This is a humor blog, yes. And as vehemently passionate as I am about political and social issues, I shy away from polarizing discourse on social media to not alienate my audience too much. (Though naturally I can’t resist the occasional Ted Cruz/Zodiac Killer joke. Because, I mean… he is.)
So this is important. This matters.
We’re all aware that the Stanford rapist – despite a unanimous guilty verdict, despite 3 felony convictions, despite facing a maximum of 14 years in state prison – was sentenced to 6 months in county jail. And the kicker? It’s unlikely he’ll even serve all 6 months. Turner’s scheduled release date is September 2nd, 3 months after admittance, because “inmates typically serve half their jail sentence unless there are disciplinary problems.” And as an affluent white man – and athlete, no less! – of course he’ll be a model citizen.
Rape culture is winning. So now comes the million dollar question: what can we do to stop it?
Here’s where we can start.
1. Sign the petition to remove Judge Aaron Persky from his Judicial position. He justified his lenient ruling by stating that a longer incarceration would have “a severe impact” on Brock Turner. Yet the victim isn’t afforded that same luxury. She won’t escape that night – it will be an invisible, unyielding weight that shadows everything she does, says, and feels for the rest of her life.
Meanwhile, Judge Persky serves as an Executive Committee Member for the Support Network for Battered Women. Let that sink in for a minute.
Additionally, if this White House Petition gathers 100k signatures it must be addressed by the current administration within 60 days.
2. Make every man you know read the victim’s powerful, poignant, raw letter to her rapist. Ensure that they grasp the importance of consent and the ramifications of a trauma that affects 1 in 5 women. Because, as women, this tragedy is yet another cautionary tale; another nod to the warning that already sits – staunchly, endlessly – in the attic of our minds: “You are not safe.”
It begins the first time we are catcalled; the time we realize it’s getting late so we shouldn’t walk to the store alone; the time we are taught to always guard our drinks; the time we are told that boy on the playground is just being mean because he likes us; the time our outfits are policed in order to not “distract the boys” or suggest “we’re asking for it”; the time a stranger demands we smile; the time we want to express discomfort in how a man is treating us but decide against it… because, you know, we’re probably just being too sensitive. We learned all this young.
3. Share Brock Turner’s mugshot – not his yearbook photo, as he grins in a suit and tie, the portrait of an ever-so-promising Division 1 athlete. No, the one that serves as a reminder that this is a man who viciously raped an unconscious woman behind a dumpster and claims “she liked it.” Let this have a severe impact.
4. And finally, when someone tells you they have been assaulted in any shape or form, believe them. Every time.
The Art of Being Basic 