Most weekends, I watch Melissa Harris Perry’s MSNBC show, and if you were watching on Saturday, you probably saw MPH interview a young college student who was raped on campus at Columbia University. Her “alleged” rapist is still on campus, and this victim has decided to carry around the mattress she was raped on until the man is prosecuted and/or kicked out of school. I only got a few minutes into the interview before I was crying for this young woman.
I bring this up because it feels like the discussion of rape culture and violence (both physical and psychological) against women is always going to be depressing. And after watching Emma’s story, yes, it’s depressing. But we should also highlight those moments when institutions actually acknowledge and are openly appalled by rape culture and blatant insensitivity. Such is the case with CeeLo Green.
Last week, we discussed CeeLo’s situation – a woman accused him of drugging and raping her, but the prosecutor only had evidence to bring drug charges against CeeLo. CeeLo took a deal, pled no contest and got probation and community service. Then he went on Twitter and started tweeting out a bunch of garbage about how it’s only rape if the woman is conscious, that it only “counts” as rape if the woman can remember her attack, I suppose. It was all pretty awful, and CeeLo got called out by all of the blogs and entertainment media and he made a half-assed apology. But something magical has happened in wake of those tweets! CeeLo has been getting fired from EVERYTHING. It’s amazing!!!
First, CeeLo’s TBS reality show The Good Life was canceled. TBS canceled the show within 24 hours of the tweets. Next, he was “dropped” from the “JBAB Freedom Live” event which will go down on September 20th. The event was sponsored by the United States Navy and the event organizers went so far as to cite CeeLo’s tweets as the reason why he was dropped. The organizers posted this on their Facebook:
“Unfortunately, one of the performers we signed for the JBAB Freedom Live show on 20 September recently posted comments on social media that we consider to completely inconsistent with Navy core values. Regardless of intent or context, the lack of sensitivity towards an issue that is one of the great challenges facing our Navy is unacceptable.”
I mean… of course the Navy has its own issues with sexual misconduct, rape and rape culture but shhh! They did something right for a change.
And finally, CeeLo was dropped from the 2014 Gretna Heritage Festival in Louisiana. Again, his tweets were cited as the reason. He’s being replaced at the festival by Joan Jett. So… while it’s not enough and I would still like to see Green prosecuted for rape, can we just take a moment to acknowledge how great it is that people were genuinely offended and horrified and wanted no part of CeeLo Green?
Photos courtesy of WENN.
Glad to hear it. His tweets certainly revealed a twisted and scary way of thinking.
Exactly FLORC
I had someone in my corner after accusing. My judge was a former Dean of the University I was in. He heard the evidence and went straight to one of the current Deans to what I assume was a lot of yelling in my defence.
This girl is on her own. She’s making waves and bringing attention to this in such a brave way. CeeLo’s actions or maybe her actions are shining a light on such a terrible part of college, drugs, and somehow justifiable criminal acts by the accusers.
I see everything here as a big WIN.
I agree, when I read them it literally gave me a chill down my spine. That kind of thinking makes it open season to drug and date rape women. Horrible.
+1
That was really great news, yes!!
+1
Good.
That’s all I have to say about that.
I’m positively surprised to hear about Cee-Lo getting fired and I hope people will remember his tweets and not give him another Job a few years from now.
I’m so angry to hear about the people at Columbia Univerity doing their best at sweeping the cases of rape/sexual assault under the carpet and protecting the offenders instead of the victims.
Unfortunately that seems to be far from being an exception.
I’m a college student and this is SO common. Someone wrote “MY RAPIST STILL GOES HERE” in chalk on campus, and it led to some big protests. Since then our school has created a Sexual Assault Task Force led by some really qualified people, like criminology professors who study gendered crimes and their social stigmas. But this is a problem all over the country.
My university’s president made some comments last year that led to protests all over campus. She said “date rape is human nature” in response to my campus having a ton of sexual assaults reported in a short period of time.
Officials either don’t know how to deal with these issues or just don’t want to, and it severely affects student populations. It’s everywhere, and it makes so many people feel unsafe.
G
When I accused a fellow classmate of attacking me I had to meet with the Dean. It became a University matter accusing another student and we shared a class together no bigger than maybe 10 students. He said about the same. That it happens and maybe I was confused as to what happened. Almost like it was expected and normal occurence at our ages.
This is too common. It’s sickening.
Yes means Yes sounds wonderful.
P.S.
I’ve never spoken about all of this since the trial ended. I know none of you so it makes it easier to open up. It’s a good outlet to vent and I just wanted to say thanks for making this a safe enough place to speak out.
FLORC, I’m so sorry you had to go through that, I can imagine how harrowing every aspect of the incident was. And thank you for speaking out, I think it’s the only way these horrific crimes will get attention. Not everyone lives to tell their tale, like Lizzy Seeberg. Sigh.
Florc, my heart hurts for you. My daughter is a college student, and although I live very close by, she lives on campus and I worry about her every single day of my life. I wish you all the best.
Florc, big hugs your way!!!
I was even discouraged by police to report my rapist…. and the excuse was “oh you were in a relationship with the guy, there is no issue there. Plus you didn’t come to us immediately and that makes you a liar”. Ah, that coming from police officers. In the end, I was the lucky one if I didn’t end up in jail.
