General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: What the hell is going on? The Richard Engel report should be the number one news story. [View all]Lonestarblue
(9,978 posts)I was amazed this past week at the various media stories on sexual assault. The media whipped the stories into a frenzy where most commentators were outraged about any perceived harrassment of a woman. Dont get me wrongIm a woman and I know that sexual harrassment and sexual assault exist. But with the current media focus, I worry that by equating a prank (stupid as it was) with real sexual assault (like Roy Moores or actual rape), we risk an eventual backlash that once again says all these women crying foul is just overblown and a man cant even wink at a woman without it being labeled harrassment. Most of the media outrage has been in perceived liberal media. Most left-wing media has either ignored the issue or, like Foxs Hannity, just backed off after raising a bit of attention on the Moore story. Many Republicans obviously dont care or dont believe that sexual assault is all that serious or that most women who are assaulted just make bad decisions that let their assaulters have access to them.
And in some cases, women do make bad decisions. Bill Clintons alleged rape of Juanita Broaddick is once again being brought up in an effort to say both sides do it. I certainly dont know what is true in that case, but having worked around lots of men, professionals mostly, I would never have gone to my hotel room with a male co-worker alone under any circumstances, as Broaddick did. Girls and women need to be taught that part of protecting themselves is not putting themselves in risky situations. Yes, women should have the right to go anywhere and do anything they want, but that is ignoring the real-world risks that exist in our society.