She Didn’t Ask For It–Part II

Gang Rape of an 11-Year-Old Girl

Today I stumbled on a 14-month old story from The New York Times online which tells the story of  a middle school girl in Cleveland, TX, who had been gang raped by as many as 18 assailants.  The accused rapists range in age from “middle schoolers to a 27-year-old” (sic).  Some of the suspects were high school athletes; others had previous criminal records–including one suspect who had been convicted of manslaughter.

Yet the article didn’t focus on how the tragedy affected this young girl.  Instead, it focused on how the town, and even the suspects themselves, were affected by the news of the rape charges:

The case has rocked this East Texas community to its core and left many residents…with unanswered questions. Among them is, if the allegations are proved, how could their young men have been drawn into such an act?…

…The arrests have left many wondering who will be taken into custody next. 

How could their young men have been drawn into such an act?  Times reporter James McKinley almost makes it sound as if the suspects are the true victims here, relieving them of culpability by hinting that they were seduced into raping an 11-year-old child.

McKinley goes on to quote residents who worry about their town’s reputation, residents who point out that the victim dressed older than her age, wore make up, and was known to “hang out with teen aged boys at a playground.”  Throughout the entire article, the only references to the girl’s plight is use of the lurid phrase “Vicious Assault” in the headline, and a factual recounting of the details from the arrest afidavits.

This type of victim blaming is appalling, but it is especially shocking to me that it is coming from a reputable source like The New York Times.

She didn’t ask for it

The word “Lolita” instantly brings to mind an image for most people.  That image may vary slightly from person to person, but generally the image conjured is that of a young girl who is sexually provocative and experienced.  Even Mirriam-Webster defines a Lolita as “a precociously seductive girl.”

Jeremy Irons as Humbert Humbert and 15-year-old Dominique Swain as Lolita in the 1997 film

I have been aware of Lolita’s beginnings as the character in the often banned novel written by Vladimir Nabokov.  Having never read the book, however, it surprised me in this week’s reading assignment to learn the truth: the literary character was not the experienced seductress that we tend to envision.  She was a 12 year old child, and the victim of rape (Sweeney, 49).

How did this happen?  How did the character regress from a victim to the scapegoat for obsessive fantasies?  And what happened to the Humbert Humbert character in the transition?  Did he evolve from a rapist to a sympathetic character?  Has he become a figure to whom men are now meant to relate, a sort of “every man” character to be pitied for being tempted beyond his control by the whore at home?  Poor old Humbert.

Nabokov’s title character didn’t encourage the advances of her lascivious step-father, but somehow that is how the child is remembered, and how she is iconified in popular culture.  And society accepts that.

Jodie Foster with her Best Actress Oscar in 1989

It shouldn’t surprise me too much, I guess.  Nearly 30 years after Nabokov’s book was published, Cheryl Araujo was gang raped in a bar in New Bedford, Massachusetts, allegedly while a group of onlookers cheered and coaxed the rapists on.  You might not recognize Cheryl’s name, but her case was the inspiration for the 1988 movie The Accused.  The movie, which earned actress Jodie Foster her first Oscar and propelled her to Hollywood’s A-list, heralded a landmark movement in which women’s rights activists sought to end the accepted practice of “blaming the victim” in rape cases.

“You sold me out” link to a pivotal scene from The Accused, starring Jodie Foster.

2012

We still have not eliminated this cycle of blame, of protesting, “She asked for it!” when a woman is raped.  According to an article published just today in the Massachusetts Daily Collegian, “Women are perceived by society as ‘asking for it,’ because, ‘if she dresses hot, how are you supposed to control yourself?’ according to [former prosecutor] Munch.”  The article further claims that 88% of the men charged with rape deny any wrong doing, insisting that their victims were willing participants.

Given these judgments, it’s no wonder that, more than 50 years after Nabokov’s book Lolita was published, society is still blaming the victim.

SOURCES:

The Accused Movie Clip 2/9: You Sold Me Out. 07 Oct 2011. Web. 01 Mar 2012 < http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sEXIC0OaQSU&feature=fvst >.

Corcoran, Brianna. Former Prosecutor Presents Lecture on Sexual Assault. The Massachusetts Daily Collegian. Web. 01 Mar 2012, < http://dailycollegian.com/2012/03/01/former-prosecutor-presents-lecture-on-sexual-assault/>.

Lolita (1997). Virualhistory.com. Web. 01 Mar 2012, < http://www.virtual-history.com/movie/image/3603 >.

Lolita. Merriam-Webster.com. 2012. Web. 01 Mar 2012, < http://mw4.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/lolita >.

Parker, Paul Edward. “Juries Hear Big Dan’s Rape Case.” The Providence Journal Company, 01 Nov 1999. Web. 01 Mar 2012, < http://cache.projo.com/specials/century/month10/mass7.htm

Sweeney, Kathleen. Maiden USA: Girl Icons Come of Age. New York: Peter Lang Publishing, 2007. Print.