No.
No, no, no, no, nope.
Nope.
Have we learned nothing from Penn State?
Human rights scandals are not worth it to save your local sports team.
I don't care who you are, who they are, or how great at football anyone is, if you rape someone, you deserve to go to jail. For a long time.
And if you're dumb enough to photograph or videotape any of it, you deserve to be ruthlessly mocked for your brazen lack of foresight.
*breath*
Okay, for those who haven't followed it, Steubenville is the small town site of a recent incident in which a group of high school football players raped (documenting much of the process as well) a drunk girl at a party. No one stopped them, and despite DOCUMENTED EVIDENCE, it was dismissed and swept under the rug in order to protect the integrity of the sports team because that's all that crappy little town has going for it.
Fast forward- Anonymous-- the dubious group of.... I don't really know what to call them. They seem to be just as keen on ruining lives as they are on seeing people brought to justice, so for now, let's just call them on-again-off-again-vigilantes-- released the video and photographic evidence online and generated an enormous amount of viral push to see the high school kids brought to justice.
The response from Steubenville was, originally, to completely ignore the issue, hoping it would go away. Luckily, the general public isn't fond of rape being systematically covered up, so the scandal persisted until the town's higher ups eventually got involved. And that's where we are today.
It's a continually-unfolding story, so there's not much I can report on except to shame the hell out of this town for caring more about their sports team than the violation of the basic human integrity of someone who did no wrong (beyond being an intoxicated minor).
I really don't have the heart to touch on the ethical implications of a unified decision like this by such a town. Really, I can only stumble and place the two things at stake in glaring juxtaposition to each other.
A FOOTBALL TEAM
or
JUSTICE BEING SERVED TO UNREPENTANT RAPISTS.
I don't.... I.... WHAT IS THIS?!
Anyone who knows me in-person has, at some point, heard my opinion on sports. I'm not a fan of them existing within institutions for which the purpose is education. I think the two should be separate and there should be no excuses given to someone who does poorly in education just because they excel in sports. Legal leniency should not be applied to the "star quarterback," and I don't think a school should use any of its endowment towards giving sports scholarships to anyone when there are plenty of financially disadvantaged academics yearning for the chance to obtain quality higher education.
If you like sports, that's fine. It's a totally acceptable hobby just like any other. However, I don't expect a college to pay for my education just because I'm good at Smash Brothers, and likewise, you shouldn't expect a college to pay for your education just because you can throw a ball in a hoop.
This "sports > all" mentality that drives our country leads us to be apologists for behavior like this-- totally intolerable behavior that traumatizes and destroys lives. Years of emotional damage and you don't even have the decency to punish the people responsible just because they're good at a game?!
I think you get where I'm going with this...
-
Waddles
Alright, I'm bored, I just wasted 7 minutes researching this whole kerfuffle and I feel like writing, so let's see what comes out.
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, I don't see it. All I see is a story about some dumbasses who went to a party and sexually assaulted a drunk girl. Unfortunate, yes, but sadly, not uncommon. The case was investigated, and the primary parties have been arrested, charged and by all accounts will likely be convicted. From a legal standpoint, the system has worked. Nobody ignored or covered up anything. Yes, nobody was bursting at the seams to get the whole, grisly story out to the public, but really, why should they? It is nobody's job to make sure you and I know what happened in some podunk town in Ohio. If I were anyone at all involved with the story, I wouldn't want people to know, either. The only reason we HAVE heard about it is because it is interesting and scandalous. A shining example of America's love affair with juicy crap. All anonymous did is pour fuel on the fire by putting an even brighter spotlight on the issue by trying to make the idiots who were only tangentially involved look stupid (they were stupid, and fully deserve to look stupid, but there's no real evidence that they were involved in any severely criminal way.)
Truthfully, this is none of our business, and it really isn't all that interesting. By proliferating the story, we not only make it larger but we also endorse that the story exists at all. It's just being propped up as Springeresque entertainment to be barfed at us by the media. In terms of moral indignation, this shouldn't even register compared to the larger injustices and tragedies of the world
As for sports and hero worship. Yeah, it happens. We Americans love our tribalism. Your candidate/party is stupid, Steelers suck, 'Murrica #1, my dad could beat up your dad, all religions but mine are wrong and you're going to hell, fair and balanced, etc. Somewhere Brian Stow is still dealing with permanent brain damage because he had the audacity to make fun of the Dodgers and wearing a Giants hat. For not incomprehensible reasons, we evolved to find comfort in grouping up with our fellow humans, even when it's against other humans. It should come as no surprise that a city will come out and try to defend it's source of pride based on no facts or logic like a mother defending her young. Not everyone is smart enough to always put their brain in front of their gut feelings/desires, I would argue that none of us are, actually. You can try your best to educate and argue, but if somebody doesn't WANT to believe you, you will never be able to convince them that Jesus didn't ride raptors 2000 years ago. Welcome to humanity.
