Rele-vent

This is not something that's never been posted before, so please excuse any redundancies. But regardless of the stories told and experiences shared it is an issue and it's (most unfortunately) not going away any time soon. So I'm going to vent. Sorry.

I was browsing a forum and came across a post from a young woman. She and a few friends had attended a swingers party in light of curiosity and adventure. She had been drinking, as people do at parties. Her friends had partaken in the festivities and she stood back, not ready to experiment. At this time a man grabbed her, pulled her up against a wall, pinned her arms and painfully penetrated her. She told him to stop and that it hurt but without the ability to move, she was powerless.

A terrifying story. Her friends have been unreceptive to her remorse and she was looking to the online community she posted to, as many do, for advice and comfort.

What she was met with was largely skepticism and blame.

"If you play with fire, you will get burned"

"What did you expect?"

"What kind of weapon did he use?"

"Why didn't you scream?"

Etc., etc., etc.

All while referring to her as a slut, and the like.

Excuse my language, but what the fuck?

Why do we so often scrutinize these stories and try to find ways to blame the person who was raped. Why did you wear that dress? Why did you get drunk? Why didn't you fight more?

Yes, you have to be careful with the amount you drink. Yes, it was a risky situation. But this was all these commenters seemed to be able to dwell on. Are there not more important questions to consider?

Why do we fail to ask the predator questions about his personal responsibility. Why did you think it was okay to pin a drunk person up against a wall and force yourself on her?

Hello?

Rape is illegal. It is wrong. It makes me sick. The rapist is the problem. Not the alcohol, time, clothing, party, location or sexuality.

STOP BLAMING THE VICTIM.

Seriously. This is the hostile environment that leads to 60% of rapes being unreported. And this needs to stop. Think about it.

Candyless Strangers

"It's so cool that we've hit it off the way we have," my new acquaintance Kevin says after a 7-minute explanation of the way he strategically dilutes his pink lemonade with ice.

Bound to be a riveting friendship.

Really though, I love talking to strangers. It's my favorite thing about traveling and second favorite thing about cities (twenty Chinese food places within the same two blocks being the first.) Regardless of the often vapid conversations, it's an interesting way to learn about the general public and a good reminder that you will never figure them out. Ever.

Boy do we try, though. Particularly in advertising. We categorize, analyze and prioritize not-so-indirectly claiming that we know what they want. We might. We might not. But we're sure as hell going to sound confident enough that they might just believe our assessments over self-assessments. It's an interesting thing, the power of persuasion.

However, everyone's different. Perhaps we shouldn't be trying to speak to all of them at once. We can't. Perhaps, instead, we need to speak to the individual. Because it just so happens that we're all individuals.

Individualized messages that are consequently universal. An oxymoron for the ages. People are smarter than we often give them credit for. Complexities in advertising should be created by the observer, not thrown in their face. By providing a simple canvas that requires the observer of the ad to think and interact with your brand, it empowers the consumer. And that's pretty cool. When people really "get" each other, they often finish each other's sentences. You want your target to "get" you. To finish your sentences.

I'm on a creative exploration. For simpler solutions and simpler messages. Sometimes i talk my self in circles. I want to shrink those circles into periods. Period.