I wish I was the type of rape victim who could hate her rapist. The kind that hisses in bitter defense, aggressively calling out their perpetrators by name, pushing them away with brutal energy for years after the fact, finding the strength and wherewithal to pursue every course of action in seeking justice or even pursuing revenge. Like many of my friends who have been raped have done, fortifying themselves against the machinations of their abusers — they seem like pristine white towers of resistance to me, full of spiky ramparts and loud rumbling canons that warn those who have mistreated them to a stay well-away at a sound distance.

Carrie wrote this response to Kesha’s Praying in reflection of her own journey through rape culture, published on July 11, 2017.