Rolling Stone threw a rape victim to the misogynist horde

[Luminous Animal]

As I have been arguing in real life, Rolling Stone's shoddy reporting does not mean that Jackie was not raped. A very close friend of mine was kidnapped and held for 3 days in a motel during which she was tortured and raped. She escaped, naked, in a sparsely populated part of Arizona but along an interstate with motels 5-10 miles apart. The person who picked her up clothed her to a certain extent; that is, he gave her his shirt because that is all he had to give her, and drove her to the police station.

Despite her physical appearance of multiple bruising, welts, and cuts, the cops treated her with disgusting skepticism but, we suppose in the spirit of actually trying to be cops, hustled her traumatized self... her barely clothed and beaten body into a cop car and drove her along the interstate in an attempt to identify the motel where she was kept captive.

She identified the wrong motel.

The past few days have been remarkably demoralising for anti-rape activists, and that’s really saying something in a field pretty much defined by exhaustion and nausea. In case you missed it, or are simply bewildered by the labyrinthine switchbacks, I’ll try to sum up. A few weeks ago, Rolling Stone magazine published a longform reported story about rape on American college campuses, specifically the University of Virginia. One of the central accounts in the piece came from a woman called Jackie, who claimed she was raped by a group of UVA fraternity brothers in a premeditated, horrific three-hour ordeal. The piece got a lot of traction; readers were understandably appalled.

Then, last Friday, the magazine posted a foul, mealy mouthed “apology” (which has since been updated multiple times, as RS editors play whackamole with their well-deserved backlash), in which they admitted they had failed to fulfill basic journalistic standards in reporting Jackie’s story – including denying her requests to retract her interview, despite her fear of retaliation – and had since discovered some “discrepancies” in her account. Therefore, they said, their “trust in her was misplaced”.

The result was swift, frightening and predictable. Jackie became an anti-feminist rallying point – incontrovertible “proof” that women maliciously (or recreationally, even) lie about rape to ruin men’s lives, and that “rape culture” is nothing but hysterical feminist propaganda. Never mind that the “discrepancies” in Jackie’s story don’t “prove” anything at all – they could very easily be the product of trauma, or the natural elasticity of memory. Never mind that Jackie’s friends did confirm that they believe something horrible happened to her that night, even if the exact details of her experience aren’t clear. Never mind that Jackie didn’t publicly name any specific perpetrator, and that she tried to back out of the story altogether. Never mind that if you know five women, you know at least one who’s been sexually violated.

Jackie has since had her real name and photo released on Twitter, with a loose coalition of GamerGaters, 4channers, professional misogynists, and garden-variety rightwingers publicly plotting blackmail and revenge. These gleeful abusers claim to be the “real” anti-rape activists, because “false rape accusations” harm “real” victims. And what helps “real” victims, apparently, is the threat of this roiling, roaring ocean of harassment, abuse, death threats and invasion of privacy that will descend if you fail to recall the details of your traumatic violation clearly enough to satisfy some teenage 4channer. Or if you’re not the “right” kind of victim (sober, demure, white, abstinent) with the “right” kind of perpetrator (scary stranger, scary alley). Rape doesn’t really work like that. Rape isn’t so simple.

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/dec/09/rolling-stone-threw-a-rape-victim-to-the-misogynist-horde?

[ismnotwasm]

1. Exactly

I posted another article on this, because of near gleeful reactions, that her account "couldn't be verified" (ie lying, false rape meme-- the whole ball of bullshit)

[KitSileya]

2. This story just emphasizes the strength of rape culture.

If a victim doesn't remember every detail of her trauma perfectly, she is a liar. If she is not able to dispassionately and objectively narrate everything, she is not to be trusted.

Notice how Slate's journalist immediately finds only two possible explanations for Randall, one of the friends Jackie turned to, saying he wasn't contacted for comments by RS? Either Jackie created a false email and impersonated him, or the RS journalist is lying about contacting him. Slate simply does not think that perhaps Randall is lying about being contacted by the journalist.

The same goes for those who thought the RS journalist should have contacted the rapists on a piece about the school's handling of rapes. What do they think any rapist would say when confronted? Do they think rapists are more trustworthy than rape victims when it comes to telling what happens? Unfortunately, many of us know that people think exactly that.

[kcr]

10. Isn't it interesting how everyone is jumping on RS

Yet the tabloid nature of the reporting about RS's mistakes is totally overlooked, and everything reported in that regard is instantly taken as fact.

[freshwest]

3. LA, having had friends who experienced the same as your friend, I get it. RC controls our lives.

TRIGGER WARNING...

What I did not post in a UVA piece:

..."Shut up," she heard a man's voice say as a body barreled into her, tripping her backward and sending them both crashing through a low glass table. There was a heavy person on top of her, spreading open her thighs, and another person kneeling on her hair, hands pinning down her arms, sharp shards digging into her back, and excited male voices rising all around her. When yet another hand clamped over her mouth, Jackie bit it, and the hand became a fist that punched her in the face. The men surrounding her began to laugh. For a hopeful moment Jackie wondered if this wasn't some collegiate prank. Perhaps at any second someone would flick on the lights and they'd return to the party.

