Faith Born of Seduction. Jennifer L Manlowe
with her if she could not defend herself against the offender’s intrusions. A woman may manifest this shame by feeling overconcerned with the size of her body or believing that if she looks a certain way—culturally acceptable—others will not see her core shame. Note Haddock’s belief that if she is thin then she is invulnerable to disapproval and rejection—further shame. In her words, “I come to OA [Overeaters Anonymous] because I need a reality check. I need to weigh myself and know that I’m like somewhere around 125 [she’s 5’8”]. That way I know that’s it. The world has to deal with me as I am and if they run away from me in terror, so be it. It won’t be because I am not normal. It won’t be because I’m fat.”
Guilt
Guilt may be distinguished from shame in terms of its focus. Guilt, according to moral philosopher Paul Ricoeur, is “the subjective awareness of having violated a moral system through having committed a fault or engaged in a wrongful act, and carries with it the anticipation of chastisement.”19 There are two basic ways of acquiring guilt. In the first, guilt is earned through wrongful behavior. In the second, guilt is imposed from an external source.20 Guilt is imposed on the victim of a sexual crime by the perpetrator and is “taken in” at the level of the perpetrator’s offense.21 The victim then attempts to resolve the guilt by resorting to expiation demanded of her within the internalized moral system.
A survivor’s ritual behavior with food may signal how much she has internalized the perpetrator’s guilt. His shame of incest becomes her shame. She now holds herself accountable, it is her fault—a result of her sinful nature. As one survivor claimed, “When I break my diet with a binge I feel like I’m shoving food into a garbage disposal.”
Self-Blame
Self-blame involves post hoc explanations of how choices that were made led to the victimization experience.22 The purpose of these explanations is to shift the locus of control of causality from the perpetrator to the victim, thereby giving the illusion of responsibility to oneself for one’s fate.23 Self-blame also functions to protect the self from overwhelming depression, and reduce feelings of helplessness and fear. As one survivor stated, “If I’m responsible for making horrible things happen to me, it gives me some sense I have control.” Studies have shown that victims of sex crimes who blame themselves may fare better than those who feel there was no rhyme or reason as to why they were selected. Such findings reveal how psychically powerful the illusion of control is to one’s sense of well-being.
Society-Blames-the- Victim
American society reflects the popular notion that “you get what you deserve.” This comes out in the common belief that victims are responsible for their plights. Although the public is more sympathetic to victims of sexual abuse and rape than they once were, a female victim’s social status is often still lowered—proof of the society’s tendency to blame victims for their experience of violation.
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