Rape, Football, and Social Media

[RachelB]

I just don't get why them thinking raping someone is "just a prank" and that their actions were not bad AND placing all the blame on the girl for ruining THEIR lives makes you think that they won't do this again.

Word. I am not comforted that someone would commit rape "for a lark." Honestly, I do not care in the slightest about their motivations. They knew what they were doing was wrong, and they did it anyway. I was 17 once, and I did a lot of stupid shit. But you know what? I NEVER RAPED ANYBODY. NOT EVEN ACCIDENTALLY. IT'S REALLY NOT THAT HARD TO AVOID.

And do not get me started on the bystanders. *spits*

Being able to tell the difference between a fellow human being and a toy, or an opportunity, is not rocket science. It is basic decency.

[longskirtlotsakids]

Oddly enough, if I take the word "girl" and " women" out of the language and replace it with person, it becomes more hard hitting. "This person was raped by several other men." Picture of this person went viral as this person was repeatedly violated."

I'm a rabid feminist, so it was a bit of a shock to me to see how dehumanizing the very word "girl." is to me. Not because I devalue girls, but because of how I perceive the use of the word in media.

[Shoobydoo]

Honestly, I feel like "just a prank" would make it even WORSE. If you can make it to that age without understanding what rape even IS then we have a much bigger problem on our hands than what happened here.

The biggest thing I am getting from this whole sad story is that we we need to campaign with all our hearts for REAL education about consent in schools.

[Spider Burps]

The implication of "teens + booze = terrible decision" does seem rather blithe, which is why I said it was understating the issue. "Teens + booze = terrible decision" is something I would expect to see describing a group of teens taking their parent's car for a joyride or an actual stupid prank.

Agreed.

Taking a car for a joy ride is a dumb ass idea, not a terrible decision. Maybe you just over use the word terrible?

And was that last bit really necessary? Grow up.

[honeyinthesunshine]

I am so triggered and angry, and I apologize in advance if my comment is garbled or unclear. I'll try to make it as concise as possible.

Doggie: I'm trying, really, I am, to understand just what the fuck you're saying, and why you feel the need to say it. Here's some information you might have missed.

1- They called themselves (and I stress, they were not labeled, they called themselves) the "rape crew" on social media. Not the "prank crew" or the "sometimes we make good-natured bad decisions crew", but the "rape crew". That should clear up your misconception. They knew exactly what they were doing.

2- We do not know that they did not vaginally penetrate the victim with their penises, because they were only kind enough to videotape the part where they digitally raped her. She has no memory of the assault, and it is quite obvious that there is a lack of transparency/ cooperation among those present that night, so she may very well have been gang raped with penises as well as with fingers. We may never know.

3- They are already recidivists. This is not the first time. Another young woman was (according to a reference made by Richardson) raped last year by the same group of young men, in a similar scenario. I'll stress again, they didn't say "pranked" or "joked with" they said RAPED. The fact that they thought that this conduct was acceptable in the first place is enough for any rational person to conclude that they saw/see nothing inherently wrong in their actions. They are not sorry about that young woman's pain, they are sorry that they got caught.

To the Alcohol + Teens = Bad Decisions Commenter

Eating 7 packets of ramen noodles while drunk is a bad decision. Wearing fairy wings and texting your boss accidentally while drunk is a bad decision. Rape is not a bad decision. Rape is a crime against someone's humanity. To call it a bad decision is to minimize the suffering and damage inflicted against someone's very being. It is trivializing, it is demoralizing, and it is inhumane.

I also want to stress that alcohol is an entirely separate issue here. Should anyone have been drinking? No. But I'm gonna be an internet asshole and all caps something for you here:

THIS YOUNG WOMAN IS A HUMAN BEING, NOT A FEW ORIFICES, AND HER REAL OR PERCEIVED RECKLESSNESS WITH HER BODY WITH REGARDS TO ALCOHOL AND SOCIETY'S JUDGEMENT OF IT, DOES NOT CANCEL OUT HER AUTONOMY OVER IT. BOTTOM LINE.

To sum it up, at least for me, those men, and the people that were complicit in victimizing this young woman along with them deserve to rot in jail.

More importantly, that young woman, and anyone, anywhere, deserves a better fucking culture. Step up.

[ILoveJellybeans]

The fact that they called themselves the rape crew, proves that they meant to rape people and didnt just do something stupid while drunk and not realise it was rape. They knew they were rapists, they knew that they raped someone, and they were proud of it. This isnt the behaviour of a one time offender who will likely never rape again, this is the behaviour of someone who would probably rape again if they werent caught this time.