"Grab its motherfucking leg," she heard a voice say. And that's when Jackie knew she was going to be raped.

She remembers every moment of the next three hours of agony, during which, she says, seven men took turns raping her, while two more – her date, Drew, and another man – gave instruction and encouragement. She remembers how the spectators swigged beers, and how they called each other nicknames like Armpit and Blanket. She remembers the men's heft and their sour reek of alcohol mixed with the pungency of marijuana. Most of all, Jackie remembers the pain and the pounding that went on and on.

As the last man sank onto her, Jackie was startled to recognize him: He attended her tiny anthropology discussion group. He looked like he was going to cry or puke as he told the crowd he couldn't get it up. "Pussy!" the other men jeered. "What, she's not hot enough for you?" Then they egged him on: "Don't you want to be a brother?" "We all had to do it, so you do, too." Someone handed her classmate a beer bottle. Jackie stared at the young man, silently begging him not to go through with it. And as he shoved the bottle into her, Jackie fell into a stupor, mentally untethering from the brutal tableau, her mind leaving behind the bleeding body under assault on the floor...

This is what happened to that story, where they threw her under the bus:

http://www.rollingstone.com/culture/features/a-rape-on-campus-20141119

Despite this graphic rape, the main focus of the story was the hopeless way rapes were addressed at UVA. The 'apology' doesn't prove she made the story up.

Because they don't give a damn. No moral compass is employed there.

This is what has been swept under the rug for many years. Ever present for many women, it determines where one will live, the hours they will be in public, their modes of transportation, and their work and their social lives.

I won't go into the people who I know or what I managed to escape. This is always unspoken, except between women in their private talks.

No one gives a damn, except men like this Democrat, in the Minority at the capitol in Virginia:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/125553028#op

That was a HOF thread that never got going, but it's also in a forum. Then came the predictable backlast. This is real life rape culture. It exists whether some say it does or doesn't exist. It's a fact of life.

[Luminous Animal]

4. Yes. My friend. RC is so pernicious we can rarely grasp its control but it is there

near each and every moment of our public lives. And, for some, their private lives. Thank you for your post.

[CTyankee]

6. Given the victim's trauma, it is not surprising that details are misremembered.

I have misremembered details of far less traumatizing bad things that happened to me. When the unthinkable happens our brains process memory differently, IMO. Dates are particularly subject to being misremembered, at least in the way I have dealt with traumatic situations.

And people ask why more rape victims don't come forward immediately...

[BlancheSplanchnik]

11. ....

That was...not easy to read.


I just want to scream.

[freshwest]

12. That's what we arrange our lives to escape from. And why many young ladies don't trust anyone.

As far as reading it, that wasn't as bad as other things I know of, much too well. After a while, one gets a thick skin leaving only a firm sense of making sure all you can protect, will be protected.

In the article before they sanitized it with their weasel word apology, it goes into how she met the one named Drew later on campus, despite trying to avoid him. He said he thought it was a great time and thanked her for it.

The fact that she was not willing, didn't interfere with the enjoyment of their game or his enjoyment of it. She was, as the paragraph said, an 'IT.' Now that almost chilled my blood, but then I've seen too much shit for too many years.

I hate to see what is done to those who are innocent or naive, or in some cases, developmentally or physically unable to protect themselves. It's like beating an animal to death for fun, and we can't kid ourselves, it is fun to some.

As I said about RS's actions, they have no moral compass. Neither do a lot of people. You expressed very well how people are in competition and want to have pleasure, and will twist everything around to meet that need, or words to that effect.

I've found in dealing with some, that they have no regrets whatsoever. If one thinks a Cheney or Bush or other bad actors are the ultimate evil in this world, they are naive. They are just blaming what they heard about in the news, the most well known and powerful and laying all the evil at their feet, and consider it a done deal that the person across the street wouldn't do these things. Sadly, they mask themselves well.

If they insist all the evil in the world is part of one of 'isms' they declare are destroying the world, they better check out the fine gentlemen in their community and see what goes on that is hidden. I have been blighted by what I have learned, what I have seen, and the broken lives left in their wake. And DU is not a hospitable venue to have a discussion of the truths of life.

Such have no shame about doing such things, but they are smart and know how to rally others to their defense. In the cases I've known, it is almost impossible to get these predators in prison. They know their prey, just as these future leaders of the United States did, and they will take their pleasure.

The original article also had the words of a UVA song that really went into rape. The song is detailed elsewhere, and that is what it is. I was warned by my family to stay away from frats, although I'm sure the majority aren't like that one. But you know, I'm only saying that since I know the attacks will come. But all it takes is one bad thing to ruin one's life. And no one gives a damn as long as they weren't the one.

