Mary Motherfucking Mitchell

Mary Mitchell of the Chicago Sun-Times ( Click here to see article)

 Yesterday, I was mortified to read an article by Chicago Sun-Times writer Mary Mitchell (who we will from now on refer to as Mary Motherfucking Mitchell because of the absolute audacity). In the article, she basically compared the rape of a woman to petty theft because that woman was a prostitute. Now my last open letter was written with love, this one not so much, because Mary Motherfucking Mitchell should have known better than to imply that because a woman may have ever been a prostitute (or being prostituted)  that she was incapable of being ‘raped’.

 Dear Mary Motherfucking Mitchell,

 RAPE is RAPE. Now say it with me… Rape is rape.

Before we begin, since you are not exactly clear on what rape is, let me help you out. Rape can happen to anyone (male or female). It is not age, race, or culturally specific. It IS a violation of the victim in a sexual manner.  It is not always sexual for the rapist. Sometimes, it is about overpowering or control for the rapist. It IS always sexual for the victim (which is how in some cases inanimate objects have been used to rape victims). Virgins and whores alike can be raped. All it takes for a rape to occur is the victim to refuse the rapist and they take ‘what they want’ anyway. Refusal can be verbal or physical. These are just the basics because somewhere along the line you never learned these things.

While there are a million scenarios of rape, I will give you 3 so that you have a better idea of what rape is *insert sarcastic tone*:

Rape Scenario 1:

If a girl has a boyfriend and they have sex all the time, but one particular time she doesn’t want to and he still forces himself on her. Guess what? That’s RAPE.

Rape Scenario 2: 

If a husband and wife are married for 25 years and she does not want to have sex and he forces himself on her. Guess whaaaat? That’s RAPE.

Rape Scenario 3:

And if a prostitute tells a man NO for WHATEVER reason, be it fiscal or otherwise, that too is rape Mary.

These are the reasons your argument is null and void.

“It’s tough to see this unidentified prostitute as a victim. And because this incident is being charged as a criminal sexual assault­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­--- when it's actually more like a theft of services--- it minimizes the act of rape”-Mary Mitchell

Newsflash, you’re wrong.

Unfortunately, when it comes to rape, there are levels to this shit. No two victims are the same. The circumstances under which the assault occurs should never negate the violation itself. I am perplexed at why you wouldn't understand that. If someone told you to do something that you had initially planned on doing (but changed your mind), then put a gun to your head and made you do it anyway, I'm guessing you'd still see it as your decision huh?

“But when you agree to meet a strange man in a strange place for the purpose of having sex for money, you are putting yourself at risk for harm”-Mary Mitchell

I’m sure you really felt yourself when you wrote that line. Like you were ‘telling it like it is’. Get the fuck out of here. What really blows me about you is how you arbitrarily just cast off the victim --- as if she was responsible in some way for being violated because of how you view her personally without considering if other factors were at play before you said that.

Are you aware that Chicago is one of the top 20 U.S cities for sex trafficking? Did you know that many pimps and traffickers use websites like backpage.com to prostitute children and women against their own volition? These people are hiding in plain sight everyday. Did it ever occur to you that the woman you judged so harshly might have been needing more help than criticism?

For you to insinuate that just because this woman may have prostituted previously therefore exempting the assailant of any wrong doing (at that level) is the absolute highest form of fuckery. There is so much information these days on sex trafficking and how a majority of those involved are not operating at-will regardless of how it may ‘appear’. Heaven forbid any young woman in that predicament looking for a way out reads that demeaning shitfuck of an article you wrote. It would literally kill someone's hope of any abusers involved being  held accountable. Thank God the investigating officers got the charges right (sans your skewed ass opinion).

While I am not the National Prostitute Spokesperson, I am a woman who is highly disturbed by your stance. One would think as a woman yourself, you’d be a bit more compassionate towards the predicament this young lady found herself in. One would think that as a journalist you might have attempted to scratched past the surface and see if there was more to this.

I am still so deeply saddened by your commentary as a ‘seasoned’ writer. You are clearly OUT of touch with the harsh realities and various crimes involving the sex trade within our very city ( not to mention your ideas and delivery are dusty and antiquated). Maybe the Sun-Times should hire me instead. At the very least I won't go telling rape victims they weren't raped. 

If you or someone you know is dealing with any type of sexual violations (past or present), here are some resources:

National Human Trafficking Resource Center

1.888.373.7888

The Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN)

www.rainn.org

Chicago Alliance Against Sexual Exploitation

www.caase.org

Mary Mitchell of the Chicago Sun-Times