First and foremost, while reading the description of the “assault,” the feelings of the individual who was indecisive were very clear and an immediate empathy was developed for this individual. Many decisions in life that may appear to be second nature to some may come as a serious and life altering concern for others. Yet, those who do not see the scenario as seriously as does the decision maker can often downplay their resistance to a mere concept of insecurity or temporary lack of certainty while still seeing the overall decision as being minimalism in comparison to other areas of life. The case of the tattoo would fall under this category as some would envision this as “art” whereas others would see it as a permanent fixture on their body to not be taken lightly. The customer was not taken the decision lightly and this appeared, to the artist, to be a waste and violation of his time. However, the end result, the permanent fixture on the body, would be the customer’s to live with and therefore the decision should also be left to the customer regardless of the considerations of the tattoo artist.
In relation to the concept of acquaintance rape, this could easily be applied in the same basic concept. Much like the tattoo artist who sees the tattoo as a natural part of life and art to not be taken too seriously, many men have the same concept of sexual intercourse. Whereas women often consider the potential permanent aspects of this type of encounter such as an unwanted pregnancy, confused relationship statuses, and the stigma that follows women in regards to having casual sexual encounters. In the case of the tattoo artist, the officer asked if the customer was directly harmed or threatened. The customer, of course, was not but the feeling that was felt by the customer could have easily been perceived as threatening.
One study, in relation to the opinions of females versus that of males in regards to acquaintance rape showed “that female participants had higher levels of empathy (RES), ascribed more credibility toward the rape victim (ARVS), and were less accepting of rape myths (RMAS) compared with their male counterparts” (Jimenez and Abreu 254). This is generally accepted as being true as the men, much like the tattoo artist, often feel that the victim gave a reasonable indication to the attacker that there was some amount of interest in continuing the sexual encounter. These findings confirmed the hypothesis of the researchers that “men are more likely than women to believe in rape myths or stereotypes, express rape-tolerant attitudes, and ascribe blame to rape victims rather than perpetrators” (Jimenez and Abreu 252).
In terms of the case study project at hand, the overall effect was well delivered as the connection between the two scenarios was easily made. The particular statement “the artist grabs hold of your arm and his grip makes you wince” made it very clear that the customer did not see any other choice but to accept the tattoo out of fear of physical violence yet the customer was left without any specific evidence or clear comprehension of that threat. Additionally, the threat of dissolving any contact makes the connection to acquaintance rape even more prominent. Perhaps the only thing that I would add would be a more direct statement of connection as men have already been established to not be able to see this connection very clearly. Something such as: “How is the right to be uncertain in one decision different than the same uncertainty in another?”
- Jimenez, Jorge A., and José M. Abreu. “Race And Sex Effects On Attitudinal Perceptions Of Acquaintance Rape.” Journal Of Counseling Psychology 50.2 (2003): 252-256. PsycARTICLES. Web. 13 Apr. 2015.
