And here we have it, folks. Yet another anti-choice rape apologist who is attempting to rip open people's wounds. Guess what? I'm not going to let it work.
Not to say that I'm surprised. You shouldn't be either. It's just your average, every day, act of anti-choice misogyny.
Yes, I'm going to call you out when you imply that a pregnant 11 year old girl wasn't really raped. You know what you did. Yes, those quotation marks make a big difference. You know what that FOX article was trying to say, and you're going to shamelessly support it. I will call you out on your BS.
In case my readers are confused, this whole argument was a result of justsnapd8 tweeting this article.
Forget all of the crap in the actual article. I'm still at awe with the title. A 'rape' victim? Yeah, that poor girl was a 'rape' victim. She was 'assaulted'. 'Violated'.
I KNOW I can't be the only one that sees a problem with those sarcastic quotation marks.
Saturday, April 24, 2010
19 comments:
***PLEASE READ***
Due to constant spam and derailing coming from a few antis, I am now making this blog a "safe place". This does not mean that I won't allow opposing views. It means that I'm not longer going to allow hateful or unrelated/spammy comments. This will continue on until the anti-choice spammers get bored with harassing me and the people who post here, and is especially relevant when it comes to the topic of rape. I hope this doesn't deter any respectful people from commenting. :)
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You are so strong for not only enduring what happened to you but also by not being afraid to stand up for yourself. I admire you so much!
ReplyDeleteThanks for that, Brenda! You're sweet :) ♥
ReplyDeleteI'm going to avoid commenting on your discussion in general.
ReplyDeleteI do want to say that I think saying 'rape' is inappropriate, cruel, and wrong. When I first saw that @justsnapd8 had tweeted that, I sent an angry tweet to her. However, I followed the link and saw that FOX had originally put the word rape in quotes, and she had just copied that. So I deleted my tweet (and apologized to her this morning).
We definitely should call out FOX for putting the word in quotes. And while I think justsnapd8 should have taken the quotes away, I don't think she meant any harm by copying the title exactly the way FOX wrote it. Not everyone is aware of how their words can convey a message they weren't even thinking about.
I'm aware that she was copying the name of the title. That doesn't make it better. Thinking up of hateful things to say all by yourself and promoting the hateful things that other people say are both equally as horrible. It's one thing to post a tweet like that without realizing what you've done. It's another thing to go on to defend your hatred. She was/is promoting rape culture, and by doing so, she is promoting rape. Rape will never end when we have a rape culture, and I will never, ever excuse her for promoting that rape culture.
ReplyDeleteI refrained from commenting on any tweet beyond just the first one because of that reason ("it's another thing to go on to defend your hatred"). If a person does more beyond copy & pasting something without thinking about it, then definitely call them out. I was just saying, I don't think justsnapd8 should be faulted for the original tweet- FOX should.
ReplyDeletePCG,
ReplyDeleteAlthough you and I are on different sides regarding abortion, I am behind you 100% regarding this terrible, terrible headline.
No excuse and the person(s)who OK'd this headline should be severely reprimanded. I am behind you calling FOX out on this!
Let us know what you find out.
Veronica
Hi, Veronica. Speaking of calling FOX out, does anyone have any idea which email address I'd use to contact them about this? http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,77538,00.html I found that list, but I'm not sure which one I should use...
ReplyDeleteIt amazes me (not in a good way) that someone can say that about ANY rape victim, let alone an eleven year old. I tried Google-ing the author, Jana Winter's, email address but haven't found anything yet :(
ReplyDeleteI'd like to know how it's anyone's business what the girl wants to do with her pregnancy. Would FOX have written an article titled "11-year-old Mexican 'Rape' Victim Wants to Have an Abortion?" The only people who should be around this kid are her family and medical professionals.
ReplyDeleteI think it's odd that there's no "contact" or "e-mail" button to send a message to the author. Most online news articles I've read have them, so that the author can get feedback or additional information. I suppose you could use yourcomments@foxnews.com. They have a phone number on the page too.
I totally agree. She's 11 years old and pregnant. We may not know yet 100% who raped her but she was definitely a rape victim.
ReplyDeleteThe media has a really bad habit of trying to lessen the severity of rape and the result is that a majority of the population also believes that it's not a big deal.
I just read justsnapd8's blog. That person is a grade-A 100% piece of dog shit. I want to comment over there, but it probably isn't worth it. That asshole will never learn.
ReplyDeleteThe whole questioning of rape in that title makes me angry. If abortion was 'never an option', it's only because the girl has been brainwashed to believe that's the case (due to patriarchal religious beliefs or whatever).
ReplyDeleteThis girl could very well die giving birth to her rapist's child. She'll almost certainly suffer major physical complications that will have long-standing debilitating effects. And she will most probably NEVER be able to recover psychologically if she goes through with this pregnancy. As it is, she's in no place to make a free, rational, unaffected adult decision about the impact on her life. Once she's given birth (if she should survive), it will be too late.
