I just want to make one thing clear right off the bat: I wholeheartedly condemn the horrible, disgusting murders committed by Jack the Ripper. Mr. Ripper is the most powerful man in London to be categorically identified as a murderer, but he’s certainly not the only one. We all need to come together and expel these sorts of depraved monsters from our society. However, I do feel like I need to open my dumb gullet and ask everyone a simple question: Why didn’t more of the women murdered by Jack the Ripper simply come forward and denounce his behavior?
Again, I totally understand how horrible Jack the Ripper’s actions were and believe they should absolutely be condemned. At the same time, I feel a need to condemn the victims of his murders for not doing more to speak out. Isn’t that the most important thing to do as soon as we identify a monster who used his immense power for even more immense evil? At times like these, we need to come together and blame the women who were completely powerless because they were dead. I am a bed-wetting coward and I want to find a way to ultimately blame women instead of the man who murdered them.
Sure, yes, Jack the Ripper’s long spree of murders is bad. But, isn’t the silence of his many female murder victims way worse? The silence of these murdered women allowed Jack the Ripper to continue to galavant through the streets of London, murdering with impunity. Let’s not get bogged down by the actual murders themselves. By doing so, we’ll just end up discussing the blatant culture of murder that has poisoned our society and kept women from speaking out for fear of retaliation. The point is, we can blame Jack the Ripper all we want, but it just doesn’t feel as good as doing some good old-fashioned victim-blaming.
Many of Jack the Ripper’s still-living victims spoke out about his actions and provided law enforcement officials with information to aid the hunt for this terrible man. Despite fearing elevated retaliation and having to relive their trauma, these victims bravely came forward with their accounts. That’s not enough for me, though. I am a craven hypocrite and although I feel comfortable denouncing murder, I refuse to look inward and examine our murder culture that made all of this possible. I’ll just continue blaming murder victims for not doing more to prevent all of this.
Jack the Ripper’s behavior has been an open secret in the East End for quite some time now. Our police could have certainly done more to canvass the slums of the neighborhood and set up lookouts in strategic locations to pinpoint the killer. The male occupants of the neighborhood could have certainly condemned Jack the Ripper and vowed to not rest until he was expelled from East End. Most importantly, Jack the Ripper could have certainly not murdered all of those women. Nonetheless, I would like to pivot away from the shortcomings of those in power and the acts of murder themselves and instead focus on the deafening silence of the many dead women. That’s the right thing to do right now.