Wow, lots of education for everybody about this subject would be needed.
Just to give you an idea about the situation anywhere, not just the USA.
FLORC- if I could, I’d give you a long hug full of empathy and warmth. You shouldn’t have had to deal with people who find sexual violation insignificant, no matter how prevalent the attitude. I hope you’ve worked through the issues you were left with and have been able to replace as much of the the pain and suffering with a strong, resilient core. From the tone and intelligence of your daily writing, it sounds as if you have. CB is a great “safe” place to share and I’m glad you did. <3
This (the reaction and firings) is as it should be. And how awesome that he was replaced by Joan Jett!
Yes. I though this too, on both counts. CeeLo gets what he deserves (should be jail time in my book, but losing his gigs may be a better form of hell for him), and fabulous, fabulous Joan Jett takes the stage.
Hopefully things like this will become more and more common. Hopefully we will live to see an end to rape culture and the great things that would do for both genders. (I just had my coffee and am feeling pretty good. Please don’t poop on my hopes)
Your hopes are lovely.
The man is a throwback, a menace and a danger to women. He should certainly be made to suffer at least economically for his disgusting tweets — indicative as they are of an even more disgusting mind and mindSET. Good riddance to this piece of trash.
For once the response is what it should be. So glad to see this happening. And Joan Jett is fabulous. Just saw her over the summer at a hot air balloon festival in New Jersey. She sounded great and she looked great. Love her!
How awesome he was replaced by Joan Jett who was deemed to be more family oriented!
He’s talented but seems to be lacking a moral core. I’ve lost all respect for him and hope he continues to lose work.
Good, that stupid motherfu*ker!
Totally
First, the video. That brave young woman had me crying, too, for her, the other two victims of this rapist, and for all women in the world who have had to endure violation of their bodies. I hope things are changing. If not from the rapists or potential rapists, at least from the institutions who are charged with our safety and justice for crimes against us. It’s way past time to stop tolerating this victimization of women. The lack of caring and justice is a second violation of an already fragile and battered soul. It’s inexcusable.
Now, for a shiver of delight in seeing that disgusting Green suffer some consequences for his actions. That bastard. I hope he loses everything. And I hope it makes other men really think about what it is to rape. I fear it will only make them be more careful, but who knows? I rarely take pleasure in other people’s pain, but for you, CeeLo, I’ll make an exception.
Perfectly stated, Goodnames!!!!!!
Good. I’m glad that troglodyte is getting taken down a peg or two. He deserves it.
It’s great that since they couldn’t punish him for the rape he’s being punished in reputation and money. I hope he never works again. He really thought people would be okay with this which means to me a lot of folks around him agree. Scary.
Yes, it’s terrifying to think of the number of people who agree with him. Thank goodness this man was stupid and arrogant enough to call himself out.
Pride goeth before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.
*inserts grumpycatgood.jpg
I was really surprised by the Navy’s response. They actually DID recognize that rape culture is a “great challenge” within the Navy in the last sentence of the statement quoted.
Yes, I think they are (finally) really trying.
Long past overdue.
Very long past overdue, I agree.
Yes the have a major problem with this. Ceelo performing for them would have brought out more negative press about them supporting racists.
Another example of people not thinking before they tweet. OR letting the world know exactly who you really are. This is not an unusual occurrence. People are fired daily because of stuff they put out on social media; be it vie pictures posted on facebook or tweets. Now people in the Entertainment industry are facing what the average Jane/John Doe are daily.
I don’t understand the need to post every random thought out to the world. He has always been creepy to me. Something off about him and now he is just showing what has always been there in the beginning. He obviously won’t be asked back on The Voice either.
Lesson learned maybe.
I hope his victim can use his tweets in a civil suit against him. They were, for all intents & purposes, an admission of guilt
If like to add that I hope when students protest they make big posters highlighting his tweets as one example of a blindingly ignorant pov.
ITA agree that people overshare on social media but in this case I’m glad he did otherwise he’d still be getting away with his effed up attitude.
That’s good to hear. I also hope that people won’t forget about this. I feel like this happened with Rick Ross when he had rape lyrics in his song. I don’t want this to simply be a PR storm that celebrities feel they can weather
Well Rick Ross still has a career, you can thank his boss Jay Z for that. Rappers always get away with degrading blk women, anti-gay and sexist lyrics.
Very true, sadly.
@chocolate bunny – it’s a sad reality.
@chocolatebunny Jay Z is not Rick Ross’s boss. Rick Ross/Mayback Music Group is affiliated with Diddy/Bad Boy Records.
Can’t wait for his mansplaining tweets on how this is a a witch hunt and how HE is being victimised.
And freedom of speech and all that. Yes, we have freedom of speech but it is not unlimited and speech has consequences.
The two Rs rights and responsibilities!
Sigh. Yeah….. Let me guess. It was a “joke” we are all a bunch of stuck up b@tches to not get it. We all need to get laid. …..
Cee-Lo alreday went the “Those tweet’s were taken out of context” route.
