posted by Sam Richards
So here’s an article that will surely raise the blood pressure of some of you. It’s about men and sports and accusations of misconduct and women and power and jumping to conclusions. Yeah…all of that.
You really just need to read the article, but before YOU jump to a conclusion, consider how often you do so without knowing all of the facts. In an honest society, one where people actually lived the adage “innocent before proven guilty,” you’d have no opinion when you hear that someone has been accused of some misdeed.
OK…so i just read a bunch of responses to this blog. Please consider the following: imagine how you might engage in unwanted sex (i.e., be “assaulted”) but not immediately say anything because you are trying to convince yourself that what just happened didn’t really happen, that it was really consensual, that you enjoyed it, that it’s not a big deal, and so on. Imagine that you try to supress the experience but then a week or two later realize that you cannot do that. This is extremely common and may be what happened with this woman. I say this because I’m struck by the large number of you who think this woman is “evil” but still don’t know a damn thing about what happened.
Clearly the author of the piece isn’t standing behind the idea that people are innocent until proven guilty; she is allowing her anger to drive her ideas. But then, she makes a provocative point about coming to the defense of people we don’t even know and would never know if we were not celebrity sycophants. (Okay, it’s not really the right word but it feels good.)
In any case, her main idea is one that is worth considering. Why? Just read the comments that are linked to this video:
So now check out the nine comments from this same video that I pulled from the YouTube site:
What a stupid fuckin whore. Bitches like that make it hard for real sexual assault victims to find justice. On top of that, she couldve ruined his life with this lie. If there is justice, this bitch will pay. I dont want her to get hurt, but she should spend time in prison or at least a mental ward.
She did not repor to police because they do a physical exam to confirm her claim and like craigblast said will charge her with a crime if lying. this a bogus claim. nothing can be proved here
This is a bunch of Crap! This was a casual enounter at best between a man an a woman that lead to more. He did nothing wrong but be a popular athlete and she is a gold digger! How lame is that, i was “raped” but i wont report it to police because im afraid the casino will fire me, HAVE A SPINE AND STAND UP FOR YOURSELF IF ITS TRUE
She tells the Hotel Security Guards but didn`t tell the Cops? No why? because she was smart, filing a fake police report is a crime, so what she did was tell the Hotel Security just so she can say she reported the crime. Now after the charges were dismiss she`s trying to save face and make Ben look bad by wanting him to donate money to the Abused women Association. How many women if they were really raped would just want an apology? Or just sue for $400,000, when Ben is worth a $100,000,000?
what is it with americans fucking trying to sue everybody? get your own fucking money stupid woman!
What a bitch trying to set him up like that.
set up!
she must be a browns fan
Civil suits like this should not be a loud [sic] without a criminal trail first.
Stupid fuckin’ whore? Bitch? Wow. Like these people know the truth about what happened. These comments give the author of the article a great deal of credibility. In fact, it seems to reflect exactly what she’s saying.
It is really appalling to me how insensitive people can be about something that is so personal and life ruining. Rape is a crime that to me is only out done by murder but unlike murder rape is a lot harder to prove and so most of the time rapists are freed. The society that we live in now puts women a very tough position where they are suppose to appear sexy and confident but still be virginal but not prude. This is a tough role for anyone to fill because it is completely confusing and most people don’t fit into any let alone all of those characters. Also, I feel that it is an injustice by the courts to allow past behavior into a case like rape. The law is that a woman has the right to say no during every sexual experience, and that even a drunken yes is still a no but if it is found out in court that she was drunk that is used against her? Or that she had a lot of past partners? How are these relevant?
When I worked at the District Attorney’s offices this past summer, I saw all kinds of sexual violence cases and most of the time the women were dragged through this horrible process of tests, testimonies, psychologists, and all kinds of lawyers who picked apart her story and in the end made her feel like she caused this or at least consented to this event. After seeing that I really see why a woman would be hesitant to come forward. And I think it would be even more difficult if the person who raped you was a celebrity who everyone loved…how are you going to win? I don’t know what happened in this case but I don’t think it is right to automatically assume that this woman was lying because she retracted her law suit. She was probably just coming to terms with the odds of her winning and the ordeal she would have to endure. How would you feel if a crime was committed against you but there was no proof, you would be judged by your past, and in the end you would still be on the receiving side of people’s criticisms? I would take a step back too.
It deeply upsets me to see people how vicious people are on the topic of rape. These people have no idea what this celebrity is like and they have even less of an idea what this woman is like but they feel that they deserve an opinion. And the one comment that “O she must be a braves fan,” trivialized such a personal thing that this woman might have gone through. I feel that that is harsher than calling her a slut. In conclusion people should be more open to situations and not assume that the news is telling them the whole story or at least show a bit of class and keep out of it.
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This is such an extremely delicate subject that it’s hard to even get started on this one. On one hand it’s hard to fathom some people who don’t take this stuff seriously, but then on the other hand is it really the person talking, or just a sports fan. Athletes and the law have always been controversial, and always will be. People will always think that athletes get away with more than they should. However, sexual assault cases are an entirely different subject.
The problem with this is the lack of knowledge of the situation. Often the media fails to report all of the facts in a case like this, especially against an athlete. The police may also conceal certain information from the public, which also puts another spin on everything. So most of the time, people are coming to conclusions without all of the facts. They see their heroes on TV begging everyone to believe them that this is a lie. Because of their status in society, most people do believe them. No one wants to believe that their favorite player screwed up, and they fail to realize that it does happen.
I think something else that plays a big part in this whole thing is past accusations. Countless times I can remember accusations from women against famous athletes of rape, but yet none were found to be credible. The Duke Lacrosse case, Kobe Bryant, in both cases the accuser had a questionable past. They had varying stories. They didn’t appear to be credible. Now, even if someone may be credible and telling the truth, we immediately write them off as lying and trying to get the athletes money. Unfortunately, all of these things add up in the public’s eyes, and this causes people to just assume this was another one of those instances.
On the other side, this is also unfortunate for the players though as well. Although they don’t get convicted in court, in the eyes of public opinion, all of this stuff is negative. One could argue that they should never have put themselves in this situation, and are probably right, but then do athletes now have to make sure they know the person wont accuse them of anything before they get into that situation? It is a really tough call and could really go either way.
In Roethlisberger’s case I don’t know enough details to make a judgment. I don’t want to jump to conclusions, but it did seem like the woman who accused Big Ben could have been credible. Now I don’t know what to believe about the stories of, “oh I didn’t tell anyone because of X” but besides that, it doesn’t seem like she is trying to make money off of Big Ben. Asking only for an apology and admitting that he did it, tells me she really wasn’t looking to make money off of it. Now it could also be argued that she was only saying that, knowing he wouldn’t accept, to help her image. For me, there are really too many unknowns in this latest athlete rape case. It will be interesting to see how this one plays out and to see if Big Ben is vindicated like so many of the other athletes have been.
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All my life, I have always been a huge football fan. Love watching it, and have a decent amount of respect for the people who can play this game at its highest level. While there are a lot of players who live relatively normal lives, who play the game and are genuinely good people, there is also a group of players, not just in football, but any sport, who ride the high of their abilities and fame, and use it as a warrant to live by a set of morals and policies that deviate from the generally held beliefs of society. In many cases, they are things that really are not that bad, but are still looked down upon, like rude behavior, but it can also stretch into the spectrums of crime, especially including sexual assault. However, as a result of the misconduct of some players in this area, it has led to cases of false accusation on the part of the accuser against certain athletes of sex crimes like rape. By no means am I saying that every woman who accuses an athlete of rape is making it up as a means to procure fame and fortune, many cases do have legitimate grievances and should be take seriously, and not as a false report or a cry for monetary gains. What I am saying though, is that as a result of legitimate claims, illegitimate ones have arisen, where they are often brought into the light as lies. As a result of this, it has become harder for women with real claims of sexual assault against athletes to gain credibility within the legal system, general population and media. In the case of Ben Roethlisberger, I really don’t know whether to believe him , and that he is innocent, or the claims of sexual assault by Andrea McNulty. Before I get into this, that while I respect Big Ben as a football player, as a person I think he tends to act like an ass hole and is kind of an idiot (i.e. why use the brakes on a motorcycle at an intersection, when you can stop yourself with your unprotected head and face on opposing traffic). Also, while I am not a Steeler’s fan I have no problem what so ever with the team, not my division, not my conference. Back to the my main point though, I am really not sure what to look at or believe in this case. Saying that because she did not immediately report the assault does not mean that she made this up. A lot of women who are sexually assaulted will not necessarily immediately, if ever, report the acts that have been committed against them, for numerous legitimate reasons. However, it does seem a little weird to me that the first group of people she did report this as an assault to would be the hotel security. However, aside from removing the potential repercussions for failing a false police report, who she first reported it to really means nothing. Seeking punitive damages through a law suit, though it may look bad to some on her part, is her right to do if she feels she has been truly wronged through the actions of Roethlisberger. If the evidence exists, and Big Ben did what she said he did, go for the punitive damages. On the other side, if not enough evidence exists for a criminal trial, it is going to look a little worse on her part, in being a money grubbing whore and all. On a final thought, which may or may not get me in trouble, if Big Ben was not playing football, I could see him being a rapist, just saying he kind of gives off that vibe. Everyone have a good weekend, and have a great time tomorrow wathching Penn State beat Michigan.
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This blog has a couple of interesting points in it that all need to be addressed. The case against Ben Roethlisberger is one of those points, but I will get to that later. The first problem that needs to be addressed is the responses on the video. Some of them, such as “must be a Browns fan,” are attempts at humor that is a little too dark for some people’s taste, but others, like calling Ben’s accuser a whore or gold-digger, are things just plain out of line. I do not know if Ben Roethlisberger raped this woman or not, but people need to stop hiding behind user names and calling out other human beings that they know nothing about. I wonder if these people would be able to post some of the things they are writing if they used their real names rather than some made up nonsense that cannot be traced back to them.
Another point is the case against Roethlisberger itself. Like I said before I have no idea if he is guilty or innocent, but I have to wonder if these people leaving such harsh remarks would be sticking up for him if not for the Super Bowl rings he has on his fingers. If this were Ryan Leaf or some other NFL bust they might be inclined to give the accuser their chance to speak rather than dismiss them immediately. The fact that the woman would drop the charges with a simple acknowledgement of the sexual assault and an apology makes it seem as if she is not the gold-digger or attention junkie that people make her out to be. This case brings me back to a couple of years ago, when Kobe Bryant was accused of raping a woman. I am from the same area of Pennsylvania as Kobe and I remember at the time feeling shock. Then it turned out the woman was only in it for the money and I think that her case made it hard for people like Ben Roethlisberger’s accuser to be taken seriously.
