A dead on observation about rape culture in the wake of the Brock Turner case

[ehrnst]

[niyad]

1. sadly quite accurate.

"oh, my son's future is ruined", but not a word about what that son's victim's life will be.

[tonyt53]

2. As a son, brother to four sisters, husband, father to a daughter, grandfather to three girls

I am sick and disgusted by the Turner case. I feel the same about these crimes against women being committed all around this country on college campuses. I am sick and disgusted of how many rape tests have been sitting on shelves in police/sheriff departments all around this country. Crimes against women have become so accepted that many people just ignore the reports. That makes me the sickest and most disgusted of all.

[smirkymonkey]

3. K&R

[NoMoreRepugs]

4. Americans look at radical (not the norm) Muslim punishment for women who commit

sexual indiscretions (according to Muslim beliefs) as oftentimes barbaric...

when you really think about it is the rape culture that exists in America - considering our attitude of moral superiority to almost everyone else - make us that much different???

[Ilsa]

5. Well, I suppose not killing the woman is a start.

Perhaps a really good start, don't you think? I don't know of any murders in my friends'families because of premarital sex, having an active sex life, or having an affair.

And families of rape victims here generally aren't ashamed, but angry for her.

[NoMoreRepugs]

6. I was going for the acceptance of the culture in the country rather than the severity of the outcome

... guess i should have done a better job of explaining my thought

[Ilsa]

7. I don't buy that rape culture is widely accepted in the US.

I know too many people, including men without wives or daughters, that would gladly cut the nuts off a proven offender.

We've come a long way, and we still have far to go. But I don't see any value in pitting one culture against another in some contest of moral superiority.

[Francis Booth]

8. It says a lot that the perpetrator's father

dismissed his son's crime as "20 minutes of action."

Some role model, eh?

[Warpy]

9. No parent wants to admit they spent 20 years raising a monster

We can't look to them for realistic assessments of their children's behavior.

[Humanist_Activist]

12. Given the father's choice of words, I don't think he thinks his son did any wrong...

perhaps he was raised where consent isn't really something that was emphasized as far as sexual conduct is concerned.

[TexasBushwhacker]

13. Brock did plead "Not Guilty" after all

It took a trial and 12 jurors convicting him to even realize he did something illegal.

[Francis Booth]

14. Clearly, this was a case of Brock and his parents having an attitude of,

"Oh, it's just lads having a of bit of fun."

Unfortunately for them, until people get it through their thick skulls that it's *not* OK to have sex with an intoxicated or unconscious or otherwise unwilling woman, more Brocks will go to jail.

Sometimes to get a cultural shift to take place, you have to come down hard on people until the collective consciousness changes. For example, no one would ever think of lighting up a cigarette in a restaurant any more. It took decades for this thought process to shift, but it eventually did. (note - I certainly don't mean to equate smoking with rape. I just used it as an example of a successful cultural shift).

[Invincibility]

10. Rape is one of those unforgivable crimes

I'm more understanding when it comes to homicide than rape. Homicide can be a crime of passion and sometimes it's understandable why somebody might want to kill. Rape on the other hand is a purely predatory crime of opportunity. Usually it's not even about sex. It's about control and punishing, dominating or otherwise degrading the victim.

If somebody raped someone else, I don't ever want them back out in society. There's no possible justification for the crime of rape and it shows the perpetrator to be a sociopath IMO.

[Francis Booth]

15. Can there be degrees of criminality though?

No doubt this will piss off feminists, but I can see two kids, both 16, getting into some heavy petting, with the girl giving her willing and eager consent. Now, I know the law says that a 16 year old girl cannot give consent, but that is a legal and societal construct.

44 years ago, when I was 16, my girlfriend (also 16) and I did just about everything imaginable. She was not only willing, but pretty much dragged me along. She was always leading the way. We were madly in love, and were together for over 5 years until we drifted apart in college. We still keep in touch, though.

We're either or both of us guilty of rape? I just can't equate this to someone forcing themselves onto another person against their wishes, or if they were in a state where they were unable to consent due to drugs or alcohol.

[mythology]

11. That's a really good insight