Once upon a time, in a land far far away, was a university named Stanford. Attending this prestige institution, a student-athlete named Brock Turner. He was a great swimmer, known for his great ability in both swimming and drinking. One day, at a wild party, Brock found a beautiful woman passed out near a dumpster. Intrigued by her beauty (and according to him, also by the help of his best bro, alcohol), naturally, Brock assaulted her sexually. Unfortunately, twenty minutes into the brutal assault, he was caught by the two nearby heroes. Our protagonist soon found himself behind bars, wondering why this terrible disaster happened to him. However, by the power of paternal love, his father was able to persuade the judge to show some sympathy and lower his sentence to only six months in prison. Regretfully, he was still registered as a sex offender which is an unfair punishment given the fact that it is a lifelong sentence while he only screwed up for twenty minutes (according to his father). After his time serving in prison, Brock was released and is now an enthusiastic advocate against drinking. His name went down in history as one of the great athletes who made a mistake but redeemed himself. Then, they lived happily ever after. The end.
What a happy ending, right?
Y’know, except for the obvious fact that it is not a happy ending at all. I don’t care how many times do Brock and his father want to tell this story, they won’t be able to change the truth that this is a horrible event; and here’s why.
1. Brock is a rapist, not a “screw-up student-athlete:”
Brock said he wished he wasn’t so good at swimming because people are focusing on this story because apparently media likes to chase after athlete’s scandal. You know what I have to say about that? I say he’s an ungrateful jerk. Why? Because that’s one of the main reasons why the judge dropped the charge to six months in the first place. If he wasn’t a) young, b) a talented athlete and c) white, then he wouldn’t have received all of that empathy (a.k.a his white privilege).
More importantly, I don’t care what you want to tell yourself at night so you can sleep, Brock, but here’s the fact: the media cares about this because you brutally raped an unconscious woman. You sexually assaulted another human-being who was vulnerable (she was unconscious for sake!) You hurt her physically and mentally. Face it, you’re not an innocent athlete who accidentally hurt someone, you’re a criminal who can swim.
2. Don’t you dare, for the life of you, call such a horrendous act against a woman as a “twenty minute accident:”
It was not an accident that she was unclothed. It was not an accident that you attacked her, brutal like a beast nonetheless. What happened was in no way her fault. It is time we stop blaming women for what happened. Honestly, my dear readers, how many of you passed out before? And how many of you were assaulted during your black out? Hopefully none!
If passing out is consenting to rape, then no one would ever sleep again. Did she go overboard with the drinking? Yes, but that does not give you permission to destroy her life. The only bad thing that should happen to her is her friends showing her some embarrassing pictures of her cuddling with the dumpster or something.
She did not give consent (again, she was unconscious) and this horrible thing shouldn’t have happened to her. Here’s the thing about consent: it’s not about the absent of “no,” it’s about aloud, clear-minded, enthusiastic “yes.” Silent doesn’t mean consent-- agreement does.
On the other hand, it’s also time to cease the sugarcoating of woman’s pain and suffering. That “twenty minutes” means countless nightmares and traumas for the victim. Just because she is a woman does not make her experience any less painful or less real. And she shouldn’t have to be somebody's sister or mother to validate her pain. She is a human-being who suffered a horrendous crime caused by another human-being, and that should be enough to validate her experience.
3. Stop hiding behind alcohol and take responsibility for once!
If getting drunk led to rape, then alcohol would never be consumed again. Do I believe that alcohol makes us do weird things? Absolutely! But weird things here should only include (but not limited to) emptying your wish list on eBay, dance like an idiot, or embarrass yourself by leaving weird drunk messages to your ex - NOT assaulting somebody. If you kill someone while you’re under the influence, you still a killer. If you rob a bank while you’re drunk, that still makes you a thief. Just because you’re drunk does not make you any less of a rapist. Alcohol didn’t assault her, you did. So stop blaming the liquid for what happened.
So my sweet readers, what are we going to do? Are we going to let this terrible event become a sugar-coated Disney movie or will we voice our concern until justice is served?
