Wohoo! We won the match. He is a star, one of his kind, the
best player in the town...............such are the thoughts crossing the minds
of young freshmen fans. A few months later, Oh My God! This can’t be true. The
sports icon of the college can’t be a rapist............shocked are the
freshmen fans. Quite surprising but the fact is Athlete culture has been a
breeding ground for rapes.
Obsession with sports has been a significant reason for the
eruption of a sympathetic wave towards the sports icons allegedly involved in
rapes. The reason being most of the fans and the spectators consider their
sports icons as an epitome of masculinity which in turn leaves the athletes
with a feeling of condescension towards others. This pursuit of entitlement drives
the athletes to engage in activities fostering sexual assaults. Most of us often forget masculinity has
nothing to do with entitlement; indeed a true man is the one who respects women
and men equally. Misogyny is also cited as one of the important reasons for the
rise of rape culture.
The University/ High school is under a moral obligation to protect
the victim and not to favour the sexual offenders. It was quite evident in the Steubenville case
that the main emphasis was laid on stigmatising the victim and not the rapists.
The Maryville case was no different. Victim blaming and shielding the accused (star
players of the high school) had been the agenda of the high school.
The sexual assaults trials involving star players often ask
for compelling physical evidence with a presumption that the superstar is
innocent. Is this some kind of a joke? The victim has a life too. She has lost
her identity, her self confidence, self respect and is marooned in the
nightmares of the ill-fated day. Life will never be the same for her and the
trials are based on the presumptions of accused to be innocent?
When USA today research about 168 sexual assault cases
involving 164 athletes, only 22 cases went on their respective trials and a
mere 6 cases resulted in convictions of the accused. This in simple terms is a
burial of justice and I strongly condemn such trials where a status of a person
is more important than a human life.
I would challenge the author to explore the psychology of misogyny. Outside of law and justice, why should a man who finds himself in advantage over a woman, choose equality in relationships? What are the differences between the Male and female psyches, and why do they need one another in a loving embrace as opposed to one-sided domination?
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