Since Revealing Politics broke news of Democratic Colorado state Rep. Joe Salazar’s opinion on why women shouldn’t carry guns to defend themselves against rape, the left and the right have been in heated battle over the topic. Liberal radio talk show host and Fox News Contributor Leslie Marshall has spoken more than once in defense of Salazar claiming that, as a victim of attempted rape, she can attest that a woman does not need a gun to fight off rape. In US News, Marshall wrote of her “rape situation”:
When I was 19 years old, a man I knew climbed in my bedroom window, climbed on top of me, and started to rape me. Now I don’t own a gun. And if I did and was a responsible gun owner, it would not have been loaded and lying under my pillow. Being that it was about 3 a.m., I was in a deep, deep REM stage of sleep. I was totally unprepared, and unprotected. Or so I thought. Being a single woman (at that time) and living in a major city (Boston), I had taken self defense classes. As a matter of fact, my dad had me start taking self defense classes at age 9. (Silver medal in Judo.) Now many years ago some would say to just give in to the rapist’s demands and you have a better chance of living; but I thought, no way. I used what many people know are some of our best weapons. Our own bodies. I screamed, kicked him in his private parts, scratched his face, punched until I had no more punch and … he gave up. I was no longer another statistic, another victim, I was a survivor.
However, when former Senatorial Candidate Todd Akin made his career killing comment about “legitimate rape,” Marshall was out in front attacking him as a victim of (legitimate) rape. As she wrote at that time in US News, “And I should know. I was the victim of rape at 19.” Whether the violence against Marshall was attempted or not is really of no consequence, however, the fact that she would seek to qualify her incident now by not referring to it as simply “rape” has raised a red flag for some. Why change the wording when the offensive remark is made by a Democrat?
According to Marshall, she was sexually assaulted on two separate occasions when she was 19. Although in the Akin post she claimed she did not report the rape, she later stated that she reported both incidences.
the police knew of these crimes, the perpetrators know of the crimes, the rape crisis center and counselors I went to know of these crimes…
Marshall has gone on to say that she is coming at these situations as a woman and that she views them as “not a political issue,” but an issue of gender. While speaking to Fox News’ Megyn Kelly on Salazar’s questioning of women’s judgment, she explained:
This is one of the reasons why I always say I’m a woman before I’m a Democrat because I have heard men on the left and the right make disgusting and offensive remarks when it comes to women, when it comes to our emotions, and when it comes to our ability.
So, according to Marshall, it is “disgusting and offensive” when a woman’s judgement is called into question because of her emotions. Yet when Chief Foreign Affairs Correspondent for 60 Minutes Lara Logan, who was gang raped in Tharir Square while covering the fall of Hosni Mubarak, spoke out on the topic of the Obama administration’s failings in handling terrorism, Marshall had no problem exploiting her perception of Logan’s emotional state for her own gain. In defending the administration, Marshall stated Logan was “too emotional” to be discussing foreign affairs.
Is Marshall playing politics when it comes to the issue of rape? We may never know, but perhaps she’s too emotional for her opinion to matter anyway.
Cross-posted at Revealing Politics
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