Blythe Baird - "For The Rapists Who Called Themselves Feminist"

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An incredibly powerful poem that I thought I'd share with you.

 

Don't ignore what is going on around you. Call people out on their sheet.

[~ P O L A R I S ~]

I appreciate that you posted this here, it gives voice, direction and a feeling of solidarity to the too many who`ve had to go through egregious and traumatic trials at campuses when college life is hard enough as it is. Blythe Baird is a warrior who deserves our respect. This poem had some false notes for me, there are line that is incontrovertibly hyperbolic (e.g. "Meanwhile, everyone is more concerned with how this experience has taken away her assailant's appetite, rather than the survivor's autonomy", "But haven't we all found the bones of a woman stuck like leftovers between a full man's teeth?") which is important because it begs the question of how hyperbolic in nature the entire poem is. There're also rape jokes in the poem ("Women have so much in common, such as loving Zumba! Being interrupted! Experiencing violence!" and "You call this rape culture? I call it this morning.") These jokes are gallows humour - a coping mechanism that helps alleviate the gravity of the subject, but for that same reason they make light of it and can come across as cynical, which is problematic for the very reasons she outlined ("Never mind that your joke validates the actions of the anonymous predator sitting next to you. Never mind that your joke made the survivor across from you relive what was likely the worst thing to ever happen to them.") 

 

What Blythe Baird set out to do in writing this poem was ambitious, and a near-impossible balancing act of optimal poignancy while at the same time being true to all those she speaks for. She should be commended for attempting it, and while she is using the pain of many to leverage her own voice, she has every right to do so. She has my respect and commendations.

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I saw the "loving Zumba" part as humour because it's clearly just a stereotype. It's not a joke about rape, it's a joke about stereotypes.

 

I didn't really find the "I call it this morning" to be humour because it simply seemed like she was exemplifying how much of an everyday thing this was for her, not just some abstract concept.

 

I found the hyperbole acceptable because people are hyperbolic when they are angry. The hyperbole added to the sense of infectious fury that I got from this poem. She did also qualify her statements at other times when it was important.