A coworker was discussing the Penn State scandal. He was so angry. “Don’t the student rioters and Paterno supporters have any sympathy for the victims,” he asked? “Don’t they understand how hard it must be for the victims to see and hear them defend the coach?”
A friend from college posted about Penn State on his Facebook page. He questioned why the media refer to what Jerry Sandusky did in the shower as sex instead of rape. He was amazed some Penn State supporters favored the football program over the well-being of the victims.
A listener called in to a sports radio program I was listening to during my commute to work. He just couldn’t comprehend how so many people knew about Sandusky’s actions and didn’t make him stop.
It’s called rape culture gentleman, and it sucks. And because I’ve been writing about women’s rights for the last four years I am unfortunately familiar with it. I get the anger you are feeling over what happened at Penn State. I feel it too – I read the grand jury report and I cried. Sadly, I don’t share you’re shock and disbelief over the way Penn State handled the accusations. Nor am I surprised by the rioting students – sickened, sure, but not surprised. And the media, well, I’ve just read too many stories about rape to expect anything else.
Rape culture, gentlemen, it contributes to Hollywood celebrities rallying behind Roman Polanski, the rapist who fled the country. And yes, even though the media said Polanski had sex, it was rape. His victim was a child.
Rape culture contributes to sportscasters declaring during the 2011 Super Bowl that a win could mean redemption for Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger who was accused of sexually assaulting (yes, we know that means raping) several women. As if a Super Bowl title could wipe out a violent crime?
Rape culture: definitely a factor in a community victim-blaming an 11 year old girl in Texas who was gang raped by up to 18 men and boys; some of the accused were star athletes in the community.
And could it have been rape culture that contributed to at least a dozen people watching the gang rape of a 15 year old girl in Richmond, California and not helping her?
Rape culture: it’s what we get when we accept the media euphemisms for rape, or we invoke false rape claims as a reason to discredit victims, or when we put the accuser on trial and hold them to a higher moral code than we do the accused, and when we support the accused because friends, neighbors and colleagues say he was a “good guy.” It’s hard to witness, impossible to comprehend and we’ve seen it rear it’s ugly head at Penn State.
So please, continue to support the Penn State victims and express your outrage at the cover up, the coverage and the misguided reactions. Call people out. Use social media, send letters to editors. And then, remember to extend the same to all victims. They all need our support.
For more facts on rape and information on prevention and victim support, visit RAINN, The Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network.
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Photo used courtesy of acaben’s photostream on Flickr.