But FOX made her sound so happy!
ReplyDeleteNobody here is in a position to draw conclusions about her mental or physical condition. However, I agree that it is difficult to make a truly free decision when one has no options. It's very easy to say "abortion was never on the table" when that option doesn't exist where she lives. The same probably doesn't go for 11-year-olds, but most women have a pretty good idea what they would do if faced with an unplanned pregnancy under whatever circumstances. If a woman has no access to an affordable and safe abortion, she has no choice but to go through with the pregnancy and hope for the best. It's called oppression.
That is just terrible... :-(
ReplyDeleteI could be wrong, but from what I'm reading on other sites (like CNN), they say that the girl was allegedly raped by her stepfather. Maybe Fox had to put the rape in quotations since he has not been convicted and it has not been proven 100% that the baby is her stepfathers. Because there are girls that young that do have sex with partners and end up pregnant. However, it would have been a better if they had written alleged raped victim instead of using quotations around rape. Poor judgement on someones part for sure.
My other problem with the story is:
"But Quintana Roo state legislator Maria Hadad said the girl's doctors aren't telling the whole story. She said continuing the pregnancy could cause severe mental and physical health problems for the girl."
Having an abortion could also cause severe mental and emotional problems for the girl for years to come. I have two friends that were 13 and 15 when they had abortions. One did it in secret and the other did it because her parents made her. Both struggle emotionally still to this day (at age 29 and 30)with their abortions.
Obviously this child is a minor and the mother surely had influence on the decision they made. If it's not one you agree with, then when you cross that road with your child you can choose another way. Being pro-choice means respecting everyone's choice regarding their pregnancy. If she was having an abortion then all the pro-life people would be screaming about how the mother was forcing her daughter to abort. It's not up to us judge or decide..
Either way, this girl has been through A LOT for such a young age and will most likely suffer from some sort of trauma from this whole ordeal. And the media focusing on her choosing not to abort isn't helping. I agree that the choice to abort or not abort should be a PERSONAL matter between her family and her- NOT for anyone to debate or judge.
The REAL focus should be on if the step father raped her or not. Where is the debate on MEN raping WOMEN and/or CHILDREN??? THAT should be what people are crying foul about. Focus Media!!
Allison
"THAT should be what people are crying foul about. Focus Media!!"
ReplyDeleteMy sentiments exactly.
Vanessa
"Maybe Fox had to put the rape in quotations since he has not been convicted and it has not been proven 100% that the baby is her stepfathers. Because there are girls that young that do have sex with partners and end up pregnant."
ReplyDeleteThere is absolutely no doubt that she was raped, Allison. You can't become pregnant at age 11 and not have been raped. Even if she said "Yes, I want to have sex!" it still would have been rape. She was 10 when she was raped. There's no way that a 10 year old can consent to sex.
Can you imagine the headlines "11-Year-Old Mexican 'Murder' Victim..." or "11-Year-Old Mexican 'Mugging' Victim..." ever coming into play? I can't, and here's why:
ReplyDeleteEven in cases where a conviction has yet to be secured and all the facts of the crime are still technically "alleged," there's not really a pervasive atmosphere of suspicion directed toward victims of homicide or mugging. Society as a whole doesn't tend to assume that a homicide that looks like a homicide may have actually been a suicide, or that a mugging that looks like a mugging could actually have been a set-up.
Rape, on the other hand, is pretty much always assumed to be a "he-said vs. she-said" situation wherein anything could have *actually* happened and anyone could be the *actual* victim - regardless of the evidence. The victim's credibility is virtually always the target of suspicion - even, apparently, when the victim happens to be a PREGNANT 11-YEAR-OLD CHILD.
Using the term "alleged" is to protect the suspect of the crime. The stepfather is the alleged rapist, and I don't think anyone would suggest that using that term is offensive. We live in a society where someone is innocent until proven guilty, and it would be irresponsible to label anyone as a criminal without sufficient evidence of their culpability.
ReplyDeleteHowever, "alleged" should NEVER be used to describe the victim of a crime. When someone is a victim of a crime, there is evidence that a crime was committed. My family and I were victims of burglary about a year ago, and the proof of that crime was my mother's purse being stolen from our house. The fact that the burglar was never caught (to my knowledge) doesn't mean nothing was stolen from our house. The proof that this girl was raped is the fact that she is 11 years old and pregnant. A 10-year-old cannot consent to sex, either with an adult or someone her own age. That's probably why the girl is in the custody of the government instead of her mother's care. I wonder if the mother will face any neglect charges for allowing the abuse to take place.
I agree with ProChoiceGal and FEMIly that this girl was, without question, raped. She is below the age of legal consent. Any 11-yr.old having sex is being raped, even if she insists it is consensual. She is still a child.
ReplyDeleteShame on FOX for questioning the integrity of this child. She is a victim.