[honeyinthesunshine]

I am so triggered and angry, and I apologize in advance if my comment is garbled or unclear. I'll try to make it as concise as possible.

Doggie: I'm trying, really, I am, to understand just what the fuck you're saying, and why you feel the need to say it. Here's some information you might have missed.

1- They called themselves (and I stress, they were not labeled, they called themselves) the "rape crew" on social media. Not the "prank crew" or the "sometimes we make good-natured bad decisions crew", but the "rape crew". That should clear up your misconception. They knew exactly what they were doing.

2- We do not know that they did not vaginally penetrate the victim with their penises, because they were only kind enough to videotape the part where they digitally raped her. She has no memory of the assault, and it is quite obvious that there is a lack of transparency/ cooperation among those present that night, so she may very well have been gang raped with penises as well as with fingers. We may never know.

3- They are already recidivists. This is not the first time. Another young woman was (according to a reference made by Richardson) raped last year by the same group of young men, in a similar scenario. I'll stress again, they didn't say "pranked" or "joked with" they said RAPED. The fact that they thought that this conduct was acceptable in the first place is enough for any rational person to conclude that they saw/see nothing inherently wrong in their actions. They are not sorry about that young woman's pain, they are sorry that they got caught.

To the Alcohol + Teens = Bad Decisions Commenter

Eating 7 packets of ramen noodles while drunk is a bad decision. Wearing fairy wings and texting your boss accidentally while drunk is a bad decision. Rape is not a bad decision. Rape is a crime against someone's humanity. To call it a bad decision is to minimize the suffering and damage inflicted against someone's very being. It is trivializing, it is demoralizing, and it is inhumane.

I also want to stress that alcohol is an entirely separate issue here. Should anyone have been drinking? No. But I'm gonna be an internet asshole and all caps something for you here:

THIS YOUNG WOMAN IS A HUMAN BEING, NOT A FEW ORIFICES, AND HER REAL OR PERCEIVED RECKLESSNESS WITH HER BODY WITH REGARDS TO ALCOHOL AND SOCIETY'S JUDGEMENT OF IT, DOES NOT CANCEL OUT HER AUTONOMY OVER IT. BOTTOM LINE.

To sum it up, at least for me, those men, and the people that were complicit in victimizing this young woman along with them deserve to rot in jail.

More importantly, that young woman, and anyone, anywhere, deserves a better fucking culture. Step up.

ETA- When I said, "Step up", I wasn't implying that the people here were bad or furthering rape culture. I was addressing society as a whole. Just to clarify.

[mrs]

Honestly, I feel like "just a prank" would make it even WORSE. If you can make it to that age without understanding what rape even IS then we have a much bigger problem on our hands than what happened here.

The biggest thing I am getting from this whole sad story is that we we need to campaign with all our hearts for REAL education about consent in schools.

THIS!

[Spider Burps]

To the Alcohol + Teens = Bad Decisions Commenter

Eating 7 packets of ramen noodles while drunk is a bad decision. Wearing fairy wings and texting your boss accidentally while drunk is a bad decision. Rape is not a bad decision. Rape is a crime against someone's humanity. To call it a bad decision is to minimize the suffering and damage inflicted against someone's very being. It is trivializing, it is demoralizing, and it is inhumane.

I also want to stress that alcohol is an entirely separate issue here. Should anyone have been drinking? No. But I'm gonna be an internet asshole and all caps something for you here:

THIS YOUNG WOMAN IS A HUMAN BEING, NOT A FEW ORIFICES, AND HER REAL OR PERCEIVED RECKLESSNESS WITH HER BODY WITH REGARDS TO ALCOHOL AND SOCIETY'S JUDGEMENT OF IT, DOES NOT CANCEL OUT HER AUTONOMY OVER IT. BOTTOM LINE.

To sum it up, at least for me, those men, and the people that were complicit in victimizing this young woman along with them deserve to rot in jail.

More importantly, that young woman, and anyone, anywhere, deserves a better fucking culture. Step up.

Uh, yeah, you need to read what I wrote. I never said anything about alcohol being the reason behind the rape, I just mentioned that it lowers inhibitions--and that teenagers have naturally lowered inhibitions because their brains are still developing. I'm not saying alcohol always leads to rape (fortunately, it usually doesn't), but it can make something huge and terrible (like, oh, say, raping a passed out girl) seem like "not a big deal" to someone who, in retrospect, may or may not even remember the whole night. You know, kind of like the reaction that these perpetrators are having to their accusations? Or like how people claim they don't remember raping their date? Alcohol is great at (mentally) revising history and at creating chaos; that's all I was trying to say with my not very eloquent equation, not that alcohol raped that poor girl or whatever the hell you thought I said.

