On Steubenville and ‘ruining promising lives’

From Glosswatch.

‘It was incredibly emotional — incredibly difficult even for an outlander want me to watch what happened as these two young workforce that had such hopeful futures, star football players, very impregnable students, literally watched as they believe their life fell apart.’ CNN reporter Poppy Harlow on witnessing the Steubenville verdict.

Like most women, I live in fear of dilapidation undimmed lives. The trouble is, it’s so casual to do. We can even do it in our sleep. It doesn’t military issue what we wear, where we go, whom we’re with, whether we’re drunk or sober – either one of us could end up ruining a promising life. It could even be the life of a booster amplifier or partner (obviously rough lives are less promising than former(a)s, but as women we don’t get to choose).

In the olden, pre-Steubenville days, ruining promising lives used to be kn make as existence a rape survivor who secured a conviction. Nowadays we’ve locomote beyond such euphemistic language. We know that going to prison is naughty. Indeed, people convicted of rape might construct to experience their lives travel apart! That’s non very nice, is it? Especially if they’re young and good at stuff (stuff other than macrocosm woman-hating rapists).

The thing is though – and I don’t fate to sound all perpetrator-blaming – I do think some men ask to have their promising lives ruined. They should take precautions, like not raping, for instance. It’s like how you don’t go out of the house and leave your door unlocked objet d'art waving an iPhone about … Actually, it’s nothing like that (I detention forgetting that’s the world’s shittest analogy). It’s like, say, how you don’t go out murdering people for all random conclude you can think of (they’re annoying, they’re unconscious, they’ve definitely been direct you “please murder me” eye signals). Like that, only with rape. Oh, and the other thing is, “people” includes women – it’s important to remember that bit. go in’t rape people – and people includes women (who might to a fault have promising lives themselves).

Do I, as a woman, feel bad about all the promising lives ruined? To be honest, not particularly. I think it takes courage to ruin a promising life, particularly when you’re operating within a socialisation that’s weighted in favour of all those rapists who have such promising lives ahead of them. I have commodious admiration for the Steubenville survivor and hope she is aware that the world is uncomplete her small town nor CNN. I hope she has a bang-up life, a life far more promising than any that can be lived by so-called heroes who lack staple fibre empathy and humanity. I hope she never feels her life is ruined; should we truly care if those who attacked her currently feel that way about their own?

Glosswitch is a feminist mother of two who blogs at Glosswatch.

 

Materials taken from Womens Views on News