A bizarre response by feminists and others on the left to some common sense advice John Kasich said he would give his daughters about avoiding rape, sexual assault, and sexual harrassment. He spoke at a town hall at Lawrence University in New York:

First, Kasich spoke of the importance of confidential reporting mechanisms and rape kit accessibility “if something happens to you along the lines of sexual harassment or whatever.” Then, Kasich claimed that Ohio is in the process of ensuring that the state’s college students know the state’s laws and “confidential policies” so “co-eds” are “not vulnerable, at risk, and can be preyed upon.”

“I have two 16-year-old daughters, and I don’t even like to think about it,” Kasich said. Incidentally, neither do women. “It’s sad, but it’s something that I have to worry about,” the student responded.

“I’d also give you one bit of advice,” Kasich went on. “Don’t go to parties where there’s a lot of alcohol.” The crowd applauded him.

Exactly what I'd tell my daughter if I had one. Don't put yourself in risky situations. Keep your wits about you. Use your good judgment.

But to the left, this is "mansplaining":

Kasich’s viewpoint is a cynical, victim-blaming, finger-wagging perspective. Former Dear Prudence columnist Emily Yoffe once made a similar argument to Kasich’s in the pages of Slate, when she wrote that “the rise of female binge drinking has made campuses a prey-rich environment.” If women didn’t get drunk, the thinking goes, they would be able to resist the advances of men waiting in dark corners, ready to prey on easy, intoxicated targets. And if they just stayed away from men who can’t control their alcohol-amplified sexual impulses, they wouldn’t become the victim of such heinous crimes.

It would make just as much, if not more sense to tell men to stop drinking so much so they don’t rape women. But rape and sexual assault are just as much about power and violence as they are about sex, and alcohol is not the root cause of rape. Kasich should blame misogyny, poor sex education, and toxic male behavior, not women, for the scourge of campus sexual assault. Women don’t need paternalistic counsel from politicians—they need men to learn about consent, respect for boundaries, and the swift punishment that awaits them when colleges and courts do their jobs. 

You have to completely twist what Kasich is saying to come up with the conclusion that he's blaming women for anything. It's a simple matter of taking responsibility for your own safety. This is empowering, not degrading of women. "Women don't need paternalistic counseling" is an absurd statement to make to a father giving advice to his daughters. A father can't give his children the benefit of his wisdom? Sheesh.

Kasich's problem is that he didn't blame men. He didn't paint men as beasts who can't control themselves. The reason he didn't is because he wasn't asked to solve the problem of sexual assault on campus. All he did was offer common sense advice to women - advice that places the responsibility for staying safe not in the hands of university officials or daddy government - but exactly where it belongs.