We previously explained here that Palin is dead wrong to suggest that our society only laughs about the statutory rape of girls. Our society generally treats rape of females -- statutory and otherwise -- with the somberness of a national epidemic. In contrast, our society treats the rape of boys and of male prisoners as a punchline.
My FRS collaborator, Steve, has made a brilliant, fundamental point that needs to be highlighted here: "The thing that bothers me the most in all of this, is that the joke calls A-Rod a statutory rapist, and there is absolutely no outcry over this. Welcome to the dismissal of men accused (even if only in a tasteless joke) of rape in our society."
Bingo! And he's right -- everybody has overlooked it.
And, yes, this reaction mirrors real rape claims. If if were alleged that one of the Palin girls had sex with A-Rod, the entire focus of the wagging tongues on the television news shows and of the nimble fingers typing away in the blogosphere would have been on the girl. A-Rod would be assumed to be guilty, and there would be little concern about the damage to his good name.
It frightens me that most of us are not at all shocked at the joking suggestion that a man, who has shown no indication of being a rapist, would rape a teenager. I suggest the reason so few of us are startled by this sort of "humor" is that most of us figure, "hey, he's a man -- it's not such a stretch."
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
13 comments:
Letterman didn't jokingly accuse A-Rod of rape. We should leave the prudery and phony outrage to victim feminists.
The problem here isn't comedians, or song writers, or others pointing out the hypocrisy of politicians like Sarah Palin. The problem really is women like her who preach down home values while failing to instill proper virtues in their promiscuous children.
"We should leave the prudery and phony outrage to victim feminists."
Yours is a valid perspective. The problem is the double standard. We joke that a man raped a girl and the outrage is over the pretend victim and not about the fact that a man was called a rapist in jest.
Now maybe you're right -- maybe there shouldn't be any outrage from anyone. I tend to think you're onto something. Maybe all the outrage is a product of feminists insisting that rape is worse than the Holocaust under every circumstance, and that includes the teen who delayed five seconds to withdraw from intercourse after she said "stop."
"The problem really is women like her who preach down home values while failing to instill proper virtues in their promiscuous children."
Let's be fair -- every family has it's problems, no matter how well a kid is raised. The fact that she's opposed to abortion has made her a target, but this can and does happen to the best of parents.
The problem, as I see it, is a female politician playing the gender card -- rather the female victimization card -- for her own political ends. And the cackling gender feminists are actually playing along with her this time. Disgusting.
That's true, and parents shouldn't be blamed for everything.
I agree about the double standard -- but I think we should always remember that not all of the feminists' tactics work, and we should be cautious about mirroring them. For example, the feminists have done a great job of turning rape into a joke by supporting every piece of trash that makes a false accusation, and by doing things like comparing rape to the Holocaust and slavery. When they do that they look ridiculous.
The feminist movement may be in the process of imploding, so we should learn not only from their successes but also from their mistakes. But there are times when we should call people to task when they really do show anti-male bias, for example by making dumb jokes about prison rape.
"The feminist movement may be in the process of imploding, so we should learn not only from their successes but also from their mistakes. But there are times when we should call people to task when they really do show anti-male bias, for example by making dumb jokes about prison rape."
In other words -- keep our eye on the ball. I agree.
Anonymous said...
" The feminist movement may be in the process of imploding, "
take a look at this
ABC News: Future of Feminism an Issue in NOW Leadership Vote
'Kim Gandy, a savvy former prosecutor, is stepping down as NOW president after eight years leading the battle against many Bush-era policies.
The election to succeed her, set for NOW's three-day national conference starting Friday in Indianapolis, is both an unusual clash of generations and an opportunity for activists to confront some of the challenges facing the feminist movement.
Delegates will be choosing between Latifa Lyles, a 33-year-old African-American who has been one of Gandy's three vice presidents, and Terry O'Neill, 56, a white activist who taught law at Tulane University, who was NOW's vice president for membership from 2001-05, and who most recently has been chief of staff for a county council member in Maryland's Montgomery County.
...
Overall, NOW says it has more than 500,000 "contributing members" — who are either paying membership dues at present or did so recently enough to stay on the mailing list. Gandy said there's been a recent dip in membership revenues, but it's modest enough so far that NOW has been able to avoid the staff layoffs occurring at many other nonprofits.'
http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=7837285
http://news.mensactivism.org/node/12788#comments
It says Kim Gandy was a former prosecutor. I wonder how many false rape accusers she helped destroy a man's life.
Archivist said...
" In other words -- keep our eye on the ball. I agree. "
(Y) so do I.
Face it, these double standards were created by us men anyway. When a woman has sex with a bunch of guys, she's a slut- when it's the guy, he's the man. Women have twice as much to lose when they engage in sexual contact, and the list is endless for all the things that women need to put up with. Who cares if the guy got overlooked, we're just living up to standards aren't we? ;-)
But she's only a slut until she lies and says it was rape, and then she's a holy object of feminist worship.
"But she's only a slut until she lies and says it was rape, and then she's a holy object of feminist worship."
So she really is a slut?
Slut slut slut slut slut slut slut slut slut slut slut slut slut slut slut slut slut slut slut slut slut slut slut slut slut slut slut slut slut slut slut slut slut slut slut slut slut slut.
And... slut.
Post a Comment