None of us posted on this terrible story last week, but I’m sure many of you have heard or read about it: A teenage girl was brutally gang-raped for two hours after a school dance in Richmond, CA, as up to 20 bystanders laughed, cheered and shot video of the attack. Some jumped in to participate. She was flown to the hospital after another girl called police, and is now recovering.
Richmond High School is accepting cards and donations for the victim. They can be mailed to the school at 1250 23rd St., Richmond, CA 94804. Make checks out to the Richmond High Student Fund, with “For sex assault victim” written in the memo line.
“How could this happen?” so many people have asked. I’m surprised everyone is so surprised. You are what you eat, and we’re feeding on a steady diet of eroticized violence against women.
Depictions of women being raped, tortured, and murdered are staples of our entrainment industry.
Porn entices viewers by advertising “[x] her ’til she [expresses distress]!!!”
Rape “is the new black on the comedy circuit.”
Ghosts and goblins have been replaced by gang-rapists and vaginal mutilation.
Our boys get a thrill out of killing prostitutes in video games.
Brutalized women are sexed-up on America’s Next Top Model.
This wasn’t the bystander effect in action. It was rape-as-entertainment. And it’s totally predictable.
One of the things that makes me the MOST angry about the coverage of this tragedy is phrasing like this: “While semiconscious, she fell victim to rape”
No.
She did not.
The boys and men present on the scene raped HER.
Putting the crime in passive voice keeps the focus on the victim – why was she in that field? Why did she go with that boy? – instead of on the perpetrators, not one of whom stepped up to stop the rest.
SarahMC, I think this is the first time I’ve seen this even framed this way. Thanks for pointing out what’s really going on.
Yes, the shock that everyone is expressing over this has been exasperating me for this exact freaking reason! It gets me so angry. IF (and that’s a BIG if) you are paying attention, this is not surprising at all. The problem is, no one pays any attention. People walk around in a haze, subconsciously taking all this sexual violence in without processing it. At least that’s how I feel – whenever I point out certain things like the items you linked to above to my non-feminist friends/family, they act surprised, like they looked at it that way before. ?!?!
ETA: “like they never* looked at it that way before.”
Exactly. Which brings us to the two most annoying expla-justifications that crop up on every post about the crime:
1. How could so many psychotic monsters converge on one spot on this good Earth at once?!?!?! What are the odds??!!, and
2. I’ve studied this thing where when you think somebody else is calling the cops you don’t do it yourself, it’s called psychology.
No, these men are not aberrant monsters, they’re completely predictable products of our rape culture. No, it’s not the emmereffing bystander effect when you’re laughing and taking pictures and lining up for your turn. Shut up, internet. Shut. The Fuck. Up.
That case makes me so sad and angry and ill that I can barely think straight.
Thanks for talking about this.
Unfortunately, I’m not shocked by this story, but I am sickened. I want to scream at everyone that THIS is what happens when you passively condone, support, and participate in a culture that views women as toys for others. I want everyone to be screaming about each and every woman who is violated.
I’m also pissed off that several of the articles I’ve read mention that this young woman was a churchgoer. Because while I commend her religious observance, does it make her MORE worthy of our outrage, than if she didn’t go to church? (i.e. if she was a “bad girl” she would have deserved to be abused?)
Blurgh.
Nothing like this ever surprises me, actually, because I’ve cultivated enough cynicism to prevent the pain of having to re-realize how much hell actually is other people every time it happens (too often). What does surprise me is how often other people are totally shocked — humans are so good at recognizing patterns except when we deliberately stop ourselves for bullshit reasons.
Are the collaborators-sorry, spectators-being charged?
I hope the victim sues each and every one of them for everything they’ve got. Not that that makes up for the trauma she will now have to live with for the rest of her life.
The backlash continues.
what upsets me the most, is that this type of thing happens to women all over the world every day.
the porn culture just makes it seem like all girls want it, no matter how you give it to them. kids are constantly being force fed sexuality, and the internet gives anyone instant access to women being treated in terrible ways. porn is main stream and celebrated now..
it’s all very sad, and i don’t know if it is a trend that can be reversed
This is our porn/rape culture and I agree with everyone else, not a surprise. Disgusting but unsurprising.
I felt the same way when I heard about this. When something like this is what people in our culture routinely watch on film for entertainment, this horrific event just seems like a “live show.”
As a rape survivor, I can truthfully say that a “rape culture” is what is ‘happening’ through the whole f*cking World. Anyone who is “surprised” is not AWAKE.
I heard about this story and was HORRIFIED. My Mother has seven sisters. Of the seven, three were raped.
As for “No, these men are not aberrant monsters, they’re completely predictable products of our rape culture.” – we were talking about that in my Psych class the other day – how many people who commit group-based crimes have nothing wrong with them in terms of psychological disorders. It’s all about group mentality and what is endorsed by the media. Creepy.
Some news site had a comments section, which is always bad news, but I made the mistake of reading a few comments because I guess I have some masochistic tendencies or something. Right off the bat, naturally, some idiot poses the “serious question” (his words) if this might have been a case of (wait for it) “regretted sex.” His whole argument centered on the fact that the victim had been drinking. That comment’s been making me grind my teeth for days. If even in a case where the victim’s left bleeding to death under a park bench and has to be flown to an ICU to be sewn back together idiots will leap at the “regretted sex” canard, WTF ever actually qualifies as rape then?
I am so angry about the event in my community (I live in Richmond) that I am hardy coherent.
Calling this the bystander effect is just an extension of a rape culture that seeks constantly to erode the level of responsibility of individuals for their own criminal behavior.
Remember, to be guilty of rape a man does not have to actually threaten physical force, his ability to physically overpower is enough. It is lack of consent that constitutes rape.
That young woman had every reason to believe the male onlookers would take their turn with her, or aid in preventing her escape. Therefore, their presence facilitated the crime, whether they touched her or not.
So how are the not guilty of conspiracy to commit the crimes committed that night? I believe the “bystanders” inaction was criminal and should be pursued as such.
Hello. I don’t think I’ve posted on here before, I really like the site.
Now, could someone please explain to me why these “people” haven’t gotten javelins twisted into their cocks? I don’t understand how humins could be so evil… Even “evil” doesn’t seem strong enough.
What would you do in a situation like that? Call the cops? Run in and get her somewhere safe? Kick some ass? Not saying you should do nothing, but I’m wondering if maybe some of the people there were scared. If there were girls there, I can imagine they would be.
My thoughts are with you, anonymous victim. I hope you find the comfort, peace, and support you deserve.