About that Duke lacrosse thing
April 13, 2007
Guest post by Jill Filipovic; first appeared on Feministe.
Unless you've spent the past 48 hours hiding under a rock, you've probably heard the news that prosecutors have dropped charges against the three Duke lacrosse players accused of sexually assaulting a stripper. The backlash has been stunning: The woman's face as plastered across the cover of the New York Post yesterday along with the words THE DUKE LIAR, and The Smoking Gun has posted her personal information. I'm not linking to either.
The overwhelming response, from liberals and conservatives alike (but mostly conservatives), has been to brand the accuser a liar. I've already had to delete a series of "gotcha!" comments from the moderation queue. Anti-feminists in particular are overjoyed with the players' exoneration -- not because they particularly care about justice, but because they think this is a good way to stick it to the feminists who support rape survivors, sometimes to the detriment of white men. These are the same people who regularly lectured us not to jump to conclusions, and to wait until the "boys" had their day in court.
Last I checked, the woman has not...
Unless you've spent the past 48 hours hiding under a rock, you've probably heard the news that prosecutors have dropped charges against the three Duke lacrosse players accused of sexually assaulting a stripper. The backlash has been stunning: The woman's face as plastered across the cover of the New York Post yesterday along with the words THE DUKE LIAR, and The Smoking Gun has posted her personal information. I'm not linking to either.
The overwhelming response, from liberals and conservatives alike (but mostly conservatives), has been to brand the accuser a liar. I've already had to delete a series of "gotcha!" comments from the moderation queue. Anti-feminists in particular are overjoyed with the players' exoneration -- not because they particularly care about justice, but because they think this is a good way to stick it to the feminists who support rape survivors, sometimes to the detriment of white men. These are the same people who regularly lectured us not to jump to conclusions, and to wait until the "boys" had their day in court.
Last I checked, the woman has not...