I’m not sure in which context those tweets could ever be considered ok though.
Or the ‘everybody has gotten too PC’ crap. Love(d) his music, but I won’t be buying anymore of it. I’m just not a big enough person to separate the song from the singer.
I think he already went with the ‘misconstrued route’. He wasn’t sayin’ what you thought he was sayin’ and blah blah blah, you took it the wrong way, or he was just posing rhetorical questions like Mr.-Here-a-Thing.
It just kills me when cretins of his ilk say hateful, inflammatory and just plain evil things and then cry that they were misunderstood or taken out of context. Well, how is that possible? I never see them explaining the context that makes their comments okay.
Sorry, bud. There is no context that makes raping a woman acceptable.
I’m impressed that the Navy acknowledged their own “challenges” with sexual misconduct and rape in their statement. You have to own up to a problem before you can fix it.
One word: Good. I love you karma!
Go universe!
Exactly.
This guy has always, always creeped me out. Some friends wanted to go see him perform in Las Vegas and we had paid for tickets but at last minute I refused to go to the show. We were in Vegas weather was fantastic, so I decided to just stay at the pool for the day and Then go see the Bellagio fountains instead. My friends who went to the show were pissed at me, that I found him so creepy I just did not even want to sit through his show. I’m glad I didn’t go now.
Trust your vibes or intuition.
Yes! Always trust your gut. If you know something on a certain level, you know it, even if you can’t articulate it completely.
There is a great book about this issue that I found very enlightening and helpful – itis called “The Gift of Fear”. Basically it is about trusting yourself and acting on your survival instincts:
http://www.amazon.com/The-Gift-Fear-Gavin-Becker/dp/0440226198#
Awesome book, PennyLane! Years ago in college I had to read it for one of my psychology courses. Never forgot the information in that book.
@PennyLane, Gavin de Becker’s “The Gift of Fear” ought to be required reading for everyone, men and women. It’s a great book and I’m glad you linked to it. As for ScumLo Green, I’ll let loose with my inner Harvey Fierstein: “F*ck you on your mother’s grave.”
I’m so in awe of the young women who today are not afraid to call out their rapists, who refuse to be silenced, who won’t go away quietly. As more and more omen speak out, it’s shocking and depressing to learn just how common sexual assault is. But women – and men – speaking out against this type of violence gives me hope.
AGREED. I never liked his song “eff you,” and found it pretty gross that he wrote a whole song about cursing out and shaming a woman with the label “golddiger” for…. um, choosing to be with a better partner?
But it was a catchy song, and I got a lot of grief for being humorless and overly sensitive at the time. Feeling somewhat vindicated now. No wonder she left you, CeeLo.
I’m glad to see him punished for his disgusting views, but it’s also kind of sad that this outrage only happened after his twitter rant and not the fact that he pled no contest to actual legal rape charges. We need to pay more attention to legal proceedings and not just wait for the celebrity to embarass themselves on social media.
Hear! Hear!
To clarify, he was never charged with rape. She accused him of rape and of drugging her with ecstasy, which is a known drug used for more heightened sex. He was never charged with rape after the police investigated her allegation. Problematic also I guess was the fact they had dated and been intimate before and were both drinking the night of the date. Cee-Lo’s lawyer said also at the time that she hired a lawyer and tried to get a payoff, money from him, before going to the local cops in her hometown, not in LA where she was on their date. She denied that, saying he was only contacted by her lawyer to see if he had any STDs.
There was no evidence they had had sex or that she had taken ecstasy since she didn’t report it right away. So LAPD had her tape him to bait him into admitting something so they could have proof to charge him. From what I can gather, the only thing he admitted on the tape was having the ecstasy, not slipping it to her. Because he said that on tape is why they could charge him with furnishing a controlled substance.
Cee-Lo’s comments on twitter are the most damning thing for him, instead of he said/she said, and he basically outed his mentality about what constitutes rape and his creepy actions regarding that. Sometimes twitter is a good thing when it shows the inner thoughts of someone and his actions, and in this case is what ultimately hurt his career as it gives more credence to her accusations.
So he might not have done anything? And we’re basically punishing him for his Neanderthal views? Jeez.
Most gratifying. At least this one doesn’t get to run free, unlike that disgusting Uncle Terry. Ugh.
It’s great that they are all citing the tweets, as well, and not being all “some of our fans were offended so…” and also “replaced by Joan Jett.
that interview about how belligerent and ill-equipped schools are to help and protect the victims, or proactively addressing this problem (rather than act that it’s not a problem or that it doesn’t exist)… what are we teaching our young?
are they seriously thinking that nurturing and educating kids to be future, entitled Cee-Los is a good thing?
how are we going to break this cycle?
My own view? Let’s “disarm” rapists. If they can’t use their dicks responsibly and if they insist on using them as weapons of oppression and terror against women, I think they should forfeit them. Like a weapons seizure.
Bwahahahahahaha!
Yes, but there would be a huge storage problem. Really, who wants the seized penis werehouse in their neighborhood dragging down property values?
I read a study done in the late 70’s about chemical castration of rapists. The conclusion was, if they couldn’t rape, they would turn their anger to murder instead.
