-- Download JRfm Promotes Rape Culture, Sigh as PDF --
A male person didn’t run up to CBC-tv’s Megan Batchelor on air in Squamish and shout, “Fuck Her Right in the Pussy.”
Maybe he knows people can get fired for that.
Instead he was maybe trying to be “nice” by trying to kiss her. She complained to the RCMP.
If I went into a car dealership and kissed a woman or man on the cheek, out of the blue, I think the business would support their sexually violated employee. That makes sense.
If I went into a Starbucks and tried to kiss a male or female employee. Same thing. If I tried to grope their genitals, same thing. If I tried to do it to a man or a woman on the sidewalk? Same thing.
Should I toss out, in my defence, that hey…the victim should be flattered that I found them attractive. Or, hey…they’re in a public place, so they’re fair game. Or hey…it’s not like I raped them, so a milder, less intrusive form of sexual assault is less bad, so shut up.
So while the media has been reporting this latest attempt to violate female reporters trapped and vulnerable by being in a live TV broadcast, JRfm has stooped very very low by framing the issue to illicit responses that perpetuate rape culture:
A CBC TV reporter is filing a formal complaint to the RCMP about a young man who attempted to give her a kiss on the cheek while reporting live.
Do you think the young man deserves a criminal record for this? Or do you think she is justified and it was completely inappropriate.
- Start by implying that this act occurred because dude was “young” so hey, cut him some slack. He’s young. So he’s not threatening. Or he’s an innocent.
- Ask a rhetorical question that implies that he doesn’t deserve a criminal record for this youthful dalliance.
- Suggest that the reporter is not justified in complaining to the police.
- Add an adverb to “inappropriate” to suggest that the act was maybe not entirely, completely inappropriate, like just a little bit bad.
- Wait for your JRfm loyal followers to explicitly do the rest of the work in perpetuating rape culture.
So if you want a sickly living textbook example of the kinds of rape culture justification floating around out there, there are right now 105 comments on the JRfm Facebook post, the majority of which are sick and wrong. Those who try to call out rape culture are, of course, attacked.
And of course, many of the rape culture apologists are women. And the majority of responders are woman, actually.
Then when you swing by JRfm’s website for their elaborated story, they get far more explicit excusing this sexual assault:
She was reporting live from The Squamish Valley Music Festival, when a young man tried to sneak in the shot and give her a kiss on the cheek. He missed, but the attempt was there. What some viewers may have taken as a light-hearted joke, Batchelor is now following up with the RCMP to file a formal complaint against the young man.
Do you think he deserves a criminal record for life because of this? Did it seem like a harmless joke to you? Or do you think it was too inappropriate for TV?
- There’s “young” again.
- The fact that he missed is supposed to excuse his attempt.
- Let’s introduce “light-hearted joke” as a way of framing this.
- Criminal records are FOR LIFE, don’t you know!
- And let’s suggest “harmless” as a frame too, despite the fact that maybe the reporter should be the one to define harm.
In the end, JRfm has set up a special moment to perpetuate rape culture and set back the value of promoting consent to the mass public.
More from my site
April 30, 2015 Budweiser Stops Pandering to Rapists?
October 14, 2016 The War on Women…Which Side Are You On?
March 24, 2016 Ghomeshi and Canada’s New Criminal Code
August 28, 2014 When Shaming Survivors is Not Enough: Police-State Motives Behind Sexual Assault Transit Ads
June 11, 2014 Slut Shaming, And Other Idiocy
March 5, 2014 The Pandemic of Rape Culture
Stephen Elliott-Buckley
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Oh, and I just don’t have time to go into this whole other angle:
MALE ENTITLEMENT AND THE WOMEN WHO CONDONE/ENCOURAGE IT!
Maybe some other time.
Looks like JRFM has Roosh V envy…