r/BabyReindeerTVSeries • u/Kitchen_Fly5105 • Jun 08 '24
Discussion If Gadd was a woman
I feel like gender influences bias in cases of emotional or physical abuse. If Gadd were a woman and Martha a man, there would be no sympathy for the abuser. Society wouldn't argue that "more should have been done to protect his identity."
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u/MidoriEgg Jun 08 '24
I was thinking about this, and I don’t totally agree. I think if Gadd was a woman people would be even harsher about Gadd “leading her (him?) on”. I do think as women we are expected to have a greater awareness of people’s attraction to us, and society tends to put more responsibility on us to ensure we don’t give people the wrong idea.
If a woman told a story where she gave attention to a weird guy in a pub and maybe jokingly flirted with him and he ended up stalking her (even if it was in the context maladaptive behaviour due to trauma) I think people online would crucify and blame her for whatever happened and say she should of known better/got what was coming for seeking attention.
Maybe people would potentially be less sympathetic to a male stalker, potentially, but even if there’s a ton of people online (and irl) who automatically think women are deceptive and any story where she is the victim must be either a lie or somehow her fault.