Sorry to say but rape is about power and control more than sex , they are numerous reports of men who couldn’t perform and use foreign objects and their hands to violate their victim
it makes me crazy! why are colleges hell-bent on denying these types of problems instead of coming out publicly against these crimes?? because usually, the victim remains silent because they don’t want to incur any more public attention, and the college can preserve its reputation. What a sham. While I understand the culture of a small private liberal arts college, I don’t understand why these things are handled by the school and not law enforcement. I know this has come up before in previous sexual assaults on campus, but I’m still not totally clear on it.
It’s about money and enrollment. The more rape cases documented, the less female students will enroll, the less money the school makes. Sad. I personally think it’s criminal that such serious charges are not handled by the local police, but again, money talks.
Melissa Harris Perry is a terrible interviewer! I wanted to hear the student tell her story, not listen to Harris Perry’s poor re-telling of it. I don’t watch MHP; is she always that bad?
Yes. I always want to like her, but can never get through a whole segment, let alone show.
She was great as a guest on other shows: full of wonderful knowledge that she synthesized into easily understandable, convincing arguments. I was astounded by the tone of her own show: a weird mix of juvenile nonsense and pontificating monologues. Unwatchable.
So glad Joy Reid got her own show, though. That woman is a great host: convincing herself, wonderful speaking style, and a gifted interviewer/conversationalist. A refreshing change from some of the others (Chris Matthews, Joe Scarborough, and amazingly, increasingly Chris Hayes) who invite three guests on at a time to bark their own opinions at them.
Good! Its sad though that the courts didn’t react the same way when he was up on charges.
So what’s up with people being fired from jobs because of what they said. I think that’s ridiculous to be honest. So if someone says something people don’t like, they should get fired from there job. What he said was stupid but do you think firing him from every job is going to make him change is mind about his opinion, No.
I can see what you’re saying and ordinarily I would agree with you but I think in this situation that it could be seen to encourage men to drug women and then rape them.
Edited to add that firing him from lucrative jobs may make him at least keep his mouth shut about it, his own personal view doesn’t become a problem until he, and people in his influential situation, express those views. So, yes, firing him certainly will discourage him from expressing harmful views.
He essentially confessed to rape. And he was pissed people called him out on it.
People are perfectly entitled to fire him for being a rapist. Frankly, I wouldn’t want him around anyone I cared about. He’s an admitted rapist.
What about MY right to not spend money on rapists?
Capitalism. If your employee/associate says/does something that will alienate customers and reduce profits, you have the right to end that relationship. Now, in this case these groups are acting from conscience not profit, so good on them, but the free market always trumps the first amendment, which in any case never protects one from all possible consequences of their speech.
Everytime somebody does not have to face the consquences of his/her own behaviour it encourages other people to do the same thing as there is no punishment.
In this case letting Cee-Lo continue his life as it was would say that drugging another person is acceptable and that assaulting someone unconscious isn’t a crime.
And let’s be honest, this is more than Cee-Lo “Saying something that people don’t like”.
And I’m certainly glad if I won’t have to see Cee-Lo in a position similar to being a mentor on the Voice ever again. The thought of him being around often young and maybe easily impressed girls/woman looking up to him scares me.
It’s not about changing his opinion, it’s realizing being associated with him may be both bad for your business as well as being personally offensive.
I’m all for freedom of speech etc, but there are some things that are indefensible and you should be fired, made persona non grata not just for having those views, but being thoughtless and or entitled enough to broadcast said views.
It’s how society works. We don’t tolerate the unacceptable. End of.
I don’t think their goal is to make him change his mind, but to stand up and say “we won’t be associated with someone who acts and believes the way he does.”
What would be ridiculous would be them ignoring it and letting him perform.
Exactly. What he said was reprehensible, and to continue a business association with him would be like condoning his disgusting statements.
tmh, you are missing the whole point.
Look. Here’s the deal. Freedom of speech means that, no matter what, I can stand up on a chair in a crowed room and say exactly whatever I want to say. It DOESN’T mean I then don’t have to accept consequences for what I’ve said. I decide I want to say “FIRE!” or “HE’S GOT A GUN” I can… and I also have to deal with the cost of the panic. I can write whatever I want on a blog – but I can’t make people like it. I can choose to be an utter ass – and I have to deal with repercussions.
Freedom of speech is only part of it. There is also total freedom of having to take responsibility for it, and to accept that other people have the same freedom.. and they can choose and decide, based on what is said, to leave the room you are in, tell you not to come to a party, and yeah, fire you from a job that has a gut level response of disgust to what you publicly state. (Please know I am using the general ~you~ not you thm you. Wow that got tangled up… caffeine needs to kick in soon) If I stood outside the state assembly building calling everyone inside names, I can. But I can’t be upset when the next day they don’t hire me. Ceelo said some pretty horrific thing, he chose to publicly say what essentially amounts to both a confession of rape AND the fact he views rape as no big thing. He is allowed.
And I’m allowed to think he makes bottom dwelling slime look downright highclass in comparison. Freedom to say what you like – and so does everyone else. You chose to use you freedom of speech, people are allowed to judge you by it and make decision.
