The Mainstream Media's War on Women

The Republican Party, anti-abortion groups, and other organizations and people who are opposed to women's rights are waging a war on women in this country, but, sadly, they're not the only ones waging a war on women. The mainstream news media in this country is also waging a war on women in this country.

One example of the mainstream media's war on women was CNN's Candy Crowley sympathizing with the two rapists in the Steubenville, Ohio rape case after they were found guilty:

Shortly after the guilty verdict in the Steubenville rape case was announced, Candy Crowley took to the airwaves to report it and connect with their reporter on the ground for more details. Her lead-in to the remote shot was shameful. 

Crowley was filled with sadness for two young men who took advantage of a drunk and possibly drugged young girl because the judge actually held them accountable for what they did. Instead of wondering aloud why they weren't tried as adults, she was instead very concerned that now they would have to register for the rest of their lives as sex offenders.

Never once did CNN or Crowley show any sympathy for the female victim of the rape, and me and many other people found that to be distasteful and offensive.

More recently, George Will, a conservative columnist for The Washington Post, wrote this post criticizing the federal government for cracking down on college and university administrators who aid and abet the far too pervasive rape culture in this country, falsely claimed that sexual assault never occurs on college campuses, and claiming that being a victim of sexual assault is a "coveted status".

Will's pro-rape culture column is the single worst piece that I have ever seen from the mainstream news media in this country. Dr. Jennifer Gunter, an obstetrician/gynecologist who was sexually assaulted while a college student two and a half decades ago, wrote this response to Will's column, where she criticized Will for defending rape culture and shared her own experience of being raped:

I was specifically moved to write to you because the rape scenario that you describe somewhat incredulously is not unfamiliar to me. Not because I've heard it in many different iterations (I have sadly done many rape kits), but because it was not unlike my own rape. The lead up was slightly different, but I too was raped by someone I knew and did not emerge with any obvious physical evidence that a crime had been committed. I tried to push him away, I said “No!” and “Get off” multiple times,” but he was much stronger and suddenly I found my hands pinned behind my back and a forearm crushing my neck and for a few minutes I found it hard to breathe. I was 22, far from home, scared, and shocked and so at some point I just stopped kicking and let him finish. Sound familiar? For several weeks I didn't even think about it as a rape because that was easier than admitting the truth. Again, sound familiar? 

When a man who is much stronger than you holds you down (Hey baby don’t fight, you know you want it) and forces your legs open the violence and power of those movements is horrifically violating and utterly disempowering. You think you screamed NO! at the top of your lungs but you were so scared and so shocked that when you went from yelling no! to pleading no to silently weeping no is hard to remember. Implied violence Mr. Will is a terrifying thing indeed.

One of the main reasons why sexual assault is tolerated by a large segment of this country's population is because the mainstream news media in this country aids and abets those who defend rape culture in this country.