Monday, March 25, 2013

#9 Injustice In Our Youth, Not Our Legal System

Many have recently been made aware of the Steubenville rape- the event in which a 16 year-old girl was raped by two of her peers at a party, whilst others recorded the entire event via various social media outlets. The case of rape is undisputed; everyone knows that rape and assault are horrible crimes that are punishable through jail or other means. The deeper issue is the way that people handle such news. CNN recently received major criticism from the sympathetic way they portrayed the story. In their report, CNN anchor Harlow states, "These two young men who had such promising futures -- star football players, very good students -- literally watched as they believed their life fell apart," while another anchor asked a CNN legal analyst, “What’s the lasting effect though on two young men being found guilty juvenile court of rape essentially?” Another report on ABC news focuses solely on Ma’lik Richmond, a football player who can be seen in one of the photos carrying the unconscious girl. In a sense, this reaction is understandable- up to a point. In America, sports are glorified and the general populace is obsessed with the promise of the future for young, talented individuals, so naturally one emotion potentially felt by those is sadness for the lost potential of young boys so talented. However, while that is an understandable aspect, the fact that any story could be centered around sympathizing for the aggressor is preposterous. 
None should cry for the loss of a superstar athlete, they should cry for the girl who lost her privacy and was taken advantage of. As Mallory Ortberg said, "“Their dreams and hopes were not crushed by an impersonal, inexorable legal system; Mays and Richmond raped a girl and have been sentenced accordingly.” While it disturbs me that the media is handling the Steubenville case this way, it doesn't surprise me at all. In fact, numerous blog posts and news stories have already been written claiming that the whole case is simply being exaggerated. The website "The Other McCain" writes, "It seems that we may be witnessing a typical case of media malpractice, in which a crew of irresponsible bloggers and “hacktivists” are ginning up false accusations without regard for truth, and without concern for the harm done to innocent citizens of Steubenville," some details might be exaggerated, but a rape is a rape and an assault is an assault. That alone makes the aggressors guilty and the victim innocent.
This can all be chalked up to rape culture, a phenomenon deeply embedded in our lives. We as a culture have a common phrase, "boys will be boys." That phrase acts as a special get out of jail free card for any man who commits an unjust act such as this. Instead of analyzing why young men would behave in such a cruel way, we ascertain whether or not the victim's claims are legitimate. We claim that the victim must be to blame for some aspect of the crime, because there's no way that young high school boys could ever commit a crime so commonly associated with true evil. Slate's Amanda Marcotte describes it perfectly, "Claiming that it’s the victim’s fault for tempting men with her drinking/sexual activity/mini-skirt means telling yourself that as long as you aren’t as ‘slutty’ as the victim, you’ll be OK," and in turn, it protects the public from the knowledge that crimes are committed by normal people, not the evil monsters engendered from nightmares. Normal boys, young all-star athletes, even, can rape and molest and ruin someone. Instead of facing that reality though, the media hides behind the guise that there must have been something to cause them to act this way. The boys are given love and sympathy because something else has seemingly thrown their lives away, when it was their decision to rape in the first place. They might have been drunk, but plenty of people get intoxicated without raping a girl and tweeting about it. 


Davidson, Amy. "Life After Steubenville." The New Yorker. Conde Nast, 18 Mar. 2013. Web. 25 Mar. 2013.

Newcomb, Eric. "Beyond Steubenville: Rape Culture and Complicity." Christ and Pop Culture. Avalon, 25 Mar. 2013. Web. 25 Mar. 2013.


Shapiro, Rebecca. "Poppy Harlow, CNN Reporter, 'Outraged' Over Steubenville Rape Coverage Criticism: Report." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 20 Mar. 2013. Web. 25 Mar. 2013.

Stacy, Robert M. "Steubenville ‘Rape Crew’? Non-Facts Smear the Innocent in an Ohio Town." The Other McCain. Alibi, 15 Jan. 2013. Web. 25 Mar. 2013.

Wblog Exclusive: Steubenville Teens on Tape Describe Night of Sexual. "Exclusive: Steubenville Teens on Tape Describe Night of Sexual Assault." ABC News. ABC News Network, 22 Mar. 2013. Web. 25 Mar. 2013.

4 comments:

  1. I watched that news cast of CNN's air and I was somewhat shocked that CNN would take such a stance on it. I do acknowledge that some people took CNN's misrepresentation a bit too harsh, but CNN in this case is wrong. While they may have done a rookie mistake, they challenged an issue that has huge emotional connotations behind it quite crassly. They disregarded the party that was wronged. I ofcourse do not know the whole story, but generally, the rapist is wrong, unfortunately, CNN did not correctly portray this sentiment. My mom, after she watched it, accurately stated that CNN has a reputation for butting their heads into issues where they have no business being in. The news is supposed to be an objective report of current affairs, while CNN completely disregarded by taking not only a side, but a side of the person or persons that commited a horrible act.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I am surprised to hear that this is even an issue. I watched the 20/20 coverage on this incident which I felt did a pretty good job with it, however the take the CNN took is quite absurd. The boys committing the crime are clearly at fault. Although the girl should not have been drunk, the larger fault clearly lies with the boys who decided to take advantage of her state and commit a huge disgusting crime.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I heard about the controversy surrounding how CNN reported the case and I was shocked! The rape culture around the world disappoints me and makes me fear for the future. I heard that the city in which they lived in was a huge football city so they sympathized more with the players rather than the girl. The girl who was raped actually received death threats from two other girls who went to the school. INSANE.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I did one of my previous blogs on CNN's coverage of the media trial and I absolutely agree with everything you are saying. The victim is the one that everyone should be sympathizing with. It was not her choice to be raped at a party. I'm sure she showed up looking to have fun and blow off some steam, but instead she was violated and that simply cannot be condoned in any society.

    ReplyDelete