Another thing about this blog was that before this post, I had almost completely forgotten there was a case against Ben Roethlisberger at all. It’s amazing how once the athlete starts to play (and in Ben’s case play very well), the accusations take a back seat to wins and losses. It’s similar to Chargers linebacker Shawne Merriman and his incident with reality star Tila Tequila or when he was suspended for taking steroids. Once he got back on the field, fans forgot all about it. You can look at Philadelphia, where it seems that all the hysteria surrounding the Eagles when they signed Michael Vick has gone away. I’m not saying that these people, especially Vick who paid his debt to society in prison, don’t deserve to play or should be ostracized. I just wonder how their cases would be dealt with if they didn’t play professional sports.
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This is a difficult topic to argue about because it’s all speculation. No one knows what happened yet besides Roethlisberger and the alleged victim-Andrea McNulty, and they might be the only people who will ever know for sure. This case will never be seen through neutral eyes because of the fame of the alleged attacker and the strong public opinion it has garnered.
It’s not fair that the public immediately draws conclusions about the woman’s reasons for pressing chargers or waiting to go to the police, but it happens. When fans see their heroes blamed or “victimized,” they will instantly have their backs, even if it means ignoring the truth or simply not knowing all of the facts. It’s almost like a mother defending her son no matter what because that’s what you do when you’re family. The problem with this is that in the case of a professional football player, a large portion of the public – and especially the media – is acting like his family and defending him, which influences legal actions and traumatizes the victim (if the woman is in fact a victim).
The “whore” and “bitch” comments that are used to describe McNulty are so uncalled for when no one knows what happened. It is unfortunate that they are taking past cases of women falsely accusing athletes and assuming that McNulty is doing the same thing. Apparently, the fact that she went to the hotel security instead of the police and waited a year before filing chargers means she’s lying. How many people who have been saying this have been raped? How do they know that’s a viable option? That’s the part that pisses me off the most…how can you tell someone to “have a spine and stand up for yourself” after being raped? No, you don’t know why she did anything; no one does, so stop acting like it.
On the flip side, if McNulty is lying, then she should pay for her false accusations. By bringing this case to the public, she would have damaged Roethlisberger’s reputation and mentality. If she is another woman falsely accusing an athlete to get money, then she is just proving everyone right and giving them more reasons to treat other women the same way. There is really nothing else to say until all of the facts are presented. One of them is lying and it is up to the legal system to determine which one.
In the meantime, the public should stop casting judgment and blame on both of these people without knowing the facts. In the larger picture, people are not going to stop defending the people they look up to. Athletes will always be idolized and defended, no matter what the case. People will ignore and disregard facts just to prove that their idols are what they want them to be.
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I feel that rape is a very sensitive topic, and yes, it did “raise the blood pressure” of some. You can call me whatever you want, but I really believe that a man cannot understand what it’s like for a woman to be raped. It’s just not possible. Guys, you can try your hardest and might be able to get an idea of how it makes a gal feel, but just like with race, you will never know what it’s like to be on the “other side.” And I’m the first person to say, following the previous statement, that women will also have a hard time completely understanding what it’s like to deal with rape unless it’s happened to them. Like many others, this situation is one that requires a similar experience to be able to begin to understand what it’s like to have to deal with the after effects. And even if two women are empathizing with each other about their rapes or sexual abuse, they’re all going to be different, I can guarantee that.
Back to the big picture though. If our society did not favor men, yes, favor the males, would the press and media about this unfortunate event and others like it be different. Duh. Of course it would. But does anyone put that into perspective. Under ANY circumstances, fabricated or not, if a woman has the ‘balls’ to speak out about something that personal and painful, and she is PUBLICALLY degraded and accused of other crimes, it sends a message to ALL women in our society (consciously and unconsciously) that they will be punished for TRYING to get help. PUNISHED because THEY WERE RAPED. No wonder so many women don’t report rapes, there’s no guarantee anyone’s going to believe them AND the rapes that they’ve heard about (through the news) resulted in the most embarrassing/worst situation the person has/ever will face.
When you look at it that way the whole thing is ridiculous. Should our society really be sending this message out to the world? That if you’re raped and tell about it, the situation is only going to get worse than you thought possible. Yeah, I didn’t think so.
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The article written by this woman is accurate towards some points but in my opinion is way too sympathetic towards women who were allegedly raped by sports stars Kobe Bryant and Ben Roethlisberger. When the author of this article brought up the situation that happened between the female football player at the University of Colorado and her teammates I thought she was on point with her assessment. I remember watching the press conference where the coach called out the rape victim, one of his players, saying she was harassed because she was a bad player and the other teammates didn’t respect her. Obviously they didn’t respect her, she was a member of their team and they raped her; the only thing more despicable than that was the reaction to it from Colorado. She was considered to have brought shame upon the university. This girl, regardless of how good of a football player she was didn’t deserve what she got and to shun her because of it is a disgrace.
One thing I didn’t like about this article, I thought she might have been over critical about, was the way she spoke about the Kobe Bryant rape case where he was found not guilty. She spoke about this like he got away with something, that’s a ridiculous clam to make. It was well documented in the case that the alleged victim got around. You’re telling me she had sex 10 times in the two weeks before the alleged rape and then turned down one of the biggest stars in all of sports? That’s absurd to even attempt to say Kobe could have been guilty in this case. Kobe paid this girl off not because he was guilty and didn’t want to go to jail, but rather because he didn’t want to deal with a court case in the middle of basketball season. She didn’t mind, money was all she was looking for from the first place.
This case with Ben Roethlisberger is more of the same. Sure, I wasn’t there, I don’t know what happened, and surely it’s possible that big Ben did rape this girl. However, the fact that she’s willing to drop the case in return for an apology would lead you to believe that this alleged rape was more of a consensual act among them.
This is the world we live in; there are people who are evil, willing to do anything for money, including making a mockery of real sexual abuse victims. This act, however despicable, does occur in some instances. It’s a shame because this makes true victims of sexual abuse less likely to admit there abuse in fear of being shunned or considered to be a liar or gold digger.
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Our author’s article is a hard hitting one that is really going for the jugular in calling out the sports misogyny apologists and others, as is evident. This did not surprise me. They need to be called out. The comments from the video do startled me a bit. I would not have expected such harsh words by people who have little, in fact, no knowledge of what really happened. As a man, I could say I am ashamed of the light this shines on our gender, but I’m not going to say that. What I will say is it pisses me the hell off, that’s what it does.
Here in this society and in many other societies men are viewed as the defenders and protectors of their family and significant others, as sexist as it may be, this is how things work at this moment. For a young woman to even think that she has been raped or anything like that sheds a stark and blinding light on our society, showing us that we haven’t advanced anywhere. What kind of culture do we have when a young lady who doesn’t show any signs of vindictiveness brings forth an accusation of being victimized has zero credibility the court of public opinion, just because the person she is accusing is a high profile figure? This shows how fucking warped our society and sports culture is and that is a tragic observation.
The focal point of this issue is that one human being is charging another human being of a crime against human decency. It does not matter that the first individual is a hotel casino employee and that the other is a high profile athlete. That does not matter at all because when the charge is that provocative social stature doesn’t mean squat. Yes, the counter argument can be made and probably will be made, that since Rothlisberger is a man of wealth then this young lady is just in it for his money. Yes, the counter argument can also bring forth the Kobe Bryant case of his accuser having multiple sex partners prior to her having sexual intercourse with Kobe so the degree of her charges stood no chance because her character was now in question. The counter argument to this Rothlisberger issue has substantial ammo it can use which is why the “sports misogyny apologists” are so quick to jump in defence of their “idols”.
No way am I trying to twist the blame unto the young ladies who accuse sports stars of these vile misdeeds. I’m just showing how one bad apple can ruin the bunch. Still, even with that observation I’m just as awe struck as ever with the venomous comments that followed the video on RRP. To think that in defence of their sports hero people would attack an individual they do not know from a ham sandwich so personally just amazes me. However, when we as individuals get so caught up into the lives of multimillion dollar athletes playing childhood games, and take on those athletes, many who we have never met, much less grown up with, as our “own” then maybe I shouldn’t be so awestruck.
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After reading the article, “Men of the World Unite… Before It’s Too Late,” I was surprised how people acted to such a controversial situation. First off, I feel like the women who is crying “rape” has no intentions but to get money from a wealthy athlete. How can you be raped by someone, let alone a multi-millionaire, and not report it to the police but instead just the hotel security. Never file a criminal complaint? It just doesn’t make sense. If she really did get victimized she would be dealing with it a complete opposite way. For her to say she’ll drop the charges if Ben admits the rape, apologizes, and donates $100,000 to a women’s foundation is just asinine. If he really did such a bad act, then go to the cops and do as much as you can to punish him, not ask for donations and a public apology. I just don’t get it. Throughout the last couple years there have been a plethora of similar cases where athletes or celebrities are targeted in such cases as rape. A fun consensual time could turn into a legal and social nightmare for any star. It isn’t fair that women across our nation continue to use this excuse to scavenge money or compensation from people who have actually made their wealth in a decent way. It’s time to put an end to this bullshit and realize that stupid women like this are only in it for the money and the spotlight, something they wouldn’t have if it weren’t for their lies and false accusations. A man like Ben Roethlisberger has no desire to rape a girl when he could get any female he possibly wanted. He’s a multi-millionaire Super bowl Champion, so come on ladies give him a break.
However, after reading the comments that were posted on the YouTube video I was disappointed in how people could just talk about someone like the way they did. By calling this women a Fuckin whore or a Bitch doesn’t make sense. They don’t know the whole story and don’t know what this woman actually went through. Even though I believe she was doing this for money/ publicity stunt, still people should respect her by not calling her such derogatory names within the comments. People need to take a step back and look at it from everyone’s perspective before just accusing one person.
One may also argue that the stereotypical wealthy athlete or celebrity is the one to blame for their never-ending ego and the way they act as if the world is theirs to do whatever they desire. Athletes sometimes put on the “invincibility” act as if nothing can harm them, but it is times like these where they are proven wrong. Both sides of this story need to be understanding of each other, and people need to stop just judging people without understanding the whole situation.
