Discussion List for campus-based and allied personnel working to end gender-based violence on campus.

["Nicole Player" <>]

Men Can Stop Rape, Inc. (MCSR)'s response to the Roman Polanski case:
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"The Messages We Send Young Men: Roman Polanski as a Hollywood 'Our
Guy'"

In 1998, investigative journalist Bernard Lefkowitz published "Our
Guys." Lefkowitz conducted hundreds of interviews to tell the story of a
17-year-old mentally challenged young woman and a group of high school
boys in Glen Ridge, NJ, an affluent, idyllic suburb. She had been lured
into the basement by one of the teens she had a crush on. Four of the
young men gang raped her while a number of others watched.

They were all popular athletes who came from good families - the kind of
young men who could do no wrong in the eyes of the community. When
rumors of the sexual assault started circulating, the town rallied to
the defense of their "guys" and further ostracized the young woman. 

Part of the point of this book is that Glen Ridge is no atypical town.
And apparently Hollywood is not so atypical when it comes to the likes
of sexual assault and Roman Polanski. They are claiming him as one of
their "guys." Stars of all stripes are rallying around him, from the
likes of Harvey Fierstein to Whoopi Goldberg to Woody Allen to Harrison
Ford. Of course, a significant difference from the citizens of Glen
Ridge is that these artists are supporting someone already known to have
committed rape. It's common knowledge that after giving a 13-year-old
girl Quaaludes, Polanski proceeded to rape her vaginally and anally. The
girl pleaded for him to stop and he did not. While on bail, he fled the
country to France. These facts are indisputable.

Granted, the violence took place in 1977. So should we let bygones be
bygones? What's the point of putting him in prison for something that
happened 32 years ago? How about this: What message do we want to send
young men now? Do we want to convey to the male youth Men Can Stop Rape
works with in high schools and colleges that accountability fades with
time, especially when you've made some highly acclaimed movies?  That if
you have enough friends in high places who make enough noise, you'll be
freed from any responsibility for your actions?  

What does it mean to be a friend? Do you have to excuse someone's
harmful actions and stand by him no matter what? Or can you be a friend
to someone by holding him accountable for his behavior? 

The answer is clear for us at Men Can Stop Rape. 

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Pat McGann, Ph.D. is the Vice President of Communications at Men Can
Stop Rape, Inc.  and has been involved with the organization's since its
founding in 1997.

Post your response on our blog http://www.mencanstoprape.blogspot.com/
or send us your thoughts on Twitter http://twitter.com/MenCanStopRape

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