Monday, February 13, 2012
Media Alleged Rape Victims Aren't Sex Addicts
Posted by Henry Stewart on Mon, Feb 13, 2012 at 11:27 AM
The Post sounds almost bemused in its follow-up story about the reaction to its decision to name, photograph, and belittle the woman who accused Greg Kelly of rape. "[She] is not a victim of a sex crime," Post Editor-in-Chief Col Allan told his own paper. "The Post only identified her after the district attorney made this determination." (Or, after Mr. Allan determined that that's what the district attorney had determined.) Well, New York Post, here are just five examples from a single article of why critics—aka "social network aficionados"—are disgusted by you. I'm not linking to the article, by the way.
1. The headline? "Kelly Accuser Steps Out with Boyfriend."
Get the play on words here? The accuser and her boyfriend took their dog for a walk, so they "stepped out" together. But "stepping out" is also old slang for infidelity! Because the paper thinks she's not a rape victim, but promiscuous. Just how promiscuous? (see below)
2. Those who accuse others of rape aren't sex addicts.
Why is the first "related story" when I read the article a link to a business story about the box office for the movie Shame? Because she, like the hero of that film, is a sex addict? Or is it to imply that this woman's motivation all along, as so many of your commenters believe, was a payday—and now her "shame" might not "pay off financially"? Either way (or any way), even your link-recommendation system is a dick.
3. "According to investigators, [the accuser] was not a victim of rape, and could not even remember having sex with Kelly."
Actually, the second clause of that statement could easily reject the first. You should learn what rape is! You know, if you're going to write articles about it.
4. "On the tape, she appeared to walk without any signs of being drunk."
Could you also shed some light on her interior emotional state? Was she recalling fondly her first day at that office, and how the doors that once seemed so scary and exciting have now become a banal part of her everyday experience? C'mon, tell us what's on the tape!
5. "Sources have said that [the accuser] became smitten with Kelly after a chance meeting on the street..."
"Smitten"? Really? Hmm, well, it's slightly less terrible than the time the Post noted how handsome that pedophile was.
I do have to give this article one tiny bit of credit, though: it's the only one in the Post I've read since this story began that acknowledged Fox 5 and the paper share the same owner.
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