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I do appreciate people’s opinions on things that are going on in this country but people need to have all the facts before they start bitching about others. These comments are not helping the situation at all. Most of these people are just sticking behind their celebrity because they think they know him and he might be important to their football team. Celebrities should never be judged differently then any other person in this country or world. This woman could be tragically harmed by this experience and these comments cannot be helping if she is telling the truth. I don’t know anything about this case except for the things show in the video, that doesn’t give me the right to assume she is a whore or someone that is just trying to get money.
Being a man who hasn’t been sexually assaulted in my life, I don’t understand the pain or the mental issues that come with sexual assault. I am sure though that it has to be very painful and confusing. This woman, if she is telling the truth, is probably more confused because of the celebrity status of the Ben. The celebrity aspect of the assault probably affected the reason she didn’t go to the cops. Could the casino have advised her not to go to the cops? Every thing is a possibility because I don’t really know anything about the situation. I wonder how much the people who commented actually know about the situation. There are many scenarios that would make a good reason for this woman to not go the police. It is really that hard to believe that the girl was scared and just didn’t want to be brought the spotlight of the media?
The only thing that seems questionable is that she did come out to the media and is now requesting money. It seems when a celebrity does something wrong all these people want is money. I am not saying that they might not deserve it but is money the only important thing in life. This instance might have caused her a lot of head trauma and she might need counseling. If you need money to get past the instance for medical reason, then I fine with that. This doesn’t always seem the case; many victims just want loads of money. Another thing that could be possible is that she had to go to the media for someone to listen to her. I would think victims want to keep things quiet but that might not always be possible.
My opinion on this situation is that it sucks for both parties. It really sucks that these people’s comments aren’t really considering her side of the story. The media is not always polite and people have to consider this every time they bring something to light. I am not trying to say don’t let these incidents be told but I am trying to say be careful before you tell the media. The media could make the situation worse.
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This is an interesting situation. If this woman is telling the truth (which is extremely doubtful) she handled reporting this “sexual assault” in a horrible way. She works at the hotel and only told hotel security never reporting this crime to the police. Why would you not report a crime like this to the police? That decision ruined all her chances of people believing her. In my eyes any logical person can put this story together. Big Ben is staying in Sin city for a golf tournament he probably goes spends his football fortunes gambling, getting drunk etc. He then starts talking to this woman at the hotel she is probably all about him because he is Ben Roethlisberger. They then go back to the room and something happens either sex or rape. The woman realizes what is happening reports it to hotel security and wants to take this opportunity to get some money. She handled reporting the situation in the wrong way and no one is going to take her side because Roethlisberger is rich as hell and gets way more respect than any hotel employee would. I should maybe look at this situation from both sides but, I really can’t even think of what this woman could be defending. Even if Ben did rape her there is not enough evidence to prove this and, as much as I hate to say it, Ben is probably famous enough to get away with something like this. Ben has tons of money, sports fans love him, he is known to crash motorcycles but, basically has a good boy reputation, the majority is probably going to side with the sports star. Sorry lady this is almost and impossible case to win, especially if there is no hard evidence. If Ben did rape this woman he is doing a good job lying about it I really haven’t heard a lot about this on ESPN which usually obsesses of these kind of criminal charges. It is really hard to sue a sports star and win the case I mean OJ Simpson got away with murder.
Anyway, the YouTube comments are pretty outrageous. These comments really show how much people support famous athletes. The truth seems clear but, no one except Ben and hotel lady really know what happened. This woman is not a bitch, whore, or slut but, it was kind of dumb of her not to report this to police (if it really did happen). I do have to agree with one comment that says “get a spine and stand up for what you believe in.” How bad could it have been if she did not report this to the actual police, saying the hotel would fire you is a bogus excuse. This really boils down to one thing what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. I am not saying it is ok to rape someone but, all the evidence points in favor of Ben there is really nothing else for this woman to prove. It just seems like this woman is begging for money now and no one believes her. I think it is time to give up and walk away this woman should be happy she had a one night stand with Ben Roethlisberger.
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I personally think that in the spirit of “innocent until proven guilty,” there isn’t very much of a story here. Not to belittle such serious topics, but this is certainly not an uncommon accusation against a sports star. I really believe that if you wait two weeks to report something like this, it’s your own damn fault if no charges come from it. After this amount of time, any respectable lawyer could get the case dismissed. She will no longer have any evidence on her side, not even evidence of ANY sexual encounter with Ben. At this point it is down to a she said / he said situation, something that I really can’t imagine she will win. This is exactly the same situation that Austin Scott was put through and I saw first hand how devastating it was to him. It not only ended his college football career, but destroyed his NFL draft hopes. Being that I have meet Austin on many occasions and discussed this with him, I feel pretty safe in saying that Austin Scott was the victim in his case (mainly based off of the prior history of the girl making the accusations). And with this kind of thing happening with mild regularity and frequently panning out the way Austin Scott’s case did, I’m not at all surprised that many people are quick to defend Ben and are skeptical of the whole situation. Honestly, not to sound like a dick or anything, but regardless of who is being accused of the crime I would be skeptical. It is just a sketchy situation when you wait two weeks to accuse someone of something as serious as this, not to mention the lack of evidence. “Innocent until proven guilty” is the perfect statement for it. Once someone shows me some kind of evidence that it happened, even that the two of them were together and had some kind of sexual encounter, then I would be a little less skeptical, but still not decided either way. But as it stands right now, the women provides no compelling evidence to take her side to begin with (and like I said before, this is completely independent of who the accusation is against). And I don’t mean this at all in the “stupid fucking whore” kind of way like some people seem to, I just think that unless you can provide some compelling evidence of a crime, you should know you are wasting your time. But the one thing that sets this apart is that she can’t make such empty accusations without dragging someone who is in the public eye through the mud. Oh and by the way, the Steelers are overrated. Let’s go Flyers (I’m not a football guy…).
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I think the topic for discussion here is very touchy. I remember all the contraversy surrounding Roethlisberger, and I do have my own opinions about it. Right off the bat I would like to point out that in my opinion no one truly knows what happened here. Yes it is possible that the accuisations she made were true, but me personally, i dont think she was legitamite. I mean, me being a man, I find it hard to beleive that a man with Roethlisberger’s credentials would have any problem finding women to date/have sex with/ talk with, or whatever else she accused him of doing. I am not ignoring the fact that yes, many pro athletes probobaly abuse thier power sometimes, and yes these types of things probably do occur often. The first thing that popped into my head when heard this story on ESPN was a similar situation a guy from my high school was in. He was actually at Penn State, and a member of the football team. I knew this kid for years and despite being a large individual, he always had a huge heart and was sort of a big “teddy bear” when he wasnt on the football field. He was at a party, and there was an altercation between him and another male, which resulted in a female who was with this other male accusing him of striking her. Anyone who knows this kid knows deep down he wouldnt do something like that. He was exepelled from Penn State because of the incident, without ever legiamately being charged with anything. If you ask me, I dont think he did anything wrong and it is just a tough situation. Look also at former Penn State Running Back Austin Scott, who during his senior season was accused of raping a woman. These acuisations later turned out to be completely false, but due to the bad repuataion he got form the incident no NFL teams would take a chance on him, so it really screwed him. He was recently in the news because he is now filing a lawsuit againt the woman for her false acuisations. These types of things happen all the time to athlete’s, and more times than not they usually end up being false, like what happened to Kobe Bryant. Now, as far as the comments on the video that were made by people, calling the woman in the Roethlisberger case derogatory things, i think those people are definately out of line. There is no need for that at all. So to sum up my take on all this, I think if a woman accuses an Athlete of such things, and if she knows deep down they are true, she should hire a lawyer and take the man to court. Maybe the rich athlete will have a better lawyer and get a reduced sentence or even nothing at all, who knows. It is just the male in me saying that I think most of the times these stories arent true. I would be willing to bet if i were a female I would feel totally different, but thats something I have no control over.
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I feel incredibly sorry for this woman, whether or not she did or didn’t actually get raped. I feel that yes, many rape victims do not go to the police right away because they just suffered a traumatic experience and that is not the first thing on their mind (to go to the police). However, I feel that attempting to cope with what happened or trying to deny it is more so on their mind.
This may be just as bad as people stereotyping the woman, saying that she is lying and is just trying to get money, but I feel that many athletes and/or famous people in general have some serious issues. With that being said, it should not be automatically said that this woman is a liar or she is evil and just wants the players money. Maybe people should think about this case in another way as well. Maybe the player did rape the woman and knew that what has been said was going to be said, and that most people would not believe the woman. These people are not dumb.
Look at R&B singer R.Kelly. There is pretty much proof that had raped and actually peed on a young girl, but is he in jail? No. Sick, but labeled as innocent man. And what about people like Michael Vick? Animal cruelty? Now, he wound up in jail, and is now back to playing football, but look at what he did! I strongly believe that celebrities have a lot of screws loose and need them tightened. Don’t blame the poor woman! I am not saying that she was definitely raped, I am just saying that there is a fifty/ fifty possibility that she was, not one hundred percent!
I am aware that there are and were woman that accused famous people with money of raping them when they actually did not, but that does not mean that all woman are doing this! There has to be some women who are not lying! Overall, cases like these really just suck! They make men think negatively about women, and what is even sadder is that they make women think negatively about other women. Shame =[. These cases go to show both the strength and weaknesses of women by showing that women are strong enough to actually (no matter how much longer after) go to the police, and also show that some women will automatically believe that the woman is lying.
I think that it is all about one’s experience when it comes to things like sexual assault. If someone has been sexual assaulted themselves or knows someone who has, then I am sure that they will have a different perspective on the case than someone who has never experienced it or does not know someone who has.
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This type of alleged rape claims against a famous athlete have become somewhat of common thing the past few years. It seems that every year there is a woman who comes out saying that she was raped by some famous male athlete. We saw Kobe Bryant get accused of it a couple of years ago and now we see the same thing happening to Ben Rothlisberger of the Steelers. In both of these cases, as soon as the information was released, both of these men were basically convicted by the public. Everyone thought they were already guilty before any type of real investigation was complete. Is this the treatment that people who are accused of a crime should receive? Or is this treatment received for famous athletes and celebrities? Although I do agree that athletes are looked at like gods in this country, I do not believe they should receive such unfair treatment, especially if you look at the track record of women who accuse these men of rape. A lot of these claims have been dismissed by the person who makes the allegations and some of them are not even brought in court. Some of the women just contact the athlete and try to get some compensation that way.