You take good care and have a good holiday season. I'm not celebrating anything, but other than I am doing well enough. I'm not posting as I used to do, I just don't care about this place since little constructive can be done there. It's not a meeting place for Democrats. So it's largely a waste of energy. Many great people are gone, better posters than me.

Here's a little gif for you if you like stuff like this, for the season:



You are one of my favorite posters.

[BlancheSplanchnik]

14. dear fresh.....

Thank you! That is high praise, since I think quite highly of you too. One of the smartest, best informed people here. Sometimes I'm in awe, seriously!

So......anyway.......I am so....numb? No, that's not the right word.....just, rendered speechless at the continued inhumanity, and the special nullification reserved for women. I can barely read that article, even. This heavy feeling starts pressing on my chest. I can't take any more woman bashing. I can't take the total acceptance of it in the public arena. I can't take the marches and protests on behalf of those who face injustice---unless they're women. Then, it's fuck those lying broads they deserved it anyway.

You're right about DU being no solution. I remember 10 years ago here, the unbearable frustration of seeing past the lies, while the majority of the country was completely clueless.

I appreciate the intellectual and social aspect here, yes, but World Peace can only come from a deep change in individuals, and persistent action in your own circles. Even if it's small, everyone CAN offer a little compassion, a little wisdom, a little encouragement.

And speaking of action, I haven't got anything going on for the holidays either. But I do have to work on my hermit tendencies. Oy. Oh well, I've overcome so much shit, working on getting out of the cave is just the next challenge.

Love that kitty!

[ismnotwasm]

13. +1000

[boston bean]

5. Thanks for posting. The minute I read the "apology" from RS

I was immediately saying to myself, they aren't saying she wasn't raped.... how it played out is that she was a liar. Screw RS.

[JustAnotherGen]

7. It's about 1:30 PM

I think this needs a kick for all to see. Just the right time of day.

She's not a liar.

[ismnotwasm]

8. No she isn't

The CYA fiasco from the RS was disgusting. As were certain threads in GD

[JustAnotherGen]

9. I concur on the threads in GD

I'm not certain I'm going to be downloading R.S. onto my tablet anymore. . .

[JustAnotherGen]

27. You've been here two days

This is HOF - a protected group. If you don't like what I've posted or want to have an argument about it - then post a new thread in GD.

I also found it interesting that your first journal thread was how to search posts.


So since you signed up and invaded - how do you know she was lying? I noted you didn't dare post a challenge to the OP.


To A Potential Jury:
I haven't broken TOS or inflicted a personal attack on the poster. But it's odd this person would sign up and come back to this group and post on a thread that is more than a week old.

ETA -For group hosts. Took an attitude on his/her first post:

Zofa (65 posts)

Browsing a user's posts

Hi.

Is there a way to look through a particular member's posting history? I know there's an option to view their last post in their profile, but I don't know if it's possible to go further back?
0

[JustAnotherGen]

29. MIRT

http://www.democraticunderground.com/12569623

[seaglass]

15. According to the AP, the author of the RS piece, Sabrina Rubin Erdely is re-reporting it.

This article names the 3 friends of Jackie (with their permission) and goes into detail about their recollections.

The part about re-reporting:

The AP also spoke with the other two friends portrayed in the article: third-year, 20-year-old U.Va. students Kathryn Hendley and Alex Stock, known as "Cindy" and "Andy" in the article. None of the three friends was contacted by Rolling Stone's reporter, Sabrina Rubin Erdely, before the article was published; each of them rejected multiple assertions made in the article, for which Rolling Stone has since apologized for and noted discrepancies.

All three say Erdely has since reached out to them, and that she has told them she is re-reporting the story. Hendley told the AP Erdely apologized to her for portraying her the way she did.

http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/friends-pushed-uva-jackie-call-cops-27593848

[Excorius]

16. Jackie told friends she had a date with "Haven Monahan"

CNN searched for Monahan but couldn't find anyone by that name in the United States.

Did trauma cause her to make up a name even before the day she was raped?

[ismnotwasm]

17. Your point?

[seaglass]

18. I think this is a friend of La Meduza, only 2 posts and both about UVA.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=profile&uid=319400

[seabeyond]

20. why are you so invested in this story? women and girls are raped all day long, thru out history.

yet, this store hold such an interest for you, while rape after rape is ignored

[ismnotwasm]

21. Who the fuck cares?

What exactly is your point and what does it have to do with the OP?

[ismnotwasm]

23. Why are you asking who he is if you know?

I thought you said he didn't exist--You're not making sense.

[ismnotwasm]

25. Hmm?

What I think about Haven doesn't matter.

The topic of the OP is throwing Jackie under the bus, which rolling Stone did with shoddy reporting and a crappy apology.

You seem to want to veer into rape denial territory. I don't want to play that game