...WTF.

[crazyfurries]

Originally posted by lavenderfrost at ...WTF.

Well, there goes my good mood for the day.

NYTimes, the bastion of quality reporting, reported on the gang-rape of an 11 year-old girl in Texas  that's led to charges against 18 high-school boys so far - all well and good so far, right?  Shit like this NEEDS publicity to raise awareness. 

Only problem is, they repeated - without refutation or critical commentary - the claims that the girl brought the rape on herself because of the way she was dressed.

Choice Quotes (No cut b/c everyone needs to see this - DEAL.):

“It’s just destroyed our community,” said Sheila Harrison, 48, a hospital worker who says she knows several of the defendants. “These boys have to live with this the rest of their lives.”  As opposed to the victim, who's gonna bounce back lickety-fucking-split, right?

Residents in the neighborhood where the abandoned trailer stands — known as the Quarters — said the victim had been visiting various friends there for months. They said she dressed older than her age, wearing makeup and fashions more appropriate to a woman in her 20s. She would hang out with teenage boys at a playground, some said.  TOTALLY BEGGING FOR IT.

THIS IS RAPE CULTURE, PEOPLE.

Now, what's being said and done in this community is bad enough, but the NY Times should be fucking ashamed of themselves right now.

( Here's how to contact NYT: )

THERE IS NO EXCUSE FOR THIS KIND OF BEHAVIOR. THE BOYS HAVE TO CARRY THIS??

Comments

[shenalia.livejournal.com]

Oh my god. =_=

[scribe-of-stars.livejournal.com]

That's a straight-up article...in this case, it's not necessarily the reporter's job to editorialize the events he or she covers. HOWEVER! By the same token, this doesn't excuse the NYT's silence on this Texas town's horrifying mindset in the Op-Ed section. Let's see some condemnation, editors.

[silveradept]

Part of being a newspaper is reporting on the news, but it also means making value judgments about the news. If you're reporting on a gang rape, it would behoove you to point out how awful such a thing is, not to give cover to the rapists and blame the victim. That's an awful article.