On the other hand rape is a very serious crime and these accusations should not just be thrown out. Women who actually do get raped need to come out and say something, but the women who are just looking for some money hurt the chances for the actual victims to get justice. They create roadblocks because of the few who “cry wolf”, make it that much more difficult for the real victims. These women who have been raped should not be stopped by their employer like this woman. I think it is completely absurd that Harrah’s told this girl to drop the claims and that she should be lucky for sleeping with a guy like Ben Rothlisberger. This type of behavior is completely unacceptable for such a big company. They should be standing behind their employee and backing her claims, not trying to hide them. I also do not think that half the comments about her being a whore and skank are warranted at all. No girl should ever have to go through such a terrible act and calling this girl terrible names cannot be good for her well being. I am a guy who firmly believes that a girl never provokes rape or any of that bullshit. Some guys say she would get what she deserved but that is just inexcusable. Whether or not this girl did get raped or not, she by no means would have “gotten what she deserved”
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It’s very hard for me to be able to relate to the victim in this story. I’ve never been raped, and I don’t know how it feels or what I would do in that situation. I would like to think that if I were in this situation, I would immediately be informing the police, and anyone that would listen that I was raped, and exactly who did it. It’s hard for me to see that I would not do that and I would keep my mouth closed if I didn’t believe in my heart that I was in fact, raped. Then again, that’s just me, and that’s the way I deal with things, and it may be a whole lot different for other people. When I read the comments that people have left on YouTube over this video, it just confirms all of my beliefs of how society views women. Women are viewed as weak, and often categorized as “sluts” or “whores” if they were to sleep around with different men. Men on the other hand are viewed as “pimps” or “the man” when it comes to sleeping around with different women. I think that the way people are treating this woman all relates back to that kind of mentality. Women will never be good enough for society; men will always be viewed as more powerful and in charge. And if the man says that this never happened, then it didn’t happen, and that woman is just a “gold digger slut”. I hate that this is the way men view women and often times, women view other women, but that is just the reality of society. Then again, there are people out there that would stoop to this level, so it is hard to make a claim on whether this woman is lying or not. And on another note, why is this woman a “slut” just because she had sex with this man? She was immediately labeled as a “slut” regardless of the person she is, just based on the fact that she had sexual intercourse with him. It’s extremely frustrating that this mentality is continuously brought out by society. It also goes both ways. Some women use this to their advantage. Some women out there will have sex with their boss in order to move up, or have sex with an older man that has a lot of money in order to gain that money. So, once again, it is hard to say that this woman is lying or she is not lying. In all honesty, this is just a sad story to me. It’s a vague view of how woman are treated in the world today and how society often views them.
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I remember when this issue hit the press a little while back. It was really interesting to me back home, since casinos are everywhere, and their interactions with employees are fairly common knowledge to the locals. Granted, I don’t live in Reno, but the casinos are all owned by the same companies – and the smaller ones take a lot, if not all, of their policies from the larger corporations. So to me, when I heard that the female who was allegedly raped said she was afraid of telling the cops because she thought she’d lose her job, I was instantly skeptical. If she went to a lawyer after her job for reporting a rape, no matter who the assailant was, that lawyer and every other lawyer in the state would be groveling to take on the case. Never mind suing Roethlisberger, because the money she’d make from suing her former employer alone would make her beyond set for life.
That said, I understand the feelings that come along with being raped. Well, as much as someone who’s never been raped and is male can. I’ve heard that first comes a period of trying to rationalize, trying to change the experience in one’s mind, and finally acceptance, if it ever comes. So if it did happen – and I’m not saying it did or didn’t – I can understand why it would have taken her some time to report it officially.
I found the article interesting. Personally, I was surprised the idea of innocent until proven guilty wasn’t a central element to the story. The author could have made a point that all those who have been on the losing end of athlete’s preferential treatment deserved a fighting chance. Regardless, the article made a good point. For some odd reason, it is always the woman’s fault. Why is that? I can’t say I’ve ever heard of, nor do I think I ever will, who wanted or invited rape. Sure, those who dress scantily might be inciting more attention than others, but in no way are they asking to be raped. So if this is the case, why is the woman always blamed? I still haven’t figured that out.
Which makes the name calling and accusations seem even more absurd. This woman, assuming this actually happened, didn’t ask for this. So how does that make her all the names she was called? It doesn’t. Personally, I don’t think it happened. To me, too many of the facts just don’t add up. Maybe it did happen, but if it did, I don’t think all the facts have been presented. Because of that, all we have is this skewed perspective – making it hard to know or decide. But if this actually happened or not, I do know that the lady at least deserves the respect not to be called a whore while she recovers mentally, be it from the trauma of rape or the embarrassment of being a fraud.
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The only two people that know the truth about what happened that night in that hotel room are the woman and Ben Roethlisberger. All we can do is speculate about what happened by looking into previous cases. We can call Roethlisberger a rapist and said he took advantage of the woman or we can say that it was consensual and the woman really is a “stupid fucking whore.” Who knows? However, we can look at the situation and be sympathetic to both sides of the story because once again who the fuck knows what really happened. The person who made the comment on the YouTube clip did not give this woman a chance. When a women is violated, they are scared and do not know what to do. They do not want to bring a burden to their family, their name, and just people in general. She did not want to be known as the woman who was raped by Ben Roethlisberger. The commentator of the YouTube clip must realize the confusion and the toils that are going through the woman’s mind just right after the incident. She cannot make a decision right after the event. She will sit with this situation and try to lie to herself and say she was not raped and that everything is okay. However all lies stink, you can cover them up for a while but they will eventually get out. The pain and violation she felt made her come about and tell her story to the authorities. On the other hand, she could be a gold digger looking for attention and money. There are a lot of sick people out there that just want to be near a famous person and young ignorant women just want to fuck someone powerful but she did not know what she was getting herself into. As a man, I know how horny a man can get especially after a few drinks. Ben Roethlisberger might have been aggressive and this women might of liked the thought of this powerful man taking an interest in her and decided to adjourn up to the bedroom with him. However, once the door was shut and locked her fate was sealed. Now we must examine what exactly is the definition of rape. Once again I am just speculating but I am sure Roethlisberger did not hold her down and raped her as she was crying and kicking and screaming. She probably took the responsibility of going upstairs to the room with him not fully understanding what she was getting herself into. Roethlisberger most likely wanted to have sex with her but he already made his move. The sex probably happened, which she did not want, and than she felt violated so she let the hotel security know. Eventually, the violating feeling became so overwhelming she had to tell the proper authorities. All we can do is speculate and hopefully the truth will come out and that men and women alike can learn from these numerous situations that occur every year in our world.
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It is really humorous to myself to see how people react to different situations. Almost none of the responses were positive. The situation is obviously very difficult, let alone when they deal with celebrities. There is always numerous stories about women trying to get with famous men. It is so hard to tell what is real and what is not.
It is proven that women who have been sexually assaulted do not come out to the police. It is more common for them to reveal this information to a support group. If she was just trying to become famous then she would of taken the right percussion by telling the clerk at the front desk of the hotel because if they would of went to the police she would have been tested to an extent and then they would of made Ben Rothlesberger get tested as well. This would then ensure the facts to have little error. So, this case she would consider it at least reported to an extent, then she could refer back to it. Trying to get her name pointed out and her fifteen seconds of fame.
However, once it is not a fluke it is an extremely serious encounter. Women who get raped, abused, and assaulted have a very hard time to build themselves back up. Physically and mentally it is a huge restraint on their image of themselves. They go through a period of uselessness, they don’t feel wanted, their mentality is put on pause because they are so shocked of realizing what happened. About half of women get assaulted, raped, or abused in their lifetime before they are 21. These numbers are huge in itself, however, when it comes to numbers reported it is only about 1/5 of the people reported their incidents. What I find so irrelevant is when a women reports being raped. Many of the actions do not happen. She is simply considered as a number, the men are rarely punished for their actions. Thus, the men who have once raped or assaulted will continue to do it again and again.
Therefore, it is almost pointless for the women to come out and report the accident knowing that nothing eventually will never happen to these men. Leaving the women scared out of their mind. It is a hard world to live in as women, to constantly having to look around the corners, to not walk alone at night and we, as women, should always have a mechanism to keep ourselves protected. For example, mothers load their daughters with pepper spray and different thing to do if someone would be following her. So, going around saying false information is wrong, but if she was not lying then something major needs to be done, and instead of having people curse at her for being a whore, they should be standing up for her.
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I feel as if these types of cases are taken far too lightly anymore. Not only in the sports and famous world but in general. Too many people know people who have gotten raped and it is said as a joke sometimes. It is also sad to think that people will now make such stories up to become known or get money because they know they can. I realize that some of these stories are true and it is very serious and should not be taken lightly. However, the fact that people make stories of rape up is starting to lessen the seriousness of it. This lady could have very well been telling the truth, but the fact that she did not make a criminal case against it makes me question her story. Even as a female, I’m not sure I believe her. And why come out with the case now? What is the difference? On the other side I feel that many celebrities can get away with having sex with many people and have their choice between many people because of who they are. This is extremely sad on their part and on the part of the person they are having sex with. It is unfortunate to think that our society has come to accepting this or at least accepting the fact that many people want to have sex with someone famous. Just to say what? – I hooked up with so and so? Along with saying people that, I feel famous people can also get away with their actions and aren’t blamed as much as someone who isn’t an athlete or actor. It also needs to be said that the rape can go either way – male raping female or female raping male. Who can decide the truth when the only people who know it are Ben Rothlisberger and the woman. In my opinion we should let their conscience be their guides. Along with that – who are all the bloggers to called the woman names and assume what they want to assume. Many of the people who responded to this video are probably Steelers fans. Not to say that you should not support your team and the members on it but if it were Donovan McNabb that the claims were against, I’m sure that the bloggers would have something 100% different to say. And are the bloggers just writing this for effect? If they were in the presence of this woman and met her and talked with her, would they still say the same thing? In some cases possibly, but I doubt it. So I feel different ways about this specific case…I feel that if the claims this woman made were true she should have come out with them right when it happened. But I also feel as if people are undermining others who don’t tell about their rape right away because people might not believe them. After all being raped is extremely serious and real and should be taken seriously.