Freedom of speech has nothing to do with the market, it applies to the government: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.” Your boss, the general public, etc can respond in any way they like.
No, he is who he is, so he probably won’t think differently, but I agree with the others who have said that in this case it’s about more than him saying something offensive. Because he outed himself as a rapist the man is a real safety threat. Businesses he works with could be held liable for hiring a known rapist and putting others at risk. Also, hopefully these business are simply offended. He is vile.
But as a woman would you want to risk working with him?
@tmh. Are you joking? The guy admitted rape doesn’t count if the victim can’t remember it (I.e. she was drugged), which echoes the exact circumstances of his case where he admitted to drugging a woman (in order to rape her). In essence, his tweets absolve him for any responsibility and he basicallly hints that he might have gotten away with a very serious crime. Why would anyone continue to associate with a creep like that? This isn’t a political point he’s making; he’s endorsing a crime.
@tmh The point of his being fired is not to change his mind. Nobody who has fired him was trying to rehabilitate him. There’s no ‘punishment’ going on.
When he signed up for these jobs, there’s usually clauses in the contracts about what the employers will tolerate PR-wise. He knew this. But he was so intent on getting his ‘rape is OK’ message out to the public more so than not challenging the clauses that would allow his employers to drop him.
So he made a choice. Nobody forced him to spread his message to the public. He’s a grown man. He knew what he was doing. Nobody is ‘punishing’ him. He did this to himself.
He’s a celebrity. A brand. His contracts and hirability are 100% based on his popularity. If he says things to make him unpopular, his profitability suffers. That’s the business he’s in.
While I personally love seeing him publically flayed for these statements, he’s not losing his job over them–he’s losing his job based on the fact that he has made himself unmarketable. And that’s completely fair, from a contractual standpoint. This is a solid practical decision, and third parties shouldn’t have to lose money because he wants to say horrible things.
Good.
So good.
Yes he is being fired from every job, but I wonder why? Because nobody has done this to woody Allen, Sean Penn, uncle terry. Shouldn’t they all be held the same?
Are you just trolling? When have any of the aforementioned publicly confessed to rape? But if enough people boycotted them they would be fired (although Woody Allen works for himself).
It would be great if those people listed would face the consequences for their behaviour as well, but I don’t see it happening anytime soon.
Cee-Lo’s problem is, that fortunately for us, he dug his own grave by tweeting about it for everybody to see.
Have any of them ever plea-bargained on charges involving giving a woman drugs to have sex with her?
I think I see where you’re coming from. I believe Cee-Lo would have no doubt squeaked by untouched, as he also has his devotees, not unlike the other perps you’ve mentioned, but for his very public comments on twitter, which were just to disturbing to ignore. It’s a small victory, but we’ll take it.
Your point is equivalent to suggesting that if John Doe punches someone in the face and faces no repurcussions, everyone else should be allowed to punch people in the face, too.
“But it’s not faaaaair–he did it too!” is not adult logic. Less accountability for everyone isn’t the answer; using the past as a lesson and demanding more accountability from everyone is the responsible reaction.
I’m glad that he has lost these jobs. Every time someone steps up and does the right thing, it helps.
What I wonder about though, is why he was hired to begin with when these allegations have been out there for some time? Same with TBS giving him a show. I realize it was an ongoing legal issue and he hadn’t yet taken the deal, but I’m surprised anyone would want to get into business with someone facing those charges.
Emma, the Columbia student, is a hero, IMO. She is forcing people to see what they want to avert their eyes from. It sounds incredibly powerful and affecting. It’s just so sad it’s come to this – neither the university or the police have done anything?
Good for them, and they should have done it. His tweets were disgusting.
But it’s pretty laughable coming from them because of their attitude towards rape at the Naval Academy and in the Navy and then the ostracizing of any that dare report it in the military in general. It’s appalling how long it’s gone on, and the military is only doing something about it now because of it being exposed more and more by journalists and women coming forward to the public.
It doesn’t matter who or what or even why they are taking a stand now. The fact remains that they are doing something about it.
Many, if not all, institutionalised views change in baby steps as a result of one or two people highlighting the issue. It’s never due to one BIG event and more often than not, the change is self serving.
If it makes the world a better place, why the derision?
Why the derision? I have read enough exposes’ on the rape culture and mentality in the military and the naval academy to be sickened and disgusted. They gave two sh ts about women and how they were being abused and in fact were ostracized, demoted, on and on if they pursued it. This was all over the place, not one person overseeing it. It has taken repeated stories by journalists and brave women coming forward to force them to even care enough to address this and only because of the public outcry and the smear and perception it gives the military. Otherwise, they could care less all these years. Read all of the stories of women raped in the military and their disgusting treatment after. It was so pervasive that it is shocking.
I can be cynical if I want to even if they are making some kind of effort now because of their image being so tarnished. Reading firsthand accounts over and over by women who were loyal to this country and wanted a career in the military and the way in which they were treated after the rape by superiors, by fellow officers, fellow classmates, fellow enlistees, it made me sick. One, her father was a career militaryman, as was she going to be. Her story made me sick, someone once respected, on the rise, and then shunned, demoted, moved away to some crappy position, all because she dared to want the man brought to justice.