Rape is a decision, and it is, in fact, a terrible one. People decide/choose to rape, just like they decide/choose not to rape. It is terrible that people feel compelled to do it, and terrible for the victims who get raped. Therefore, it is a terrible decision and a terrible situation. Rape is terrible, period. Semantics, huh?

PS I've been sexually assaulted. I would be livid if I heard anyone say the person who assaulted me didn't CHOOSE to do it. It's not exactly an accidental crime, which is kiiiinda how you're making it seem by arguing about the, in my opinion, legitimate and correct use of the words "terrible choice."

PPS I'm not reading any further responses, so PM me if you feel compelled to argue further.

[RachelB]

Honestly, I feel like "just a prank" would make it even WORSE. If you can make it to that age without understanding what rape even IS then we have a much bigger problem on our hands than what happened here.

The biggest thing I am getting from this whole sad story is that we we need to campaign with all our hearts for REAL education about consent in schools.

I would also like our culture to spend even half as much time on teaching our sons not to be rapists as we spend on teaching our daughters not to be victims (because victims are neither responsible for preventing rape nor able to prevent rape, whereas rapists are).

When my brother was relieved that his first two children were assigned male at birth, I said, "You do know this doesn't excuse you from talking with your children about things like consent, right?" I love my niblings. It is important to me that they know their bodies are their own, and not to be messed with against their will. But I want them to extend the same respect to other people, as well.

[Maggie Mae]

I have heard it reported that this particular girl was intentionally singled out as a victim.

I DO NOT for one minute believe that this would have been their last victim had they not been caught.

Make all the excuses you like about alcohol and group mentality, but that is all they are - excuses. I attended a number of parties in my youth where quite a few participants were intoxicated, and shockingly enough... NO ONE was raped.

That you know about. Unless you only went to "parties" where people drank 2 low alcohol drinks each, and everyone went home before midnight, chances are you were at a party where someone was raped and didn't report it. Source: former party girl.

[AnywhereButHere]

That you know about. Unless you only went to "parties" where people drank 2 low alcohol drinks each, and everyone went home before midnight, chances are you were at a party where someone was raped and didn't report it. Source: former party girl.

I went to my fair share of parties in high school where we certainly drank too much and made more than a few bad decisions. None of them, however, led to rape of any kind. It seems to me that you are saying that a few drinks and a late night will always lead to rape. Get a few drinks in and all boys will turn into monsters. That I do not believe. If it goes against your personal moral code to force someone to have sex then the number of drinks you have should not affect that. Too many drinks can lower inhibitions, definitely. Those lowered inhibitions will not always lead to forced sex.

I’ve also been to parties where there was no drinking at all. Had a great time and without a doubt considered it a full on party. I kind of took your “parties†in quotation marks to mean that you felt nothing was a party unless it involved drunken orgies… If I’m wrong, I apologize.

[valsa]

And was that last bit really necessary? Grow up.

Maybe you'd like to slow your defensive roll enough to realize I was agreeing that I've also said my part and don't have anything to add either.

Or you could, you know, jump to conclusions. Whatever floats your boat.

[TheSassyOne]

I hoped you can understand I am not condoning or never have condoned what they did. You see them as serial rapists and I see them as fucked up kids that may learn from what they did. I see people here ready to hang them. I have been trying to say they could have gang raped her. but they did not so don't treat them like they did. Don't treat them like the prank they thought it was either. Treat them for the crimes and violations they did and hope they get better. Treating them like gang rapists is no better then treating them like they did no wrong.

doggie, I apologize for misreading/misunderstanding your train of thought. I also am sorry to hear what happened to your daughter. I hope he received his own just punishments for those actions.

The only thing I disagree with your above comment is that the kids think of it as a prank and not rape. I don't know, but since there were reports of a previous assault, much like this one, and that they call themselves a rape crew and in one of the videos, doesn't the guy say something along the lines of "she was or her vagina was raped real good?". None of this points towards these teens not understanding what they were doing was wrong, or even wrong in being a rape. Also I have to go with the courts. If they've been convicted of rape, then they are rapists regardless of whether they or others felt it was just a prank gone bad.

I have to agree with another poster up thread who commented on pranks. Pranks are not anything that is harmful. It's something we always remind our seniors towards the end of the school year. We even give them ideas of pranks and have discussions on if something harmful is done, it's not considered a prank - for example: vandalism, etc.

[GolightlyGrrl]

I'll just leave this right here:

http://theimmoralminority.blogspot.com/ ... mment-form