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It really makes me angry that people just jump to conclusions. It also makes me angry that people just read this entry and comment on it, still jumping the same conclusions as everyone else. Whether this woman is telling the truth or not, she deserves to have a chance to be heard just like anyone else. Rape is a very serious crime and all accusations should be taken extremely seriously. Just because someone is an athlete and a sports “hero” doesn’t mean they are incapable of committing crimes. Assault charges like this need to be dealt with and taken very seriously. They can’t be blown off just because someone is famous. What if it is true? Letting someone get away with rape so easily would be extremely ridiculous and I’m sure if it wasn’t a famous athlete that was involved, the community would be on this woman’s side instead of ganging up against her, or at least more willing to let her have a fair trial! The author of this article makes a good point in saying that the judges and other people involved in the courts live in the same sports culture as the rest of us. Hopefully we can count on those people to be unbiased and take these types of charges seriously.
So many fans act like they personally know these athletes. Honestly though, they do not and don’t know what they might do. If you found out your hero might not be as perfect as you thought, wouldn’t you take another look at the person you admire and reconsider having them as your hero? Apparently this is not the case with athletes. It seems that people would rather just assume it’s not true. I think this is particularly the case with sports teams. No one wants to have a sex offender on their favorite team, and they can’t change their team, so they just ignore it. With other celebrities, like actors or so I think it’s different because there are so many other actors or actresses that they can admire instead. This makes it easier for athletes to get away with things like this and that is unacceptable. In this particular case, the woman even said she would drop the charges if he would just admit it. I really don’t think that someone who was just looking for money or fame would do that. This makes me think this woman is legitimate and just wants people to acknowledge what happened, but no one can let that happen. It makes me sad to think that so many people won’t take her seriously, especially women. It’s even sadder to think that if this woman is telling the truth and no one takes her seriously, this man will get away with a very serious crime and his fans will continue to admire a sex offender. I hope this case gets taken seriously and that the truth is revealed.
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First off, let me just say that I am a Browns fan. I hate the Steelers, and I especially hate Toothlessberger. Aside from that everyone involved in these athlete misconduct reports. Especially those involving rape need to be knocked upside the head. First and foremost, the athlete; you are an idiot. An owner signs you to a contract worth tens of millions of dollars and you give them the metaphorical finger by staying out till five o’clock in the morning at a club and doing something idiotic. There are hundreds of thousands of sports fans that support your franchise, and in essence pay your salary, by buying your jerseys and coming to games. Be thankful that you had the opportunity to play at the highest level and make the big money, and show your thankfulness by staying out of trouble! Every week its something new, just take your head out of the clouds and realize that there are children out there that worship you like a god and want to be just like you. Grow up, mature, and act like an adult. Don’t take some drunk woman back to your hotel and have your way with her because you have a responsibility to make a better decision than that. Even better, do not put yourself in a situation where you have to make that decision.
Women, if you do not want to have sex with someone that you just met at a bar, then it’s probably not the best idea to go home with them. Now I do not fully understand why someone would wait longer than a day or two to go to the authorities if they were raped, but I’ve never been raped and I’m not a psychologist. As an outsider it does seem a little strange to me that a woman who had been raped would refrain from filing a criminal suit against their attacker. You do not want to see him go to jail, but you would like him to give you $400,000? That’s a little strange to me. If there are women out there that would abuse the system and go about, essentially, blackmailing someone to get money; then there are some other issues there that need to be worked out. But, if you are actually being raped and choose to just file a civil lawsuit and lose then that is highly unfortunate. A man took advantage of you and used his high profile to avoid responsibility and that is not justice.
I do not know what the correct answer is in these situations, but the attorneys involved really need to do a better job of representing their clients and guiding them towards the correct lawsuits. I agree with one of the people that commented on the Youtube video that there really ought to be a criminal lawsuit filed before a life changing civil suit like this can be filed.
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I truly find it amazing how so many people can voice such hatred without any real factual information. It is true that many celebrities like Ben Roethlisberger are targeted because of their fame and fortune. They’re in the headlines all the time for alleged rape or statutory rape charges. To group all of these women into one category of liars before a judicial ruling goes against everything our courts stand for. Even though there are so many cases like Roethlisberger’s, each case must be adequately analyzed before I would even feel comfortable voicing my opinion. It seems as if many people are attacking this woman because she refused to go forth with an actual police report. The judicial system in the US has always classified rape as a category one, or most serious offense. It wasn’t until the 50’s through the 70’s that most states abolished the necessity of a “prompt report.” Before this time it was necessary to have the victims chastity brought into the courtroom, the victim had to have a prompt report, and even have a witness to the rape! This just goes to show how terrifying it must have been for a woman to take a rape charge to court. Even today the actual act of reporting a rape crime can be almost as embarrassing and violating as the original act. I never wish for anyone to go through such a horrible experience, so I can at least try and understand why this woman would neglect to report this crime. I’ve heard of cases where many women try and justify their attackers or justify why they won’t report them. In this case the Nevada women claimed that her company would side with the pro football player and she would lose her job. I can’t imagine why anyone would think this other than the trauma of rape could have clouded her judgment. None of this is meant to overlook any of the numerous cases where athletes are unfairly targeted. Sportscasters especially tend to overlook any criminal charges because of athletes image. These professional athletes commit more crimes as their egos get larger. It’s unfair to jump to any conclusion for these athletes or victims. No two cases are ever the same and in many cases the rape is a non-violent offense. It is easy to convict a man who brutally beat and raped his victim, but it becomes so much more difficult to differentiate between an act of coercion and a willing participant whom is looking to gain something out of a trial. In the defense of the Nevada woman, it says a lot to me that she is not looking to obtain any money just an apology and a donation to a charitable organization. However in Roethlisberger’s defense, simply put, there are a lot of people looking for fame even at the dispense of your integrity.
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Athletes and Sexual Assault
Athletes represent the America Dream: doing what you are passionate about and getting paid millions of dollars at the same time. Sports are a part of American life. It gets us through the week knowing that this weekend so and so plays each other or in a month hockey season starts. They are such a part of our life that they become part of our family. For instance I am a Phillies fan, and during the summer I watched every single game at 7 pm on Comcast Philadelphia. I began to identify with these players, enjoying watching them play, and even referring to them on a first name basis. I saw them every night, and they was/still are an intricate part of my life.
Passionate sports fans identify with their teams, and it makes us feel like we’re part of the group. Therefore, when one of them are accused of something, we stand up for them. You’d expect the same reaction from a brother who sees the cops escort away his other brother. We are attached to these men who represent our cities. They are our next door neighbor, our roofers, our brothers in law. Just because they make millions of dollars doesn’t make them less human.
So when they are accused of things like rape or sexual assault, we react as if we were accused of these things. How could this person have done this? They are such nice people. I’ve never been a fan of Ben Roethlesberger, but if he was a Philadelphia Eagle I’d be defending him until the jury handed over a guilty verdict. There is nothing wrong with a support base of a person. We would have our friends speak on our behalf claiming what good people we are. Sports fans simply do this for their players. It doesn’t surprise me at all. If you aren’t a sports fan, of course you are going to see this as a stupid relationship. This is where I think the discord happens. She doesn’t identify with the player.
I think it’s also important to note situations in which the “victims” have ruined players’ careers when in fact they weren’t victims at all. Remember the Duke LaCrosse rape case of about five years ago? Promising young players on the LaCross team getting ready for their season. One day they have rape charges brought against, and the whole world stops. The team’s whole season is suspended due to allegations without even a trial. It was proved later that the woman had no evidence and the events didn’t even happy. What justice occurred for the LaCross players? None. They were socially outcasted as rapists and troublemakers. Their lives are ruined due to false allegations. Where is there justice? Their justice doesn’t exist, because people like this woman don’t see the full perspective. She doesn’t care about these guys. She just cares about the alleged raping of a woman by a sports star to support her point.
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First of all, I totally agree that a person isn’t innocent or guilty of a crime until it is proven in a fair trial. In spite of this, I find it extremely unnerving that a woman, who could very well have been a victim of rape, is labeled by some as a gold digger and a whore. I love our country but one of the things that really pisses me off to no end is how some people seem to be above the law. It seems like if you’re a professional athlete, celebrity, or even just a person who has a ton of money, you have a great ability to beat the system, even if you’re guilty. O.J. Simpson for one, is a clear example of this being true in our court system. He clearly killed two people and got away with it bloody handed. In Roethlisberger’s case, again, I’m not saying he did or didn’t, but I think that a man with his level of pro athlete/celebrity status gives him the ability to get away with something he very well might have done to someone. I find it very odd that this woman who is claiming to be the rape victim is a gold digger or some whore after Roethlisberger’s money. I say this because from watching the video she claims to want an apology from Ben and for him to donate 100,000 dollars to the Committee to Aid Abused Women located in Nevada. Now I could be analyzing this wrong, but the way I interpreted this was that if he does what this woman asks of him, she isn’t getting any money in return from it. I find it hard to believe that if this woman wasn’t actually raped by him, and was just after a large chunk of money from Ben, that she would actually say something like this. I just think that if this woman really wasn’t raped by Ben, and she is a gold digger, she sure as hell would have asked for at least a million dollars if not try to get more. After all, Roethlisberger is a star qb in the NFL on a Super Bowl winning team. It just doesn’t make sense of her to not ask for more money if she knew she could get it. Like Mr. Richards said, and I too have heard this about rape victims, after being raped the victim is in denial for a period of time, and may tell themselves that the sex was consensual and that they enjoyed it, even if this was ultimately not the case at all. A lot of rape victims can also be extremely scared to come out to people that they have been a victim of rape. It’s very hard to tell who is telling the truth in this case, but I think until you look at all the evidence in this case you shouldn’t jump to conclusions on either person. Jumping to conclusions about something or someone never helps, and a lot of times you’re wrong in your assumptions.
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I was recently having a discussion on this sort of topic with a few friends. A recent episode of the popular television detective series, “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” sparked that very conversation.
My male friends argued that women should also be punished with jail time if they are proven to be lying. They strongly agreed that its unfair if the male can be punished, and then proved to be innocent, and the female doesn’t suffer any consequences for her lie. My female friend and I really had no choice to agree. Their theory made complete sense. Both parties should be held to the same consequences in that situation.
Women can always claim that they’ve been raped. It’s an extremely serious, as well as very touchy subject, and if its proven to be true, the consequences for the rapist are quite severe. The detectives responsibility is to prove that the claim is actually true, rather than just a silly allegation because the female got pissed off.
