The Problematic Nature of a Classic.

When I was a young girl, one of my favorite books was Harper E. Lee’s, To Kill a Mockingbird. A book that opened America’s eyes in a lot of ways and helped reform some people’s minds for, what I thought at the time, the better. Now in my mid twenties I decided to pick up the book again and was horrified by the message it actually gave.

The book itself takes place in imaginary Newcomb County Alabama in the 1930's. It follows a lawyer, Atticus Finch and the rather unfortunate case of Tom Robinson. Tom, you see, was accused of raping a white woman, Mayella Ewell. And this is where the problematic message that I only discovered years later with thanks to having my eyes open with Feminism.

You see: Atticus believes that Tom was falsely accused. This enforces the message that false accusations are, or ever were, rampant. While just the opposite is the case. In fact, you’re more likely to be hit by a comet than you are to be falsely accused of rape. Instead of believing Mayella’s lived experience Atticus begins to form a counter narrative that she LIED. I threw the book down immediately and tossed it in my fire-pit. I was disgusted. An inspiration of mine was practicing rape apologia. Harper E. Lee was a rape apologist. I cried for hours…

Now back in those days, it wasn’t uncommon for men to by lynched by mobs because they raped a (white woman) specifically. These were the days that rape was ACTUALLY taken seriously by society, and, as a feminist, I yearn to go back to those days. The early 1900's was a more progressive time and yet here we are, 2015, and we devolved by to, “blame the victim,” and, “don’t believe this woman, she could be lying,” and, the tired old mantra, “innocent until proven guilty.” No. No you’re not. Accusations are all the evidence that is needed because women DO NOT lie about rape. Let me repeat that women DO NOT LIE ABOUT RAPE. Understand? Harper E. Lee is no longer a hero of mine, she’s just another rape apologist in a long line of rape apologists.