This week I had my eureka moment while watching the news. I heard the story about the little 11 yr. old girl who was sexually assaulted in Philadelphia. i heard the story on the news and thought about Chapter 11 in our text and how it referenced to Gender and Violence.
I believe the little girl was walking and the guy came up to her and told her he had a gun and took her to an isolated place where her proceeded to sexually assault her. When he saw her he knew that it would be a matter of Power, which he had over and used to his advantage since he was bigger than she was and older. Of the six types of gendered violence described in our text I think that this is an example of both Gender Intimidation (pg. 285) and Sexual Assault (pg. 286).
This story is an example of Gender Intimidation because when he approached her he made her feel frightened and unsafe. Prior to and when the sexual assault occurred she may have felt inferior to him because of the fact that she is just a little girl who didn't stand a chance at fighting back. Afterward, the little girl, as even older women do, will feel humiliated and sometimes place the blame on themselves.
I think it is also an example of Sexual Assault because it was a rape which is "one type of sexual assault". It included a "sexual activity that occurs without the informed consent of at least one of the people involved."
When I read Chapter 12, I couldn't believe that it said according to a legal definition, "a man or woman who is forced to have sex with another man has not been raped". To me that doesn't make any sense or is coming from someone who has never been sexually assaulted or has a family member that has been through this ordeal. I think anytime someone is forced to engage in or commit a sexual activity that they do not want to do or are not aware of, like when intoxicated, should be considered rape.
Week # 6 Good bye for now....
14 years ago
Illia, the best part about this story was when residents of the neighborhood sought out and caught the alleged rapist, beat the living crap out of him and held him there for the police to arrive. The rape itself was sickening and we hear it all too often and a sometimes the poor child even ends up dead. When my daughters were around 10 and 11, I used to actually cry when I would hear a story like this and try to imagine what my beautiful little innocent girls would endure if it happened to them (I am getting choked up just writing this). I am a firm believer that if found guilty, this sick individual should be castrated as part of his sentencing. Although I know there are times, just as with serial killers, there exists serious psychological problems with these individuals, I do believe that society’s attitude towards women and this screwed up perception of men that they have the right to “take” sex from women is at the root of the problem. I was an undergraduate at Rider, living on campus, from 1979 – 1984 and date rape was one of those dirty little secrets on campus. I only wanted to be with women who wanted to be with me. I believed then just as I do now – that NO means NO – and it doesn’t matter how far it has gone before NO is said! I could never understand why any man would force himself on a woman (including a wife) or take advantage of a girl incapable of making that decision. As you put it and I agree - Rape is Rape.
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