A story of this nature occurred here at Penn State University a few years ago. Austin Scott was accused of raping a girl. Because of this accusation he was kicked off the Penn State football team by Joe Paterno. Eventually, these allegations were proved not to be true. That didn’t change what Scott lost. This prevented him from finishing his career here at Penn State, and it also made it nearly impossible for him to be signed for a professional team. Scott lost millions of dollars because of one girl’s lies.
Things like this can ruin peoples’ careers. If this woman is willing to drop charges, then she isn’t really telling the truth. Then again I can’t really make that claim and believe it one-hundred percent. But I just know that if I were in her shoes and I was raped, I would want the rapist to pay for what he did. I wouldn’t be willing to drop the charges under any circumstances. But at the same time, another point of view could be that this woman felt guilty when she realized what this man could lose if the story went through. But going back to what I think I would do that in that situation, I don’t think I could be capable of feeling guilty knowing that what I was claiming was true. I would know that this person deserved every punishment that was coming his way.
There’s a lot of things to consider to being able to understand who is actually the liar in this story. I’m sure plenty of women have claimed to have gotten raped, after having intercourse with a celebrity, expecting to get a large sum of money.
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Today, accusations of rape and sexual assault have become common among high-profile stars. Athletes, who earn excessive amounts of income are constantly accused of wrongdoings to women. However, repeated instances and accusations have raised many questions. Should athletes be labeled as sexual predators or should these women be labeled as gold-digging whores? It is the same story everytime. Whenever you place a rich athlete and a random woman in a hotel room, it always results in questions of whether the sex was consensual. Because we are not present during the time of the act, we will never know who is telling the truth. However, some of us have taken upon ourselves to decide who is right or wrong. Whenever, we hear of a new accusation, we instantly accuse the female of trying to score a favorable settlement. We have began to accept that the athletes end up the victims, when two grown adults engage in sexual activity because the female has an agenda of her own.
I am by no means condoning the actions of these athletes. However, I am stating the truths of our society and how quickly we pass judgment on these women. These high-profiled athletes have grown up in a society that has handed them everything just because they can shoot a basketball, throw a football, and hit a baseball. Living a priviliged life, these athletes believe that they can get whatever they want and in this case their desire is women. They engage in sexual activity with these women; however, they are unaware of their motives.
I do not know about you, but it is easy to distinguish between consensual sex and rape. It is unbelievable how many women come out and declare rape or unwanted sex after the fact. Rape will leave a woman traumatized; however, rather than trying to supress the events that unfolded, they decide to explain to the public how innocent they were. Also they are quick to express that they did not want to participate in the act. However, when it is time to decide the outcome of the case, they would glady accept a favorable monetary settlement rather than seeing through that the individual is punished for his actions. If an individual did not possess an alternative motive, they would not accept a monetary reward for such a heinous act such as rape.
We as a society have begun to believe that these women prey on rich athletes, in order to receive a settlement. Some of us feel sorry for the athletes because they live such a high-profiled life; however, they are not innocent in all this. We have no right to pass judgment or decide who is right or wrong because these actions happen in the privacy of certain indiviudals.
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I chose this week to write on the article called “Men of the World Unite…Before It’s too Late!.” I found this very interesting and pretty much just crazy because of all the comments people were leaving on YouTube about the woman involved. I didn’t expect that at all and felt that they were making assumptions without even knowing the whole story. I mean, yeah people can leave their own personal comments or state their opinion on what happened involving the Steelers player, but calling her all types of names and accusing her of lying was uncalled for. You can’t assume or say what the truth actually is without knowing the facts. I mean what she did was pretty questionable and could make someone wonder was she sincere in accusing Roethlisberger of raping her, but people automatically took his side for whatever reason and I have a big feeling it was mainly the men that did.
I’m not saying what she says happened really did but I feel as though if she was lying she would have went further with it. I think any smart vindictive person would lie to get something out of it, in her case money but that’s not what she did. Instead she just told anyone, with that being the hotel staff, which was the right thing to do but just not the right people. She should have automatically reported the incident to the police no matter what she though would happen to get justice for what was wrongly done to her. I feel that men accusing her of being a “lying whore”, “lying bitch”, and so on are just taking his side because of who he is, as an athlete and people not wanting to admit he’s human just like everyone else. For whatever reason society puts athletes, celebrities and others known in media on some type of pedestal like they are any different from everyone else and could do no wrong, when honestly they can be considered the most tempted out of all of us.
In addition the men who were automatically accusing her of lying and taking Roethlisberger’s side aren’t thinking about how her seeing these comments would make her feel if it is actually true. Also, about how they would feel if it were their mother, sister, aunt, or any other important female character in their life. They definitely wouldn’t want someone saying they were lying or calling them out of their names because no doubt they would be on their side and taking up for them, so same here. People never put themselves in someone else’s shoes before passing judgement or making assumptions, which is something I would honestly change about myself and the world.
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The United State’s Judicial system has always been based around the fact that anyone who is accused of any crime should always be considered innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Sometimes though it is hard for all of us to take this into account when we feel a certain way about a crime which has occurred or we watch the news and we see who is being accuses. It is not uncommon for all of us to just assume right away that someone who is being accused of a crime is guilty right away before even having the chance to defend their innocence.
In this case we have Ben Roethlisberger who almost everyone knows for winning two Super Bowls with the Pittsburgh Steelers, he was being accused of raping a woman who works in a hotel outside of where he was attending a celebrity golf tournament. In the article we see the author defending the woman who was allegedly raped stating how athletes do these things all the time and how women are always being victimized. She also goes on to say that athletes get away with all of this because its ok in our culture to idolize them. The author makes it out that Ben Roethlisberger is guilty right away before we know any of the facts or have any idea what is going on this case. On the other side on the youtube video we see comments of people saying how the woman is just lying and using all types of derogatory comments to describe the girl accusing Ben Roethlisberger of rape. It seems that no matter what facts are presented to us we all pick a side before the final outcome is ever announced, none of us know who is lying and who is telling the truth or what even happened that night but many people are going out there and letting their opinions out on who they think is lying or not.
The individuals who were leaving the youtube comments have their right to express their opinions on the situation and express what they think may or may have not happened. As a member of the media the woman who wrote the article should have taken more consideration to the fact that Ben Roehtlisberger was innocent before pretty much saying he was guilty and making it look like the woman was victimized before any real information on the case was given out. In the Unites States whenever a crime is committed we should always look to the facts or wait until a verdict comes out on the case before we going out stating who we think is innocent or guilty. We should always remember everyone is innocent until proven guilty.
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As a long-time, diehard female Steelers fan, I feel I am morally obligated to reply to this post. First of all, let me say that there is no possible way for myself or anyone besides Ben Roethlisberger or the alleged victim to know what really happened between the two people that weekend. Second of all, however, I will openly admit to having immediately jumped to conclusions when this alleged rape story first broke in the news. Being a Steelers fan from Pittsburgh is more like a religion than it is being a dedicated sports fan. Although I have heard multiple accounts of Ben Roethlisberger truly being, for lack of a better word, an asshole in real life, I was extremely quick to defend him. And I defended him fiercely, despite my obviously not knowing him personally.
There are two sides to this story: one of the extravagance of professional athletes and the commonly disposable way they treat women and one of the “gold diggers” that will make false allegations against professional athletes for lime light and money. I think this is the point where the author of the article is entirely right. No matter which situation we choose to believe, we are, “writing a blank check for athletes’ behavior that too many athletes are happy to cash.” While it is true that we are making progress in the racism discussion, the glaring problem of sexism still runs secretly rampant in our society. Take for example, the popular rap artist Eminem. He has openly stated that he does not and never will make use of the n-word in his rap songs. That is all well and good, but who is there to cry foul when he raps about raping, beating and generally morally abusing women, which he does with surprising frequency? These sports misogyny apologists are the facilitators of this kind of behavior. To me, allowing these people to tell us that these alleged acts of abuse against women are “all in good fun”, “part of the game”, or even the woman’s fault—allowing these misogynists to tell us these things is even worse than the athlete reportedly committing the crime.
As I said before, after having initially reacted exactly the way that both Sam and the author of the article, I realize that as a biased person as well as someone who has virtually no way of really knowing what actually happened between the two of them, that innocent before proven guilty is more relevant now than ever. It is none of my business whether abuse actually occurred between Roethlisberger and the alleged victim, dedicated as I am to my football team. Just as it is none of my business to walk on Red Land that was stolen from this country’s REAL founders thousands of years ago. Innocent until proven guilty is an essential but, unfortunately, oft over-looked peace of mind.
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I have to admit, before this semester as Penn State I think I would have had some of the same thoughts in my mind as the comments that were posted. (Not the bitch and whore… I’m not that mean). But this semester I am taking a Sexual Violence class and it really makes you think twice when it comes to sexual assault victims. No I have to admit that the situation of this case is a little skeptical, but none the less if there is a chance that there is a victim we have to take a step back and reevaluate everything.
I understand that it is hard for professional athletes to live normal lives. We can even take the case that I’m sure we are all familiar with that happened on our own campus. The football player that was involved was not only put out in the media as a rapist but he ultimately lost his career over the incident. But even though sometimes there are things that are untrue or can work against the person accused that does not mean that we can place judgments on all victims because the majority of the time they are not false reporting. In my class, we learned that the percentage of rapes or sexual assaults that are false reported is only two percent.
I do agree that the woman in this case took the wrong approach with this case. She is making it seem like she is guilty just by the fact that she did not report to the police. But as the video said, she was probably afraid that no one would believe her. I mean honestly, would you report if you knew you were accusing a professional football player that was in the public eye? I don’t think so.
I don’t want to make it seem as though I am sticking up for the woman because let’s face it. A lot of people are out to get money, and get it anyway they can. And in my personal opinion I don’t think that she is telling the whole truth. But that does not mean that deserves to get called all the names that the people of you tube are calling her. The worst part of this case is just that it is in the media, and that means that people are going to pass their judgment even when they have no room to.
Overall, I just think victims are victims and we have to treat them that way until we find out other wise. People who are victims of rape suffer so many side effects like post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) that can effect them for the rest of their lives. So next time you want to pass judgment on someone without the whole story just think would they really want go to through this entire media and bad press if it really didn’t happen? Would anyone really willingly subject themselves to that?
