In an interview with The Guardian last week, Chrissie Hynde said a motorcycle gang member sexually assaulted her when she was 21. In opening up in this way, she made some lengthy victim-blaming comments that sparked wide criticism of The Pretenders' frontwoman. Now, she has doubled down on those statements in a new interview with the Washington Post.
All of this comes as she prepares to release a memoir titled Reckless: My Life As A Pretender, which she hopes will be an encapsulation of unique events that were happening in America in the '60s. But, the promotion for the book has been overshadowed by her comments blaming rape victims for wearing high heels or finding themselves in scenarios where they could be assaulted.
"If I'm walking around in my underwear and I'm drunk? Who else's fault can it be?" Hynde said in The Guardian interview -- apparently not realizing that it could be the rapist's fault for raping. "That's just common sense. You know; if you don't want to entice a rapist, don't wear high heels so you can't run from him. If you're wearing something that says 'Come and f*ck me,' you'd better be good on your feet ... I don't think I'm saying anything controversial am I?"
Many have said "Yes, Chrissie Hynde you are." But, the backlash apparently wasn't enough for her to reverse her opinion. In fairness, she may not have seen the criticism, as she has stated she doesn't read articles written about her. She was aware something was wrong when she received emails from friends asking if she needed a place to hide.
When her statements were read back to her she reiterated, saying "sounds like common sense ... If you don't want my opinion, don't ask me for it." After that, she diverted to the issue of displaced families from the Syrian civil war and the image of a Turkish Policeman carrying the body of a 3-year-old boy who washed up on the country's shore.
While this is certainly a serious issue, Hynde doesn't recognize the missed opportunity to speak up for survivors of sexual assault on an issue she would have had authority to speak on.
According to Stereogum, critics have been wide and outspoken including Lucy Hastings, director of the UK charity Victim Support, saying, "Victims of sexual violence should never feel or be made to feel that they were responsible for the appalling crime they suffered ..."
The Runaways' Jackie Fuche spoke out earlier this week in a Yahoo interview.
"There's no such thing as asking for it. And poor judgment is not an invitation to rape, nor an excuse for it," Fuchs said. If you want to, for your own-self-empowerment, take personal responsibility because you feel like you need to for something you did, that is one thing. But you don't get to make that statement for everybody else."
Reckless: My Life As A Pretender is out September 8.
