Male Victim of Rape in Toronto Mocked by Press

[crazyforkate]

Forgive me/merge if this has been discussed already, but it's definitely something to talk about. A man in Toronto was apparently raped by four women. Naturally, no one is taking him seriously - all the comments are "Isn't he lucky" or something along those lines. Even the flippin' Toronto Star is having fun with this. For shame. Let's repeat: Rape is rape. It doesn't matter which genders are involved on either side of the equation. Sexual contact without consent is rape, and it is always unacceptable. And that's just scratching the surface of this "journalists's" problems, though when it comes to the guy she's certainly not the only one being a jackass.

Read it and rage:

http://www.thestar.com/news/city_hall/2 ... omaly.html

[Foxxit]

This makes me sick, people can be so ignorant.

[Beeks]

This is disgusting!

[samurai_sarah]

If anyone needs me, I'm under my desk, weeping for humanity.

[ILoveJellybeans]

Rape is rape, nomatter what gender the people involved are

[Dysfundamental]

That's terrible. The offending writers should be fired or at least suspended.

[VooDooChild]

Assholes. I hate living on this planet. Surely, somebody complained to this "journalist's" employer?

[notacleverpony]

brb, sharing this and emailing the editors of the Toronto Star

[doggie]

It is a lot of men's attitude that even bad sex is good sex. Or at least that's what they want to believe. Plus men don't want to think or understand woman attacking them. Plus no one even talks about woman raping men. The attitude will change far sooner for female rape then it will for male/ female rape. I found men want to even think it is possible.

[tropaka]

Reminds me of Jon Stewart talking about a female teacher who'd had sex with a teenaged student....he pointed out something similar to her nowadays being a pedophile but in his day being "the best teacher ever" (or somesuch bs)

[Guest Anonymous]

I am properly angry. There is so much wrong with this.

Of course, one man’s sexual assault is another man’s sexual fantasy come true.

What? Actually, what? How is that a thing? Some men might consent to sex therefore... sexual assault is fine? What is the logic supposed to be here?

Mustn’t be seen to make light of an alleged sexual crime simply because the victim is a male, which would be reverse sexism and a double standard — men’s rights groups the first to pounce, no doubt — despite the obvious snickering quotient.

I read this as: "Anyone who disagrees with me is probably an MRA! So there!"

It allegedly happened a couple of weeks ago, a Saturday night, though only publicized by police this past weekend, the inference to be drawn that perhaps the victim pondered his options for a while, perchance needed some coaxing to report, or grew increasingly angry as the days passed.

It's very common for victims of sexual assault not to report it right away (or not report it at all), you cannot use that as a bullshit excuse to insinuate that there is something fishy going on.

Already I’m jumping to certain conjectures about this doll crew: fat and butchy, maybe self-designated vigilantistas, depending on what had transpired with their target earlier, at the bar.

So, based on no evidence at all, the journalist has decided that this sexual attack is some form of vigilantism. As if that's fine! As if sexually assaulting someone is a reasonable response to some vague thing that might have 'transpired with their target earlier, at the bar'! And every bit of it is groundless speculation.

There is so much wrong with this piece that the only way to adequately express it would be to reproduce the article in full and write the words 'EVERYTHING IS WRONG!' all over it.

[Dysfundamental]

Great piece, managing to slam the male victim, "fat and butchy" women in general by association, and reinforce gross stereotypes about everything. And perpetuate rape culture. That's like a grand slam of horribleness.

[crassy]

Ugh, they were talking about it on the Dean Blundell show the other day. I was so hoping Dean and Todd wouldn't be dicks about it, they even had a caller who explained how men can be raped. Instead of actually doing something to benefit men and help open up the dialogue for men to actually admit rape, they concentrated on the weight of the women (they kept saying how fat they were, 180lbs 5'4"...that is not *that* large). I was sickened.