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So, to be honest, I hate it when the man is falsely accused. However, more and more women are being sexually assaulted and giving their perpetrators a “free Pass” which is what is probably tampering with their ego. If this man has in fact raped the woman, he should be treated like anyone else. He should be in jail for what he did. It just “looks” wrong because most people would think “oh, she probably wanted some cash, and he could get any girl, so he wouldn’t resort to rape!” when it might have been just that. On the other hand, the girl could have had the incentive to get some money out of a football star just because the opportunity presented itself.
This is a complicated case because women’s rights in this case are very biased towards them, and so any man would be put on probation at the least. I know a case where a girl was raped and the rapist continued to be pushy every time he saw her, until she thought it was enough. She could have ruined his life by getting him kicked out of college on his last semester but she didn’t. She reported it to the police and they put him on probation after she dropped all other charges. The thing is, she didn’t need evidence for that, but I know the person and she knew it was no joke reporting to the police, however, she did what she needed to, without the whole part where she ruins another persons life and gets money out of it.
The problem is, if the woman “raped” by the football star was realy “hurt” by this incident, she wouldn’t need a cent, but more like a probation request so that the man just isn’t allowed to be near her. That would be very evident that the man did rape her, and that she just wanted piece of mind. Nothing more. And, the fact that it came much later is something to be skeptical about. Maybe she wanted to know her options; monetarily, and it looked like a good way to go… maybe not. The problem is that this kind of incident is hard to look at and make a conclusion, because obviously, both parties are looking for their own interest, and if the football player was to simply pay without a fight, it would show that he just wanted to get rid of her and didn’t want to prove himself innocent.
Maybe women need to feel empowerment over men in this kind of situation, to prove that their presence is more than noticed. I think that it is a case of money and not much else. Her window of opportunity is huge, and the man she is suing is extremely wealthy. So, her mindset seems very one-dimensional and straight to the gold!
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When I read of incidents like these, it bothers me so much. I do not know who to believe. Being a sports star automatically puts you into the limelight. There’s no way of getting out of it. People will always be watching your every move, just waiting for you to slip up. When they hear news that such and such raped a girl, the media automatically jumps on it and takes it way of out proportion. Society never gets the real truth because athletes have money so that they could make a settlement.
It’s hard for me to choose sides on a topic like this because there are arguments that can be made from the two parties involved. In a females’ case, she could have potentially been raped, but no one believes her because she is a not well known and she is sleeping with someone that has money. Nine times out of ten, the female will be deemed a gold digger when in fact she may be the victim of a rape case. I can see why some women are afraid to make a police report, especially when it comes against athletes, because they do not want the situation to get shown to the media because then she will be called a slut or a whore.
When it comes to the athlete involved, it’s also a tough decision to take their side. Some athletes feel as though just because they are making millions and adored by many that they could just pick up any girl they want and do whatever they want to them without facing repercussions. However, they soon come to learn that this is not so. Athletes need to learn that they are ordinary people with the same rights and limitations as most Americans are given. In some cases they may be given the benefit of the doubt. When it comes to rape however, they are trialed just like any other person.
The female never does herself justice by not filing a police report. Although she may have to endure the criticism of the media, it’s always better to tell the police. When the date of the incident has passed a certain time, then it’s perceived by many that she is being untruthful. This in turn is going to cause her to face even more criticism. The best plan of action is to always notify someone because then there is more reason to believe that she maybe telling the truth.
The thing that baffles me about athletes is that, why would you put in jeopardy your future by involving yourself with a random female. I know there are some girls out there looking for athletes to have sex with so that they can try and charge them with rape. However, it’s up to the athletes to not go out and have one night stands with these females. As mentioned before, athletes are always being monitored, so it’s up to them to not put themselves in potential situations that could be career threatening.
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First off I’ll let it be known that I am from Pittsburgh, born and raised. I love Pittsburgh to death. I love the city, the sports, the life, everything that comes with being from Pittsburgh I love. Now, as a lot of people here at State College know, Pittsburgh fans can be pretty hostile at times. Especially with the Philadelphia representation here at Penn State, Pittsburgh fans usually have someone to clash with. After reading the article that Sam posted and watching the video and seeing the responses that were written, it truly does not surprise me. I’ll be honest, this was nothing compared to some of the comments that I heard people from Pittsburgh make about the woman who was involved with “Big Ben.”
Sam did a good job to put things in perspective to me when he said that the woman just had an experience (being assaulted) and she might be denying it like it never happened, or it wasn’t a big deal, or whatever. This made me think about the woman that was in that situation and yes I do understand that a situation like this could cause some type of feelings such as these. It is definitely not a situation to be joking around about because it is something that is serious and something that is becoming more and more of a problem in today’s society. I think women are being treated much like they were treated in the past more and more. I will definitely agree with some people who make that argument, however in this situation, in my opinion this was a case of maybe trying to get over on a professional.
Now, I understand that I’m biased because I’m a “Pittsburgher” and that may cloud my judgement. But in all seriousness, it just adds up. The odds do not stand in the favor of this woman. I cannot say that I was there or that I experienced or witnessed anything that happened that particular day, but neither can most people. Neither can the people who would have made a decision (jury) had this gone to criminal court. Let’s be honest, her case would have never held up. I’ll be honest, Jaclyn Friedman’s article had a lot of confusing terms in it and had me wondering really what she was saying at times, but it still was apparent how she felt and the things that she believes are going on. You know what, maybe she’s right, but all in all she really doesn’t know either. So again as I said no one knows the real truth, only two people know exactly what happened that night, Ben and the woman that worked for Harrah’s. The lady didn’t file a police report. Ok, why? She only told hotel security. Ok, understandable. She didn’t come out right away. Ok, understandable as well, maybe she just didn’t know what to do or how to handle it. But here is what pushes me over the edge, you want Ben to pay some crazy amount of money to some charity, but you will drop the criminal charges? This is completely retarded. So your just willing to say yeah, he “raped” me. He literally “raped” me but I don’t really want him to be punished just pay some random amount of money to this charity and we will be all good. Lady, money is about the last thing that’s on Ben Rothlisberger’s mind at any given time. This just outrages me. I don’t know the truth, and neither do you or anyone else. I only know what I believe to be true. In today’s world, there are a few things that most people want or desire. Fame and money are two of the things that I am certain most people would enjoy. Now, I am not saying this is why the woman did this, but I am certain that if anything like these thoughts were going through her head and she thought she had a chance to get some money or some fame from an incident like this, I’ll just say that I know a lot of women that would take that chance. I know a lot of women who would never even think of doing anything like that ever as well, but I know a lot of women who I have talked to that said, and I quote, “Hell yeah I would try to do something like this lady is doing.”
All in all I believe both sides. Athletes get away with a ton of things, however I can’t overlook the other side of the spectrum, athletes can be taken advantage of as well. And also, as a society, we treat athletes differently. Society is at fault here. Society is the perpetrator in my opinion. Athletes get special treatment. It is a known fact. So when something like this comes up and the media raves about how athletes get away with so much stuff and things like this, just take a step back and ask yourself why do they get away with this stuff? I mean for christ sakes this past summer an athlete get away with murder. Donte Stallworth, for those who do not know the story was driving drunk and ran over a pedestrian and killed him. Want to know his punishment, 30 lousy nights in jail. Athletes are above the law. That’s how it is, that’s how we treat them, that’s how it will always be. Over and out.
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These celebrity sexual assault cases are always controversial. It seems that the media is always on the side of the celebrity and automatically accuses the woman of false accusations. To be truthfully honest it is hard to side with the woman in most these cases, because the evidence is usually never there. Also it is hard in today’s sports driven society to think that any girl wouldn’t want to be with a superstar athlete. The first time I heard about a rape case involving a celebrity was when Kobe Bryant was accused in the state of Colorado. He was in a hotel room in Colorado and was accused of rape a few weeks later. Brant came out and admitted to having sexual relations with her but he said that he didn’t rape her. At first most of the media went against Kobe until things about this woman started to leak out. She apparently was known for having sex with many men in her day, and for her to just not want to have sex with one of the most known celebrities in the world is hard to believe. The lady ended up dropping charges and Kobe was free. Nobody really knows the truth but these two people. But there is no evidence and by the background of this woman it is hard to believe her. Although Kobe was free he still lost a lot of his endorsements and was embarrassed worldwide for cheating on his wife and being accused of rape.
This Roethlisberger case is very similar to the Bryant case because they both were in a hotel but there is a difference because the lady waited months to report the accusation. In this case the lady says that Ben Roethlisberger called her to the room and started taking advantage of her. After it was done she supposedly told the security but didn’t tell the cops. This was a terribly huge mistake by this woman if in fact Ben did rape her. Waiting months to finally come out and say this is just stupid for your case. She was nervous for her job because of Ben’s status in society and maybe she was right she may have lost her job but it would have been smarter if she had immediately reported it.
I am a man that is all for justice and if a man has raped a woman that he should be punished, but in cases of these celebrities it seems there are always holes in their cases. I don’t care who it is you have to tell someone immediately if you have been raped. I know sometimes women get exploited, but sometimes athletes get exploited as well because of their money and fame. Although this man who wrote the article may have a point, the evidence is never really strong in these cases. The comments on the youtube video are just down right stupid. Neither the girl nor Ben should be called names for this until the complete truth is settled.
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I think that many people who have commented on this post are simply missing a key point. Those who say, well if she was “certain” she was raped, why didn’t she go to the police or fight harder in court, I have one thing to say: Rape and sexual assault aren’t like other offenses. For women and men who are raped or sexually assaulted, it is extremely emotionally damaging. The majority of women who are raped do not report it and those that do face a legal system where they risk reopening those emotional wounds and feeling victimized again.
Now I’m not going to say that false accusations never happen when it comes to celebrities and athletes. I think it is unfortunate that some women would use such a serious accusation for their own personal gain. However, who’s to say that this woman was just scared to go to the police because she knew who she was up against and “gave up” in court because she was sick of reliving the trauma.
I think that it is unfortunate and ignorant that people would get upset at someone for “ruining” or “hurting” their favorite team. Do you really want to condone a team that has rapists?
As a journalism student, I am very aware of the ethical situations that come with reporting on a rape. I am aware that if it is a false accusation it could very well ruin the life of the accused. The names of victims are left unreported while those of the accused are. The reason rape victims are not reported is because of what is called revictimization, where women feel like they are reliving the incident because it is put in writing with their name attached. Now I don’t think it is right to always name the accused, either, but this is the policy most news organizations have.
