Princeton Mom: Most Rape and Molestation Is Just 'Bad Manners'

In an attempt to maintain some sort of relevance in 2015, Princeton Mom (aka “author” Susan Patton) stopped by Fox & Friends to point out that most molestation is, how shall we say it, just a comedy of errors and does not mean that children should be taught about sex ed. Because sex ed is vulgar. Things the Princeton Mom doesn’t think are vulgar? Embarrassing the shit out of her children, being a rape apologist, that gold eyeshadow that you can’t buy anywhere except the Halloween Spirit stores.

Raw Story reports that when asked about CDC statistics which suggest that over 40 percent of rape victims are under 18, Princeton Mom blurted out some kind of heinous word salad that probably made even Elisabeth Hasselbeck sorry she asked this walking Eat the Rich stereotype about whether kindergarteners should be learning about consent and “bodily autonomy.”

Raw Story has Patton’s response to the rape statistics she was confronted with and I had to read it several times just to try to figure out what she was trying to say:

“I think the numbers that have been thrown around as to the frequency with which rape and sexual assault occurs have come into question, and have been debunked in a of number platforms,” she insisted. “I think it’s a huge exaggeration, a reckless exaggeration of what actual rape statistics are or what actual sexual assault statistics are.”

1. What the fuck are you talking about, madam?

2. What sources would you like us to use for statistics if not the CDC? Many organizations that work with survivors of rape and abuse have statistics of their own and none of them are any less grim.

3. I ask you again, Madam: What the fuck are you even talking about, please? Do you know how statistics work at all or is that not something they teach in your world?

4. I still have no clue as to what the point here is.

Perhaps Patton’s opinion on whether kindergarteners should be learning about consent is a little more coherent:

“I think what we’re talking about here is body awareness or bullying or verbal harassment or recognize what somebody else’s space is and don’t violate it and don’t touch it, and keep your hands to yourself,” she continued. “This isn’t sex ed, these are manners.”

“And just like I don’t think sex ed belongs in school — we shouldn’t be teaching sex ed in school, that’s something parents should be teaching their children — manners, which is really what we’re talking about here. Keep your hands to yourself, don’t be bullying anybody, you don’t touch somebody, you don’t want them to touch you, you tell them not to. Again, this is manners, this isn’t sex ed… And even that should be taught at home.”

All of that actually is sex ed, though. When I took those classes (and I wish I had had them earlier) the discussion of whether someone touching you inappropriately or not in a sexual or non-sexual manner was a big part of the discussion on consent. And as many of us know, those kids whose parents choose to teach them about sex at home only can provide information that is often wrong (my parents, for instance, told me you get AIDS as soon as you come out of the closet) but also harmful to the child. Sure, parents should have a role in their child’s sexual education, but come on, Princeton Mom, child molestation ad he rape of those under the age of 18 isn’t just bad manners — it’s what the CDC is calling it, rape and sexual assault. If anyone should be ashamed of themselves, it’s not the schools trying to teach kids about appropriate ways of expressing themselves in physical and non-physical manners (and how to tell if they’ve been abused), it’s Susan Patton for going on TV an trying to maintain relevance by advocating against the safety of children.