. I can’t imagine how her father felt, someone who had been proud to be in the military all those years, to see his daughter treated in such a way after the rape.
It is a good thing it is finally happening bit by bit and has been brought out in the light for the public to know and thus forcing the military to change, but there is nothing NOBLE about their reasons for finally addressing it. That is the sad fact.
I agree, Jayna, that their record is simply atrocious, and that they have ignored the problem for years, but I think they are finally, finally taking it seriously because so many women are speaking out and the publicity has been terrible. I don’t admire them for needing that as a reason, but as LAK says, no matter the reason, it’s a good thing.
Completely agree with you Jayna. People want to look the other way when it comes to these situations (especially when it concerns beloved celebrities and our own service men and women), and they’re uncomfortable talking about it. Cee-Lo just made it impossible to ignore by his disgusting comments on twitter. I’m not sure I believe the Navy’s motives were entirely honorable in the way they addressed the situation, but I’m glad nonetheless that they’ve taken action.
Ugh. Good!
And this poor girl. Good for here too.
The story about the college student is sad. What I’ve never understood is why are victims reporting assaults to the college/university and not the police. Or are they reporting it to the college/university with the expectation that it will be reported to the police?
Women are often encouraged (by college officials) to report the assault to the college, sometimes because the college knows (from experience) that local DAs simply don’t prosecute any except the most violent, obvious, forcible rapes. At my own college, the officials make sure there is a rape kit analysis if possible and cases sometimes do go before the court if there is sufficient evidence.
But what do you do if the report of the rape comes a week, two weeks, six months after the fact? If it is in the context of high consumption of alcohol? (And no, I’m not blaming the victim; I’m stating the reality that our DA, at least, and I suspect many others, doesn’t want to touch rape cases where both are so drunk that they don’t really remember what happened or whether consent was given.) In those cases, you still have a problem: the woman is on campus with her attacker. So colleges do bring the rapist before a disciplinary board, make a decision, and dole out punishment. However, there is a new trend of male students suing the colleges for violations of their own civil rights, for expelling them in cases where the evidence is too slight to go to court; NPR recently did a story critical of big bad colleges for violating the civil rights of their male students. So colleges are now being sued by victims if they fail to act, and sued by perpetrators if they do act.
I think you are being naive. Colleges try to handle sexual assault cases themselves because they want to sweep them under the rug. It’s terrible publicity, they don’t want to be seen as a dangerous place to go to college and they don’t want their students to go to jail, so they handle the cases with sympathy towards the perpetrator, not the victim, and hope she’ll go away.
I appreciate the insight. I’ve always assumed that when “too many” rapes are reported, the school gains a reputation for having a dangerous campus and that deters from their enrollment numbers. Is this obvious? As in, isn’t this the main reason why so many institutions sweep crimes against women under the rug?
Goodnames, forgive me. Right after reading Lucretia’s post I skipped straight over your comment to make the same points. Ugh.
Sorry GoodNames,
But I am anything but naive on this subject–I’m a professor at a liberal arts college, and I’ve seen it, I’ve talked to victims, I’ve had Title IX training, and I’ve served on the sexual conduct board. The cases we try to deal with are not cases that DAs will even look at because of the excessive alcohol use involved (almost always) and often because of the length of time between incident and reporting (as we know, many people feel guilty, or ashamed, and take a long time to report, when physical evidence is gone, though witness evidence can still be taken). As I said, if the report is immediately following the incident we take them to a local hospital where there is a nurse with the training to do a post-rape examination, and we turn these rape kits over to local police–sometimes with no results. If cases do go to court against the odds, in any case, the courts do not have the power to remove the accused from the vicinity of the victim while waiting for a court date–colleges do. So we are forced to become involved–and frankly, we want to be involved.
No college is immune from this; I know its easier to be cynical and dismissive about college efforts to deal with this terrible cultural problem, but that doesn’t make it true.
Lucretia, I’m sorry, but I have seen too many women try to have their rape cases handled by their college or university, only to be stonewalled, dismissed or dealt with so incompetently and with such suspicion and lack of compassion as to render the “help” completely useless to take you seriously. Maybe in your world of unicorns the women are helped, even though you are subtlety blaming the victim even here, but we all know this isn’t the real world. Read the posts on here by women who were raped and you will see how most colleges handle it. You’re full of it.
Joan Jett replaces Thee-low. Awesome-I love her & she will kick ass onstage. I would really like it if she kicked his weeble-wobble ass offstage, but hey…we can’t always get what we want. As for his tweets being taken out of context-hmmm. Just so you guys know, if I ever see him in person, my fist would love to take his snout out of context. Ahem, okay, sorry. I know we are a non-violent group here, and no one should be physically hurt, but this man -any man who does these things, makes me so angry. Glad to see someone getting him in the pocketbook. I’m sure that hurts way more. Peace and love, CBers.
I know! Replacing a (oh excuse me “alleged”) rapist with JOAN JETT is really in-your-face poetic justice! Love it.
Good. I only hope he is not eventually rehired as attention to what he did fades.
Yep, I’m glad he’s getting all the backlash. An idiot.