I shouldn't be surprised, Dean and Todd are dickbags, but still...a chance to do so much good and they just blew it completely.

[Salamander]

Sexual assault is no laughing matter — I’m writing this column with a straight face — though often taken way out of context on the statistics table; a pinch on the bottom can be equated to far more intrusive and traumatizing invasiveness of one’s personal space. Some “assaults’’ are merely unwanted touching, annoying for an adult woman but should be slapped down when they occur rather than directed to police.

Another self-appointed arbiter of what counts as sexual assault. SO BRAVE.

Also, it's not worse when women engage in this anti-feminist bullshit--women shouldn't be held to higher standards than men when it comes to feminism, or anything for that matter--but it stings more. Who wants to place a bet on how long it'll take MRAs to jump on this POS article as an example of women not caring about male victims of rape?

My sympathies to the man. I hope he has a good support network to help him deal with this victim-blaming bullshit.

[Mama Mia]

Additionally, she can't write worth shit.

Horrible, horrible opinions and virtually unreadable on top of it ! Ugghhh

[Terrasola]

WTF? :shock: It's not surprising that men often don't report sexual assaults when that's the societal response.

How is someone supposed to heal from such a profound violation of their personhood when they can't seek redress from the police / justice system without being publicly mocked, when there are very few resources geared to their needs, and it appears that there might be subtle (and not-so-subtle) pressure to keep quiet about the event? It reminds me of what it was like for women in similar circumstances a half century ago (although I can never walk in this man's shoes).

I hope there is a significant and appropriate public response to this article, although the cynic in me suspects that stirring up controversy may have been the author's intention.

[burntnorton]

Hey, guess what genius? Any intentional, nonconsensual offwnsive touching isn't assualt - it's battery. A crime. And not for nothing, a lot of women have rape fantasies and some act them out with willing partners. Does that make rape of a woman a less serious crimw? What a diagusting human being.

[2xx1xy1JD]

Rosie, STFU.

For all its "liberalism", The Star still sends out Rosie DiManno to cover the sex cases, mine for juicy details and put her own bizarre editorial spin on things.

This is NOT something that should just upset men. DiManno has written other columns in which she's attacking the sexual assault law in Canada. Prior to 1983, Canada outlawed "rape", which was specifically defined as unwanted vaginal penetration of a woman by a man other than her husband. Sexual assault covers all unwanted sexual contact, and their are 3 categories according to the degree of violence. I don't particularly want to go back to a time where proving penetration was required for a conviction, nor do I think that "groping" deserves a slap instead of police involvement.

Here's another thought: maybe more male victims would come forward if they weren't ridiculed. Victim-shaming and ridiculing of any sort is absolutely shameful.

[Hane]

I am revolted by the fact that this was written by a woman--and a woman with an Italian surname, no less. Way to make our ethnicity look good, asshole.

[Effie]

I think he (the victim here) is very brave for reporting it.

[Sparkle]

Annnnd with the news of the teenager in Nova Scotia who died via suicide over a year after her sexual assault (that brought no charges even with photographic evidence), I wonder how this "journalist" will react if the man does something similar because of the publicity. The girl was mocked and teased incessantly because she reported the assault.

[Dexterous]

Ah, I see - said journalist is Rosie DiManno.

From what I've read and heard about her around these parts (Toronto), that explains everything about this article.

If only someone who wasn't a raving idiot would have covered this assault, it actually might have done some good. One simply has to Google her (try "Rosie Dimanno idiot" - I did) to understand how well loved she is.

[stonefruit]

If anyone needs me, I'm under my desk, weeping for humanity.

Have you got room for another person under there?

[Foxxit]

What the hell is wrong with these people. Men can be raped, and rape period is extremely traumatizing. Just ugh... I am going to go hide under a rock and cry about how much humanity sucks.

[samurai_sarah]

Have you got room for another person under there?

It's a pretty spacious desk. :) And when we're done weeping, we can write angry letters.