ignores her completely, again reinforcing this feeling of self-blame within Emma, while her Mother turns to alcohol and becomes a victim instead of staying strong for her daughter who is an actual victim, always stopping short at ‘this wouldn’t have happened if… [you hadn’t gotten raped]’. Reading this through Emma’s eyes made me feel like nobody cared for her wants and needs, even when she decides to withdraw her complaint to please her parents, I felt like it was not what she truly wanted.
Media hysteria, and in this day and age, social media also, play a part in victim blaming, highlighted through the the snippets of the Ned O’Dwyer show that Emma eavesdrops on and sensationalist newspapers she finds.
- What did she expect?
- Wearing skirts up to their arses
- She was asking for trouble
These kind of questions and thinking are preventing young women in situations like Emma’s from being helped.
Even religion’s part in the treatment of rape victims is criticised in the novel, with Father Michael, the book’s local priest, openly shaking hands with and giving his condolences to the perpetrators. I don’t want to go too much into it but I feel like many fundamentalist thinkers see women as temptresses, thus again enforcing this stereotype that women who are raped are to be blamed, especially in Catholic communities in Ireland like Ballinatoom, where the book is set in (which I can’t help thinking sounds like a fictitious Cbeebies town!)
The only characters who fully understand, or attempt to understand Emma, and are completely there for her throughout are Bryan (her brother) and Conor, whom are ironically both male (I’m not sure if O’Neill did this on purpose or not!)
Another thing which shocked me was how much the small community they lived in mattered to the issue so much, an aspect I hadn’t considered having lived in a city all my life. The fact that everybody knew each other and that the perpetrators were considered to be ‘good local boys’ added to the disbelief of the fact that Emmie had been raped,her Mother even going as far as to say that she didn’t understand how it could have happened because “he dressed nicely”.
And finally, I’d just like to comment on the injustice of the law that allowed Emma’s abusers to still walk free in her community and allowed them to continue harassing her. How is this allowed? I don’t completely know how the Irish justice system works in comparison to other parts of the UK or how claims of rape are dealt with, but the fact that abusers can get away with their behaviour and continue harassing and abusing is completely absurd to me.
I liked the use of the repetition of negative phrases throughout the book which Emma had heard and read about her, as it showed how much the negativity around her had impacted upon her, which I thought perfectly depicted the anxiety aspects of depression, the words going around and around in her head, squeezing into every part of your brain and chest, rendering you worthless and necessary, at least mentally anyway.
The novel ends on an ambiguous note, atypical of normal books, but it serves to indicate that it is not all rainbows and sunshine for victims like Emma, like all the Emmas of the world, who still have a long way to go and a lot of healing to go through.
I really enjoyed this novel. I’m glad I read it as it gave me a lot to think about and really presented ideas of rape in a very thought provoking manner.
Thoughts? Have any of you read this before or would like to?
If you’ve been affected by any of the issues talked about here///
If you or someone else is in immediate danger, call the Police on 999.
NHS Direct Helpline ‐ 24 hour medical advice and information service: 111
Alternatively, you can contact several voluntary organisations for emotional support:
The Samaritans | 0845 790 9090 | www.samaritans.org
Saneline |0845 767 8000 | www.sane.org.uk
RoI Rape Crisis Centre | 1800 77 8888 | www.drcc.ie
UK Rape and Sexual Abuse Support Centre | 0808 802 9999 | www.rasasc.org.uk
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Until next time,
ACreativeGirlNadia 
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