By now you’ve undoubtedly heard about the guilty verdict in Steubenville. You can read any variety of news coverage of the trial, so I am not going to post articles about the proceedings here (although kudos to the Ohio Alliance to End Sexual Violence and NSVRC for their excellent daily recaps [1.2.3.4 and their commentary on the verdict]). What I would like to post is some of the stuff I’ve been reading about the broader messages from Steubenville, since last we spoke:
There have been some really thoughtful pieces looking at the issues raised by the Steubenville case. While these aren’t exhaustive, they are a good smattering of what’s been published that I think are worth your time:
Beyond Steubenville, rape case inspires action, angst among victims (+video) (Christian Science Monitor)
Steubenville Rape Trial Descends into the Slut-Slamming Hell Realm: Lessons in Toxic Masculinity (Sky Dancing)
What Is a “Macho” Man? (The Joyful Heart Foundation)
Rape investigations ‘undermined by belief that false accusations are rife’ (The Guardian)
Steubenville: We’re Sick and Tired of Rape Being Treated Like an Unavoidable Joke (Huffington Post)
Steubenville and Challenging Rape Culture in Sports (The Nation)
Reflections from Steubenville: The role of social media in prevention (NSVRC)
Beyond Steubenville: Tools for Engaged Bystanders (NSVRC)
Toxic Masculinity (The American Prospect)
Of course, these messages have been lost on some, and following the verdict there have been predictable responses from those buying into just about every imaginable rape myth out there:
Public Shaming (read with caution—it’s appalling)
*really just go to Twitter and search the hashtag #Steubenville or read the comment thread on any article about the verdict to expose yourself to more of this awfulness if you choose.
And then there’s this (click on the image to enlarge):
(H/T to @Wolfe321)
CNN has deservedly received an enormous amount of criticism for their coverage of the verdict (ad: see also here and here). Apparently The Onion foresaw just this sort of thing in 2011 [sigh]: