Because I still see people defending a woman for trivializing an issue as serious as rape for her own personal gains, and even turning her questionable actions into a trend:
Paul Nungesser was cleared of the charge of rape against Emma Sulkowicz. This was after a seven-month-long investigation. Nungesser openly cooperated with the police after the university’s investigation, and prosecutors declined to pursue the case any further.
Nonetheless, Nungesser was not given a fair trial. He was not allowed to call any witnesses, and he was not allowed to present any evidence.
“He was not allowed to bring up communications between himself and Ms. Sulkowicz after the night in question.“
Sulkowicz had been sending him a barrage of text messages before, during, and even after she accused him of rape. Right in the transcription of the official lawsuit itself, you will find numerous text messages of Sulkowicz proclaiming her “love” to Nungesser, and repeatedly stating how much she “misses” him.
It was Sulkowicz that brought the texts to court. It was HER OWN EVIDENCE that discredited her.
Sulkowicz breached the university’s confidentiality agreement regarding the case. These agreements exist to protect falsely accused students of further defamation.
And yet, Nungesser’s lawsuit is against Columbia University, and not against Sulkowicz.
The two other women that brought accusations against Nungesser are personal friends of Sulkowicz, and made their claims after her story went viral. He was found innocent of these accusations as well.
Sulkowicz did not carry the mattress strictly to make a “statement”. She was receiving class credit for doing so, and has also expressed interest in selling the mattress to a museum. This means that the university gave the okay for a student to publicly humiliate another student after he was already found innocent by a court of law.
Sulkowicz then went on to make a pornographic video out of her alleged “rape” in order to further PROFIT OFF OF IT. Let me repeat that so the people in the back can hear it: SHE SEXUALLY EXPLOITED HERSELF FOR PROFIT.
In this country, false accusations of rape are a legitimate issue (the “2%” number claimed to represent false accusations of rape is horribly incorrect, and should never be cited as genuine).
In this country, we’re actually willing to create legislation that makes it even easier for a man to be convicted of rape with zero evidence. This literally goes against an individual’s legal rights.
In this country, male students are now wary of interacting with female students at all, because they now have a justified fear of having their lives ruined over hearsay.
Because of this, the leading organization devoted to the aid of rape victims now openly discourages the teaching of “rape culture” on college campuses.
In this country, we’re willing to damn a person in nationwide print without even investigating into the truth of the story (and don’t even whine about this being a wiki link, because you damn well know that links to all relevant sources/references are posted at the bottom of the page).
In this country, people are actually willing to create false stories of sexual abuse/assault just for the sake of fleeting internet popularity. Accusations are often lodged against anyone with any level of online “fame”, and sometimes the accuser has already done it multiple times before. Some people will even willingly make up false stories about sexual assault against children.
In this country, a student can end up losing out on a promising career due to a false accusation.
In this country, a man can spend decades in jail due to a false accusation.
In this country, we’ve even deemed it acceptable to kill another person caught in the act of rape.
In this country, a man can be BEATEN TO DEATH BY AN ANGRY MOB due to a false accusation.
All of this in the face of the actual facts and statistics regarding rape, which show that women are safer now than we have ever been before.
But please–continue to insist that we live in a “rape culture” when rape is so despised that a person can even be found innocent of it by a court of law, yet still have their future destroyed. Tell me how this is a “rape culture” when a woman can lie about assault, and actually be rewarded for it, and publicized as a “hero”.
If you’re willing to support someone that will lie about rape, then YOU are part of the problem. YOU are the ones adding to any “culture” regarding rape victims not being taken seriously, because you’re actually APPLAUDING THE KIND OF WOMAN WHO IS GIVING OTHERS A REASON TO BE SUSPICIOUS IN THE FIRST PLACE. I see the same fucking people glorifying this woman for lying about rape that have openly victim-blamed and harassed other victims.
STOP PRETENDING TO GIVE A FUCK ABOUT RAPE VICTIMS, BECAUSE YOU CLEARLY DON’T. WHENEVER A VICTIM DISAGREES WITH YOU, YOU’RE MORE THAN WILLING TO EXPRESS A DESIRE TO PHYSICALLY HARM THEM, OR ACTIVELY TRY TO HAVE THEM HARMED BY SOMEONE ELSE. YOU ONLY GIVE A FUCK ABOUT HAVING SOMETHING TO VALIDATE YOUR OWN PERSONAL RESENTMENT, REGARDLESS OF WHO HAS TO SUFFER FOR IT.
A former feminist who’s bloody sick of other women that can’t just appreciate how much we’ve accomplished, and how absurdly privileged we actually are.