Lastly, sports have a legitimate place in the world. And like it or not, they have a legitimate place in the college universe. They're gigantic billboards for the institutions. Do you think anyone would go to Duke if they didn't have a kickass basketball team? The money that those programs eat up is more than replaced by the money those programs bring in solely by their existence. Many arguments can be made for the corruption within the NCAA, and I can't/won't even get into that right now, but you'd be hard pressed to convince most people that college athletics isn't a net positive. These schools are ultimately businesses, it may not be immediately apparent why it's valuable to build a new football stadium while classrooms are falling apart, but at the same time it's hard to believe that it's worth it to Pepsi to spend 12 million dollars on advertising during a 3 hour football game. What do you think a poor city like Steubenville would be like without it's football team? There's something very real to be said for the positivity and confidence that comes as a result of your team being good at a thing, and I love the placebo effect when it comes to consumer confidence. This in no way justifies the idiots who think that this girl "got what was coming to her," but it does explain quite simply why that attitude exists in this case, and will continue to exist.
ReplyDeleteOr to put it all extremely succinctly: cognitive dissonance.
Thanks for taking the time to comment~
ReplyDeleteTo start- the video was released in tandem with claims that the victim had more than two assailants. Only two people have been indicted. This also occurred among claims that those who committed the act should be prosecuted as adults, but that's not something I'm willing to make a judgment call on.
Similarly, if I'm reading correctly, much of the physical evidence of the case was being ignored by the sheriff's office, who responded by promising to get Anonymous rather than assure the public that the rapists would face justice.
http://www.slate.com/blogs/xx_factor/2013/01/03/steubenville_ohio_rape_anonymous_gets_involved_and_the_case_gets_even_more.html
Within this article, the outrage of a specific former resident is mentioned- Outrage that many participants in taking pictures and bragging about the assault were not charged with anything.
People are apologizing afterwords for taking pictures and videos and talking about it like it was funny after-the-fact, but that doesn't change what they did. They probably wouldn't be apologizing if it hadn't blown up in their faces, and they deserve punishment as well.
It was a lot of people- not just two.
These kids are being defended by their peers, their town, and authority figures like their coach.
Whether or not you think the case in particular is important (we disagree on this matter), there's no denying the mark left on society by making a national scene out of a crime that some people still feel is okay to perpetuate.
(I'm pretty sure encouraging assault is a minor criminal offense, by the by-- and that's in the best case scenario where these additional people really didn't actually do anything else)
Rape culture in America is something I'm pretty morally indignant about. I'm wary when someone tells me otherwise. This case is the exact problem with rape culture. It's defended. It's something that is "none of our business." It's something that people don't think is a big deal.
They're goddamned teenagers, and they're laughing about it like it's some hilarious joke. That should be goddamned spooky no matter who you are.
I'm reminded of the case of Matthew Shepard:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matthew_Shepard
The individuals who committed this attack also viewed it as a joke at the time. They murdered someone in cold blood out of some sick malice that spawned from the mob effect. They didn't feel like they would have to take responsibility for their actions. They thought they were justified.
And so did all the kids in the current case. That's indicative of a larger societal problem that desperately needs to be looked at.
So yes, I do believe the moral indignation of this case should register as a blip on my radar.
And yes, you've correctly identified an issue in the human psyche perpetuated by some aspect of evolution, however, that's no excuse to not point this behavior out as TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE.
ReplyDeleteIn fact, it's a good time remind people that evolution has steered us in directions that don't really apply much anymore (in our society).
To your final point:
"Do you think anyone would go to Duke if they didn't have a kickass basketball team?"
Yes. Yes I do. Do you think no one would attend Duke if they didn't?
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_many_students_currently_attend_Duke_University
More than half of the student population are post-grads, so I would hope that they'd be going there either way.
There are only 13 basketball players playing for Duke in the 2012-13 season. Out of ~12,800 students.
So again, yes, I do think people would go there with or without their team. And I think the Ivy League schools have more than proven that an education is the first reason most people choose a good school.
As for them being businesses, I'm not sure you've done the research on overall net gains.
http://www.investopedia.com/financial-edge/1111/how-much-revenue-do-college-sports-produce.aspx#axzz2HPvAF8Yr
While football and basketball bring in a small amount of profit on average, it doesn't typically make up for sports as a whole, so most colleges are losing money on sports.
These schools are forced to pour money out the ass to try to garner enough to compensate for their sports teams' existence.
So, while we're not economically coming out ahead, we're still perpetuating the sports obsession that lends itself to cases like Steubenville.
Sports undoubtedly have other benefits, but they're inclusive enough that the benefits only reach a handful of students. A benefit I'm not sure I see the point in by comparison.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThe economic gains are in the form of advertising and image, not direct profit. People go to Duke because their kickass basketball team afforded them the ability to have a kickass postgrad program.