All I have to say to that is GOOD! He’s just vile, and needs to go disappear under a rock. ‘Nuf said.
Now, are these clients actually appalled by Green’s awful comments, or they just think associating with him could bring them bad publicity?
Anyway, whatever the intention, this does send the message of “condoning rape is not good”, and that’s great.
I think most people, except vile, stupid, idiots are genuinely offended by the idea that raping an unconscious woman doesn’t count as rape because she doesn’t remember it. Especially when YOU were the one to render her unconscious by giving her drugs without her knowing. I mean, that logic is just beyond stupid. I have houseplants smarter than that statement. There is no way to defend that statement. I think even other rapists are probably thinking, “huh, what?” It’s that bad. Don’t you think?
Sadly, not. The comment isn’t only incredibly incorrect from a moral point of view, it’s also ilogical. But rape culture works that way. How many times have males at school and college parties done this? The statement is beyond stupid, but a considerable ammount of people are. That’s the saddest part about rape culture, there’s times the whole thing is so common I’m not even shocked.
Ok, I understand what you’re saying.
One of the scariest elements of this is that the guy is 40 years old! He’s not some little punk where being young and dumb becomes an excuse. It’s not that he hasn’t matured yet. This is a wealthy, worldly guy who’s reached middle age and still thinks like a damn psychotic fool.
It’s just plain frightening.
I’m so pleased he’s being ostracized. It’s the best news celebitchy could offer. He deserves every little bit of rejection. Just like Chris Brown, I bet he’s appalled he was caught. I wonder how many women he’s already victimized? With his attitude, I find it difficult to believe this was a one time thing. I hope that if there are others, they have the courage to come forward.
I imagine he’s surrounded by sympathizers that are promising this will pass -an it probably will- but I pray it won’t.
Good!
There should be consequences for spewing rapey nonsense in public. That’s one of the ways society can start to turn away from the rape-culture we’ve got now.
Of course, there should also be consequences for raping someone. But we’ll take what we can get.
I hear you. It’s depressing that all we get are little wins, but if we can start to turn the message, as you say, maybe the nextgen won’t be so effed up.
Good. He deserves it.
I’ve been a sex therapist for men and women who have undergone traumatic sexual experiences and wish to resume a normal sex life. Usually people in this situation would see a therapist to deal with the trauma and then after that is handled then they come see me. Over half of my female clients have had their traumatic sexual experiences happen to them in college between the ages of 18-23 and no one did anything except blame them within the administration of their college campus.
While I am glad the media is trying to shed light on the issue. I really wish they did so in a more sensitive way because I really feel that they are glorifying rape within the small sect of sickos. Sure, showing Cee-Lo for the scum he is has been one thing. Nut I feel they are perpetuating and over-victimising women’s powerlessness and not highlighting resources that will help women find justice, teaching men not to rape or teaching anyone who is a victim of a sex crime how they can emotionally recover. Has anyone told Emma there are non-profit legal aid clinics that would help her go after the school? Do most people realize that there are people like my degree supervisor who are trying to work with schools in creating new protocol for sexual violence? No one cares about that. So it is a step in the right direction and I am glad Cee-Lo offended everyone enough to get his sorry a– fired and ostracized but the media needs to quit perpetuating the powerless victimhood of women.
And here I thought I had a novel idea to patient: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2591069/The-date-rape-drug-test-works-seconds-light-drink.html except that it would come in a little strip that looks like a small bandaid that covered the gamut of date rape drugs. It’s a simple idea so I figured someone else had come up with it already and they have. Boo! Lol Truthfully though, I’m happier knowing it’s already being worked on. I hope they’re successful and make a lot of money. Wouldn’t this go far to empower women? I think it would.
The message is still backwards and still reinforces blaming the victim. Products like the nail polish and what you are suggesting continues to lay the responsibility solely on the victim to not get raped rather than blaming the rapist. Date rape drugs only account for less than 10% of sexual assaults while intoxication with alcohol and streets covers roughly 40% of rapes and over 50% happen in long term relationships or marriages with no intoxicants involved. So the bigger lessons fall on men as much as women. Both sexes being respectful of boundaries set and abstaining from sex when one or both parties are under the influence of alcohol or drugs. It’s about teaching both men and women to respect the boundaries set, knowing what rape is and what is consensual and non-consensual sex and the community supporting victims of rape regardless of gender and circumstances.
Arya, I understand exactly what you’re saying and to an extent, I agree. As a whole, our culture .must. change its attitude towards violence if a real shift is to take place. Meantime and in general, when a room full of people are using substances, this type of self preservation gadget and others like it, once available, can (not cure) but go far to empower those that make the effort to use it. I compare it to carrying a taser, pepper spray, a loud alarm or taking a self defense class so if an attacker strikes, the individual is better armed to escape with his/her life. Plus no matter how much education is absorbed and values are restored, people are people and in situations like the one above, rape will always be an issue regardless of when and where one lives. I feel it’s better to be as proactive as possible whatever the circumstances.
I’m not sure what you mean by stating that these innovations still reinforce blaming the victim. Isn’t this just another piece of armor that will assist women and men in a positive way?
