Think about it. What if instead of going to murder mystery parties, we went to rape mystery parties? What if the board game Clue was centered around rape instead of murder? What if instead of first-person shooter video games, we had first-person rapist video games? Imagine if people jokingly said "just rape me now" or "I'm gonna rape that guy!" It's disturbing, right? But if you substitute "rape" with "kill", then these phrases turn into completely innocuous idioms. It's very strange, and I'm not sure what the explanation is. Is it a sex-versus-violence thing? I don't know. And I don't have a point other than it's weird.
[It was the entitled rich kid, in the frat house, with the roofie.]
Anyway, one man who isn't afraid to joke about rape is comedian Hannibal Burress. I'm sure you've heard all about him and the whole Bill Cosby thing. As many people have pointed out, it's pretty strange and sad that it takes a viral video for people to care about something. Allegations against Cosby go back years and nobody really cared. By 2006, there were at least four women who came out against Cosby, all telling the same basic story. That was eight years ago. Since then Cosby has received numerous awards and honorary degrees, and he had a network TV deal in the works until just a few days ago. But only now is he being raked over the coals because there is video of a comedian joking about him? Like I said, it's strange and sad. It reminds me a little bit of the Ray Rice ordeal in that people didn't become truly outraged until after the punching video went public, even though everybody saw the aftermath, and he admitted it.
Cosby, for his part, is certainly not admitting anything. He's not even talking about anything, which, let's be honest, probably means there is something there. Yeah, yeah, I know, it's innocent until proven guilty, but my mind is not a court of law. This isn't a he-said-she-said type of thing; this is a she-said-she-said-she-said-she-said-she-said-she-said-she-said-she-said-she-said-she-said-she-said-she-said-she-said-she-said-she-said type of thing. The number of Cosby accusers is now up to 15 (probably more since I posted this; it's a rolling number, like that giant nation debt counter). 15! And he's not saying anything about it? If one woman accuses you of sexually assaulting her, you can claim the high road and stay silent -- but 15? You kinda gotta defend yourself then, right? You gotta do the talk show circuit proclaiming your innocence, and explaining why all these women are speaking out against you. I mean, 15 is a pretty damning number when it comes to sexual assault accusers. As Eugene Robinson (the journalist, not ex-Seahawks safety) put it in this article:
It is possible that all the women who accuse Cosby of sexual predation are lying, in the sense that anything not prohibited by the laws of physics is possible. But it doesn’t seem very likely.
Exactly. I mean, I hate as much as anybody the thought that Cliff Huxtable is a rapist. But I also hate the thought that I'm going bald, and this doesn't mean I will wake up tomorrow with a full head of hair.
Alright, that's all I got. Relatively short entry this week. I'm tired, and I don't have anything else to say about rape right now. If you want more, you can read this article about the prevalence of sexual assault on the University of Virginia campus. It's pretty horrifying. We definitely need to do a better job teaching our sons not to rape -- it sounds silly to say it this way, but it's true. When Lil' S is old enough to understand such things I'm going to teach him a general rule of consent that I once heard somebody whose name I can't remember say (sing, actually) on the Dan Savage podcast: If it feels a little bit rape-y just don't do it.
Until next time...
No comments:
Post a Comment