ReplyDeleteAs for the matter at hand: You want the police staff of a small town to spend weeks and months chasing down flies trying to pin misdemeanors on teenagers over a drunken party that happened five months ago for which the only evidence is hearsay? It's hard to say that the players were given a pass in order to protect a football team when this incident caused the two primary instigators to miss the entire season and cause the team to fall well below expectations as a result.
I still don't see how this incident is any indication of our culture's not-negative-enough opinion on rape. Maybe I'm not connected enough with dumbass culture to really see it. I am aware that people will try and tell us that there's such a distinction as "legitimate rape" implying some rape isn't as bad as others. But I can't recall any real situation where a rape was treated with anything other than scorn and fury...as it should be. The general overreaction of the public and media is evidence that the culture's attitudes on the subject are right where they should be. People hate rape so much that they're making signs and standing in the cold, protesting and excoriating people they don't know and will never meet. This happened because scumbag, entitled teenagers acted like scumbag, entitled teenagers. It's a sad story that's probably been repeated itself somewhere since I started writing this. The only ONLY people capable of stopping it from happening are the parents and role models. Teach your kids to respect people, not get stupid drunk, and to have the strength to put a stop to a bad situation before it gets worse.
You could say that this is a sorry picture of hero-worship, as the city's defenders are stupid and in love with a football team. But this is nothing new and has nothing to do with our attitudes towards rape. Any time a high profile figure does anything wrong, you'll be faced with scores of that figure's fans and defenders ready to lay down their lives defending someone without any clue what actually happened.
About 1900 americans will be raped today, 45 will be murdered, and 16,000 children will die of hunger worldwide today. Why do we care about this case where the only injustice is the gross stupidity of many people?
I'm not sure I understand the first point.
ReplyDeleteIf the benefit is solely in advertising and image (not that I'm willing to put an enormous amount of stock in that claim), how exactly are they making their postgraduate program better? That costs money, not image-power. Unless the advertisement garnered by their basketball team somehow convinced leagues of amazing professors to want to teach there inexplicably.
"...for which the only evidence is hearsay?"
And video evidence.
And photographic evidence.
And confessions in the form of social media posts by perpetrators.
The original allegations were ignored with outcries by the coach, among other notable figures, that the girl had made the whole thing up to avoid being punished for getting drunk.
I... don't even know what else I can possibly say to highlight how much this outlines the problem with rape culture. Clearly, we're not communicating properly on this issue-
"The general overreaction of the public and media is evidence that the culture's attitudes on the subject are right where they should be"
This didn't exist until after it was blown way out of proportion by Anonymous in response to comments like the coach's that the girl was lying.
There was no overreaction- in fact, people were willing to defend the players more than the girl until after things exploded.
The fact that it took a much larger crowd yelling and screaming to put some perspective on the issue is indicative enough that the culture still has a big problem.
"...this case where the only injustice is the gross stupidity of many people?"
And... you know... the rape and mockery that happened.
We care because it's fucking hard to get Americans to stand up for something. When you get that chance, you seize it and you drive home an issue until people are sick of hearing about it. Because otherwise, everyone's going to be too complacent about everything to do anything.
If this issue brings the daily rape statistic down by even a single person per day, then it's done some good. Good that would have otherwise been drowned out in reruns of Grey's Anatomy.
It sucks that there are a million injustices every day. But we can't fight all of them. And if we try to direct the attention of the public where it's not willing to go, we won't get anything done at all. The best we can do is roll with the punches to try to see some change enacted.
The issue with advertising is the power of brand image. It is the sole reason collegiate athletics is a thing.
ReplyDeleteAre you missing the part where the culprits were arrested and charged? A post on twitter of some idiot bragging is not actionable evidence. Nor is a youtube video of a drunk moron laughing. All the people involved were investigated and the police did all that could realistically be expected. You can rail all you want against these kids for not being fully cooperative in getting their friends arrested, and against the townspeople for being stupid boonies, but to say that the police haven't done their job is fallacy. It's fully possible and even likely that other people did illegal things that night, but there is no actionable evidence to pursue such claims, and chasing after ghosts and threads is a gross misuse of time as the actions were misdemeanors at best. The primary instigators lives are pretty much ruined as a result of this. The case against them is solid. It's not injustice when justice was done, (or will be, at least) it is simply a personal tragedy.
It's a good point about rolling with the winds of public attention, but I don't see this as a learning experience. Simply a chance to either grandstand against "pro-rape" strawmen, or mostly a chance to enjoy the voyeuristic train wreck of it all. It's likely true that somewhere a decent pair of parents are using this as an opportunity to teach their kids about responsibility, but the whole ordeal stands to bring public discourse down instead of up.