Sunday, January 29, 2012

Unusual news coverage of high profile rape case publicizes flaws in case from the outset: is the media finally catching on?

5 comments:

Archivist said...

By the way, people in committed relationships can rape and be raped (wow! that's a newsflash, isn't it?). Everyone knows that. But in he said/she said scenarios, evidence of intense flirting generally signals the end of the case. There is just no way to know what happened, and it's not fair to assume a rape occurred.

Hieronymus Braintree said...

The thing is that the accused in this case is a very well-connected individual. The Duke lacrosse players and the Hofstra kids were not. Dominique Strauss-Kahn may have been a big shot but he was also a Frenchie and therefore a sinister foreigner. Believing that the news media is finally wising up about the depressing and offensive commonality of false rape accusations is a very nice thought and may even be true. Unfortunately, we won't know for sure until the lesser known and less domestically well-connected accused get the same level of skepticism directed at their accusers, n'est pas?

Archivist said...

We saw what can aptly be described as a backlash by progressives like Naomi Wolf and Alan Dershowitz and others when it came to DSK. The "perp walk" legitimately offended a lot of people. It seems out of place in this day and age and offends modern sensibilities. Morever, the D.A. was not happy that the case imploded -- I mean really not happy. I am certain there were a lot of vows being made behind closed doors about being more careful in the future.

We saw the usual gender/race/class forces trying to stir up sympathy for accuser, but amazingly, it got no traction at all. This was the anti-lacrosse case. I honestly believe that over the past six years, so many people are beating the drum on these issues, that persons of good will are not so readily accepting "The Narrative" any more.

Even after Hofstra, a media symposium concluded that the media needs to "slow down."

By the way, HB, you would be amazed who reads this blog. They won't ever admit it, and I respect their privacy, but we've heard from people who read us that would just astound folks. Basically anyone interested in rape issues reads us at least every now and then. I seriously believe that people are starting to understand that these issues are complicated, and that the truth is sometimes gray. And, gee, sometimes the traditional bad guy (the one with the penis) was actually the victim.

Anonymous said...

"in he said/she said scenarios"

Now, increasingly, "They say" being the government its laws, courts, and police powers are ruling over 'he and she'. What am I referring to? New definitions of rape such as the USG's CDC stating that even if both lovers (even a married couple celebrating their 30th anniversary) were equally drunk and happy with the sex the next day, a rape occurred since the woman could not give consent since she was drunk.

Aharon

Hieronymus Braintree said...

Very nice points, Archivist. However, just to be small and mean, wasn't Dershowitz already on our side?