The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo #2

          Right now I am reading "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo" by Stieg Larsson. In this book, there are two main characters, Mikael Blomkvist and Lisbeth Salander. Lisbeth Salander has been determined "socially inept" among other things, and has been thought of as strange on a number of occasions. Most of these assumptions have been created because of the way she looked/dressed. 
          Lisbeth Salander's appearance generally consists of all black clothing (t-shirt, jacket, pants, boots), multiple facial piercings, numerous tattoos, and an extremely skinny physique. This has often led to people judging her and making conclusions purely based on her appearance, which are often wrong. Once she was walking to work when suddenly a visor-clad riot police officer appeared in front of her. Without any provocation or instigation he hit her on the shoulders with his baton. Later she found out that "Reclaim the Streets" was holding a demonstration down the road. She of course, had nothing to do with it. 
          Towards the middle of the book, Lisbeth Salander is raped by her "guardian". Salander, being well of age supposedly needs a guardian because she has been declared "legally incompetent". Of course, she doesn't really need a guardian, but at this moment (and probably for awhile) she's stuck having her finances controlled by whoever the government has assigned her at the time. When Salander was raped by her guardian Nils Bjurman, she immediately rules out going to the police for help. It would be his word against hers after all. As Salander said, "In her world, this was the natural order of things. As a girl she was legal prey, especially if she was dressed in a worn black leather jacket and had pierced eyebrows, tattoos, and zero social status. There was no point whimpering about it." 
          I think this is very disturbing. Just because she wears black and has piercings, and the fact that she was mis-labeled socially inept etc., means that she can't rely on the police in a case of rape. It really makes me think about how society has created this ideal image of "normal", or not necessarily an image, just how people are supposed to act. I don't doubt that if she had gone to court, she probably would've lost, and that's really scary. Just because someone looks or acts differently then how we think they should doesn't mean we should neglect them or become prejudice, and yet we do.
          In conclusion, Salander's appearance has caused her some serious issues. She was assaulted by a police officer, and she can't even report rape because she knows that it would harm her rather than help her. She is well aware of this, and has adapted to her situation. It really shows what lengths people will take or not take, based on someone's appearance.