Chrissie Hynde Said Some Unpleasant Things About Rape, And People Are Angry

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Singer Chrissie Hynde has a new interview with The Sunday Times to promote her memoir, Reckless: The Life Of A Pretender, which arrives in stores on September 8. The interview covers a wide range of subjects, including her former jobs (cleaning alongside the Sex Pistols’ Johnny Rotten) before becoming a rock goddess. She covers sex, drugs, and her high-profile romances, but there’s one subject that’s causing Chrissie lots of backlash.

In the middle of the Times talk, Chrissie discusses how she was raped by an Ohio motorcycle gang when she was 21. The members promised to hook her up with a wild party, but instead, they drove her to an empty house and gang raped her. Chrissy says she takes “full responsibility” for what happened. Upon decades of reflection, she now believes that being raped can be the woman’s fault:

“You can’t paint yourself into a corner and then say whose brush is this? You have to take responsibility. I mean, I was naive … If I’m walking around in my underwear and I’m drunk? Who else’s fault can it be? If I’m walking around and I’m very modestly dressed and I’m keeping to myself and someone attacks me, then I’d say that’s his fault. But if I’m being very lairy and putting it about and being provocative, then you are enticing someone who’s already unhinged – don’t do that. Come on! That’s just common sense.”

This justification and victim blaming is not a new phenomenon, but it says something that Hynde herself is a rape survivor. Quite possibly, Hynde blames herself as a means of taking back the power in the situation, which has clearly haunted her for decades. Chrissy’s experience deserves all manner of empathy, but she appears to lack empathy for her fellow survivors. The “don’t dress that way” argument is a messy one at best.

As one can imagine, Twitter feels much differently than Hynde does on the subject.

People look up to Chrissie Hynde and there are women out there who will think if they get raped, it’s their own fault. Deeply irresponsible.

— Imani Gandy (Orca’s Version) ⚓️ (@AngryBlackLady) August 30, 2015

Chrissie Hynde, taking us back to the 1970s – not with music – but by saying women bring rape on themselves by how they dress

— Will Black 🍓🕊️ (@WillBlackWriter) August 30, 2015

Saw Chrissie Hynde was trending so went to see if she had died.

It's worse than that.

— Blue Heron Farm (@BlueHeronFarmTX) August 30, 2015

The sad thing about the Chrissie Hynde comments are that men have been using that excuse for so long women end up believing it

— Liam Gill (@LiveLaughLiam_x) August 30, 2015

https://twitter.com/TheCaraSutra/status/637968326203994112

https://twitter.com/billysubway/status/637991831716892673

Dear Chrissie Hynde. NOTHING ever justifies the rape or sexual assault of a woman. It's the abusers fault only. Love. A Man.

— TheBrokenBrothers.. (@Hasselschmuck) August 30, 2015

https://twitter.com/ingeniusbooks/status/637972096673558528

Do I want Chrissie Hynde to realize that what she said hurts other survivors? Yes. But I'm not here for a pile on that won't fix anything.

— Jenny Trout (@Jenny_Trout) August 30, 2015

https://twitter.com/KatharineBenj/status/638088902411206656

https://twitter.com/jessica_alice_/status/638095341917573120