So in a decade from now, the new excuse will be the rape victim is still to blame because she didn’t wear that special nail polish or didn’t have little test strips or whatever. That’s what I mean by it will reinforce victim blaming unless we get at the root. I agree with you overall. But these methods are only a stop gap to a much larger issue.
awesome post Kaiser. xo
Seconded.
Mwahahahahaha, that’s all I have to say about this situation
He made his bed, he has to lay in it….
Unfortunately things like rape culture on campus are very, very slow to change. It takes women like this to take action and make change. I wish her all the best and hope she heals and has a happy life. And may her rapist get what he deserves.
I also agree that it’s important to acknowledge when society does react appropriately, like with CeeLo. I hope he never bounces back, like Chris Brown did. Some things should just not be forgotten and swept under the rug.
I wonder if he realizes he’s just confessed that he’s so disgusting no conscious woman would have him?
Not only is Ceeloo Creepy He is actually quite stupid ! One of the biggest challenges with prosecuting rape is that it can be very difficult to prove a very he said /he said gray area
And AFTER he was lucky enough to apparently get away with it (never charged with rape ) ,he basically goes on social media to brag and disseminate his Neanderthal views on the matter
I am happy how swift the back lash is and want to see more of these consequences applied consistently for all those horrid people
I’m so grossed out by him, and I’m happy that he’s getting fired from all his jobs. Hopefully they will stick and he won’t get them back in like a month.
The garbage, lower then low bowel movement, finally got his due. This guy never liked that pig. I always was suspicious of him, and suspected him of being some kind of sexual pervert, and womanizer. Guess I was right, almost. He is more then just a womanizer….This “pig” is also a rapist who escaped prosecution. The holy roller “good Christian” is exposed for what he really is…..The devil. Let his fellow Christians forgive him. I never will.
So when is The Voice firing him? It’s great he got dropped by all these engagements he was supposed to do, it shows that people were bothered by his comments and don’t want to be associated with them. But it would be really great if The Voice issues a similar statement.
He is no longer on The Voice. He was quietly fired after the accusations first came out. Usher and then Pharell took his place.
Oh I was not aware this had happened. Thanks for letting me know! Of course it was all done quietly. So typical.
He always seemed super creepy to me. I can’t imagine anyone ignoring their gut instinct and going somewhere alone with him.
Bye CeeLo.
He’s a nasty little creature. All around inside and out.
I know it’s late in the day and this might not be seen, but I thought I would share.
On Friday a male co-worker and myself started discussing the Cee Le case. I was pointing out that apart from the “incident” itself, that Cee Lo buried himself with those tweets. Had Cee Lo either kept his mouth shut or made a vague apology, a large portion of the population might have remained unaware. I would have.
HOWEVER, my co-worker then proceeds to say the following: “that women are always trying to pull one over on rich men”, “so many women want to take advantage of mens money”, “women going out with rich and famous men should know what’s ‘expected'”, and some vague statements about women lying about being raped and abused. He also kept asking, “I mean Cee Lo’s rich – he doesn’t need to rape anyone to get laid. Why would he rape some woman? She’s just looking for a payout.”
I had to leave the office and go to lunch early because my blood was boiling. This is someone with a long time girlfriend and children, who was raised by a single mother. It’s gross and offensive that this is his view on women.
I guess what really blew my mind, was that even though you always hear about rape culture, and see instances of it on the news, this was the first time I had heard someone voice that kind of opinion in person.
Wow, your coworker totally buys into the very (and very dangerous) bs Green was fomenting in “F!ck You!” That is … oddly perfect and not at all surprising. Ugh, sorry you had to deal with that.
I swear, there just aren’t enough red flags to go around in this world!
Yes its great. But it sadly won’t last. Give it awhile, and Im sure he’ll have another gig lined up.
I’ve wanted no piece of this guy since that misogynist hit song that made him famous. Glad the chickens are coming home to roost, and my heart goes out to his victims.
/judgey
/hell yes I am
That’s the thing about rapists. They got a whole culture on their side, they’re not only the bad guy cuffed on tv, they are your neighboor who’s got a wife and daughters, they’re your teacher, even you boyfriend. But I see things are changing.
He’s a jerk! Never did like him.
GOOD. I like him as a musician, his work with Gnarls Barkley is stellar, but that only makes me sad, because I refuse to endorse this dipshit. I tend to give ‘alleged’ rapists the benefit of doubt because false rape accusations do happen and they destroy lives whether founded or not, but this sh*tstain all but admitted to his crime. No sympathy. And he has a DAUGHTER.
I always get rather cynical about things like this. In that, perhaps people only get fired or reprimanded if their actions result in loss of earnings. Financial implications trumping moral implications. Perhaps there’s an upside to this – the only way to enact social change is to make things like rape culture unprofitable… Doesn’t actually solve anything though.
Dang, I’m grumpy this Monday afternoon.
Yes, step in the right direction, but it still leaves me…lukewarm. It seems to me that people are more angry over his asinine tweets than the FACT that he DRUGGED and may have raped someone. Then again that’s usually how it is when it comes to stuff like this. Not to mention he’s not that powerful so it’s easier to go against him. It’s a start though so, yay!