Blaming an 11-year-old girl for being gang raped - that’s the U.S., not the East Congo!

Marina DelVecchio’s post at the New Agenda on the Rape Culture and How it Betrays Women prompted a flashback to the days when I was a reporter for a community newspaper in rural southeastern Minn.

I was covering the monthly meeting of the county commissioners at the local courthouse that afternoon. The six male commissioners, all well to do farmers, were gathered around a conference table. I sat off to the side taking notes when the county social worker gave her report. She mentioned a recent increase in the level of sexual crimes against women in the area.

After the social worker left, I was the only other person present when the commissioners began grumbling amongst themselves, saying things like, “These women ask for it. Look how they’re dressed when they’re walkin’ down the street in town.”

At that point, I stepped out of my role as reporter and spoke as an advocate for women’s rights. I said, “You know, fellas, in those circumstances, you have a couple of options other than rape. You can go home and have sex with your wife; you can find someone else who is willing to have sex with you; or you can masturbate.”

The commissioners moved on to the next item on their agenda.

A rape culture indeed. DelVechio’s post, featuring the actions of the 18 males, ranging in age from 14-18 years, who gang raped the 11 year-old girl in Texas, reminds us yet again that the United States is still no safe haven for women and girls.

And as if the incident itself were not horrific enough, the national media continues to criminalize the female victims of sex crimes. DelVechio writes:

In the eyes of the world, the news coverage of our country, members of her own community, and perhaps even her friends all believe that she is “guilty of the crime/of having being forced (Rich 14-15). Not much has changed since Adrienne Rich wrote “Rape.” People continue to blame the victim, while finding reasons to excuse the suspects of their crime. They didn’t know she was 11. She said she was 17. She was willing to go “for a ride” with two of the suspects. She was always hanging out in the Quarter, dressing like she was 20. She didn’t fight. Didn’t fight back. Didn’t scratch, and scream, and try to flee the attack. No, she wouldn’t. She is a 6th grader. She found herself in the company of 18 males who warned her that if she didn’t take her clothes off, they would have her beaten. She is a 6th grader who found herself surrounded by male libido, machismo, violence, and their belief that they had a right to take her, rape her, use her little body up, pass it around, and then toss it aside as if it didn’t belong to a face, to a soul, to a human being who felt pain, fear, and panic. And above all that has been said about this case, this is what is most distressing, disheartening: that these high school boys and young men felt they had a right to do what they did, and that there would be no consequences. Their conceit, their sense of power is evident in the fact that they whipped our their cell phones and recorded themselves sexually assaulting a minor. No fear.

To read DelVechio’s post in its entirety, go here.

Secretary Clinton’s Global Campaign for Women

Secretary of State Clinton Recognizes USAID-supported African Women Scientists.

Ironically, I wrote about the sexism in media coverage of Secretary of Clinton’s trip to Africa a few weeks ago when she was putting her own life at risk to go to places like the East Congo, otherwise known as the Rape Capital of the world. Among the media, the PBS NewsHour with Jim Lehrer was an indefensible offender.

A few days ago, The World of Hillary Clinton published an excellent post titled The Potential in Hillary Clinton’s Global Campaign for Women. Here’s a sample of this must-read article:

No other secretary of State has so focused on women's rights. It's a powerful shift.

When Hillary Rodham Clinton traveled to Africa last month, she visited war-racked eastern Congo to speak out against widespread rape by militias. She choked up after meeting with two rape victims and promised more US help – $17 million for medical treatment and security for victims.

Now she's taking the issue to the United Nations, where the US is leading an effort to shore up a resolution to end sexual violence against civilians during armed conflict. The Security Council passed Resolution 1820 last year, but follow through is sorely lacking.

Women's rights are becoming a signature issue for America's top diplomat. In her official travels, Mrs. Clinton talks with women, meets with female activists, and presses the twin challenges of women's rights and abuse with political leaders. She wants US development aid to focus more on women, and has appointed the first US ambassador for global women's issues.

Read more:

Sexism and Misogyny Cross Party Lines

Hi friends of Katalusis,

I’m late posting today as I’m working on a freelance writing project and had two interviews to complete plus travel time.

But I did want to call your attention to a post titled I Was Wrong at The New Agenda by Cynthia Ruccia that emphatically reminds us that sexism and misogyny are alive and well in both the Democratic and Republican parties. Among other things, Cynthia talks about being diagnosed with breast cancer, which became a turning point in her life. Believe it or not, she went from being a nerd to a jock! Her inspiring post is a must read, but so are the comments that follow. A great thread developed on the topic of sexism and the crime of rape.

Alessandro Machi, host of Daily Puma, commented:

One thing that might help reduce sexism is to revisit news stories in which women have been marginalized while the men are portrayed as heroic. I think it would be amazing to get female AP writers to revisit some of these types of stories six months later, a year later, and come up with a more balanced version than what was originally reported.

Some examples of women involved in news storeies who should have their role in the story revisited and unmarginalized include LaTreasa Davis, who called 911 when McDonalds STOLE HER MONEY AND WOULD NOT GIVE IT BACK NOR WOULD IT GIVE HER WHAT SHE ORDERED! http://dailypuma.blogspot.com/.....o-and.html

Nicole Word was beaten up in court and the judge “heroically” saved her. The Judge got all the glory for saving the damsel in distress but nobody really appreciated the bravery of the woman for standing up to her ex boyfriend both before her beating, during her beating, and then after her beating, she too was marginalized while the judge was declared a hero. http://dailypuma.blogspot.com/.....words.html

The third story that I would like to see revisited is BeerGate in which Fred Sanford and Barney Fife had a row on the front porch of Fred’s home and Andy Griffith had to step in hold a beer get together at the White House. http://dailypuma.blogspot.com/.....emale.html

The real story was not the men first arguing over nothing, then having a discussion at the white house, the real story was the two women who initially conferred over whether or not to call the police and then how they conducted themselves when they did call the police, was far and above the most interesting part of the story, and they too were marginalized by the media and the white house.

The Vulgar Language of Campaign 08: “Balls” and “Fuck,” Synonyms for Courage and Rape

Just a thought this wintry morning in St. Paul as this intense week winds down. In following the presidential campaign and its aftermath, I’ve been repeatedly offended by a couple of sexist terms used freely throughout the blogosphere on both the left and the right.

Let’s begin with “balls,” as in male testicles. Earlier I linked to a post by Michelle Malkin in which she defended Sarah Palin against the attacks of McCaine aides. Malkin wrote: “Shame on the smearers who don’t have the balls to show their faces.”

Although I appreciate Malkin’s defense of Palin, I object to the increasingly common usage of “balls” as a synonym for bravery or courage. Using a slang reference to testicles strongly implies that courage is primarily a characteristic of males.

I’m reminded of a story I read years ago in MS Magazine. It seems Norman Mailer was heard to remark: “In order to be a good writer you have to have balls.”

A feminist reporter asked, “And in what color of ink do you dip them, Norman?”

“Fuck” is the other ubiquitous crude term that I find offensive. An old English word, referring to sexual intercourse, fuck literally means to take unfair advantage of, i.e., rape.

In an election year when party leaders and the media have clearly demonstrated that sexism is alive and well in America, it’s not surprising that the vulgar language of male superiority and related issues of violence against women continues to dominate the national discourse.

It’s been said before in Campaign 2008, but I’ll say it again: America, we can do better.