I think that the visible backlash against this woman will hurt others who are raped or sexually assaulted because they will be afraid people will turn on them too. Then more rapes will be left unreported, more women will not get the justice they deserve and rapists are free to go assault another day.
I don’t know this woman’s story, whether it was actually rape or not, but I think that other way, the media’s handling of this case as well as its handling by the court has hurt the cause for sexual assault victims. Those who have decided to crucify this woman are hurting the case as well as the media who broadcasts it over television screens across the country.
If you didn’t know, the reported incidents of rape on campus have increased. I don’t know whether that means more rapes are being reported because women feel comfortable or whether there are more rapes in general and the proportion of reported to unreported is the same.
However, I think there is still a lot of work to be done on gender equality especially in the case of sexual assault. Obviously the article was skewed and people can make up their own decision as to whether or not this woman is innocent. I just think it needs to be looked at in the overall context of sexual assault and gender and how it affects the cause.
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I think the comments posted were really terrible and just reflect that type of ignorant people who left them. I am not supporting the woman who claims that she was raped not the football player because none of us have all the facts necessary to come up with a verdict. I think that it is just wrong that of these comments posted, it reflects that there are probably hundreds of more people who believe in their view, that the women is a whore who is just trying to get money out of him. From the news report, the fact that the lady didn’t come out to the police earlier and was fearful of losing her job is completely understandable. I feel that many women who are raped really don’t come out to others about their victimization, they could be confused about the entire situation, shameful, guilty, and outright scared how others will react to them and if anyone would believe them or not. Of course I believe that she should have notified the police right after the incidence and then went to a hospital where she can be checked-up on to prove whether or not she was raped. But there’s no sense of thinking about the what-ifs because she didn’t do any one that which makes this case controversial and more difficult to prove. It was a little strange to me initially that she would drop her civil law suit if he apologizes and if he could also donate money to the Committee to Aid Abused Women. If the woman was really after his money, she would ask for a lot more monetary damages from him since he’s work a heck of a lot. I don’t think she wanted this case to become such a newsliner and may have been looking for some closure once she hears an acknowledgement of rape and an apology from the football player. I think some could probably see her request to be a lot better in terms of mental and emotional healing after a sexual assault attack rather than just a lump sum of money. Her fear of being fired from the hotel can also be understandable because who is a bigger asset to the hotel, a casino worker or a multimillion dollar customer. In her case, the hotel would probably want to keep their high priced customers and just let go of an employee. Personally, I don’t think this would be the case with any company, at least I would hope not. Hmmm even though I think that companies are usually behind their employees because they’re what makes up the company, not ever company of course will act morally. In the end, she the lawsuit filed was around $400,000 which is a decent amount considering he’s worth a lot more.
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I read the article Men of the World Unite… Before It’s Too Late! I thought the article was an interesting view point. I, personally, am a huge sports fan so I followed the Ben Roethlisberger trial through ESPN and other sports outlets. My first thought to the story was not as harsh but similar to the YouTube comments left on this video. A few things went through my mind: why would she wait a year to report this? How could she put a price on rape? And the biggest one was that she wants her fifteen minutes of fame and some money and move on. I have always really liked Big Ben and have always respected him as a quarterback and as a man. Obviously, I do not have a personal relationship with Ben Roethlisberger but his attitude and leadership made me confident in him that he has stronger morals than to rape a woman. Also, it is easy for a woman to have sex with an athlete, and than claim she was raped just to get money or brief fame. Many women throw themselves at athletes and when they turn around and just try to get someone in trouble to benefit themselves I think that is wrong. I do truly believe that Ben Roethlisberger is innocent, and I am not a Pittsburgh Steelers fan. What struck me as interesting in this article is that it really is true. I have no idea who this woman is nor do I really know what kind of guy Ben Roethlisberger is so there is no justification in me believing that his morals stand true. Also, there is no reason for me to believe that this woman did not get raped and just wants fame and money. How would I know if she is a gold digger? All I really know about people is what they put forward and I use that to try to make my best decisions and judgements on people. Ben Roethlisberger has never given me a reason to dislike him or anything to use against him so I went with that. I do now realize that I should not be making conclusions based on how a celebrity executes himself in his public life. His private life is private so I would not know if this is something that has happened before or if this is the kind of person he is. I am a woman and I even looked down upon this woman who was suing Ben because I just assumed I knew her motives and what she was after. I do think that there is some injustice in this because people jump to conclusions and believe what they want to believe. If a woman seems like there is a chance she could be doing something for money or fame not for justice everyone just assumes that those are her definite motives. It is unfair and unjust.
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Cases like these are tough to take sides on – at least they should be. Many people jump to conclusions way too fast. I could see either side being true. Sometimes I think celebrities really are above the law and do get away with things because they’re famous. However, I also think that people who aren’t famous, but are involved with a famous person in some way, can get jealous and try to ruin the celebrity’s fame if something doesn’t go right. In order to get the story straight, like this one with Ben Roethlisberger, there really has to be a fair trial that leads to one person proven guilty. As human beings, we need to learn to take a deep breath and actually wait until we can receive all the information before we come to a conclusion. So many of us hear a one or two line story and automatically say “Oh well she’s just crazy,” or “He’s always been a good person, he would never do something like that.” I do agree that not filing a police report or waiting to let the police know weeks later is a very suspicious action upon anyone’s part, but it is still only right for the person to have a fair trial. I can’t believe some of the words that come out of people’s mouths about other people they have never even met. It’s actually kind of an embarrassment.
Also, I think it’s very true that sports fans, especially Steelers fans would automatically side with Roethlisberger, no questions asked. Likewise, non-sports fans, especially anti-Steelers fans might automatically say “throw him in jail,” not necessarily because they honestly think he’s guilty, but more so just because they don’t care for his team. I could probably bet money the comment, “She must be a browns fan,” probably came from a Steeler’s fan, who couldn’t think of anything else to say. At least he wasn’t uncivil enough to go ahead and just call her a whore or a bitch or a stupid woman. I think it’s okay to express your own opinions, but a person looks a lot more intelligent when they have actual facts to back up what they are saying. Yes, a woman (or man) can be a gold digger, but she can also be innocent and actually a victim. Yes, a celebrity could truly be a good person and be accused of something ridiculous, yet he (or she) can also be a liar and not the person people think he/she is by what we see on television. Someone might make false allegations to try and take a person out of the lime light and steal some of it for themselves, or a celebrity might think that because they are in the lime light already, they can do whatever they want. So, I think cases like these really have to be looked into closely.
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Where to begin – I have been reading the comment responses to this post and some people are writing from a place of impeccable perfection. One person’s strongest argument was that people should not engage in sex with other people unless they are 100% sure it is a good idea. No, celebrities should deter from having sex, especially when they know it’s not a good idea, for the obvious problems (such as this one) that can ensure afterwards. Other than that, I can think of ten good reasons to have sex that all don’t add up to it being a good idea. The truth of the matter is that people have sex for a variety of reason that don’t align themselves with any form of ideology; especially not the Catholic religion. And this brings us to the problem, how do we justify when sex is just regretted or when it is cruelly unwarranted – rape?
There is no answer in this case, or no evidence in which to prove one side guilty. But even despite this, there are still people who unjustifiably feel strongly on one side or the other on this; such as the author of the article and many quick-mouthed Steeler supporters. First focusing on the author, it appears as though she is using this incident as an excuse to stand on her “men are rapist” soapbox. Although she positive brings light to rape awareness, it’s done in opinionated way which ultimately negates her whole argument. Second, to all the Ben fans, I think they are undermining the occurrence of rape and sexual assault as a problem in the U.S. For obvious reasons, we can question the motives behind an alleged victim when the criminal is said to be a celebrity, but that should not ignore the validity of anyone’s argument. Just because celebrities are seen frequently in the news, does not mean that there is a disproportionate number of “stars” being accused than average. I looked into the Pittsburg Action Against Rape (PAAR) website and it details many statistics about rape rates in the U.S., such as 1 in 4 women and 1 in 6 men will be sexually assaulted in her/his lifetime.
I think the real issue here is the media attention given to such scandals. Creating a cleaner, more confidential system to such scenarios would benefit every party involved, including the public. If illegitimate victims did not perceive a sense of obtaining a financial reward plus a three-page spread in People magazine, then the motive would dissipate. Similarly, promiscuous celebrities, who engage in consensual sex, would only have an STI to fear. And lastly, in the cases of true rape, the criminal would be evaluated and convicted when evidence should guilty, opening the doors to the press/media to entertain the rest of the sick world with a story of sorrow.
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To start, this is one subject that has been, and will be debated for a long time to come. This definitely is not the first time that this has happened when it comes to the professional athlete. There are many cases of such happenings that have come to the public view and it is sometimes hard to determine the intent of the so-called “victim.” Don’t get me wrong; I agree that in most cases the victims are just looking to find justice for the actions that were taken against them. It is the women that are looking for a quick payday that make it difficult for the real victims to find this justice. These women don’t oppose engaging in sexual activity with athletes, but later they realize that they can use this event as leverage to also gain some of their own wants. It is also hard for the real victims to obtain justice because they are pressing charges against the heroes of modern society: the professional sports athlete.
Now being from Pittsburgh, and also being a huge Steelers fan, I assume that I am one of the people that Dr. Richards talked about when he said “So here’s an article that will surely raise the blood pressure of some of you.” As a fan, it is hard to keep myself from jumping to conclusions and just victimizing this woman even more by assuming that she is just after Ben Roethlisberger’s money. I do believe that her allegations could be true though.
Given the information that the media has provided us, it is hard to be against Ben in this case when as a fan, I already back his story. Yes, if I truly believed that justice needed to be served, I would completely support this young lady.
I want to avoid choosing sides on this case because it is just so hard to see the truth. Jerome Bettis was wrongly accused in a similar case years ago and that this much of the reason that I am skeptical.
As much as I want this woman to be taken care of if she truly deserves justice, her story just doesn’t seem to be adding up completely. Ben is worth a lot of money and this women does not seem to be very upset and passionate about the wrongs that were committed against her if she only wants a small sum of his money donated to a foundation. On the other hand, you could argue that she doesn’t want any money for her own benefit. But, yet again, you could make the argument that this woman has given up on getting money from Ben and knows that she could get caught. She just wants a foundation helped in order to drop the case and get out without getting into any trouble. In my mind, it is just too hard to argue one way or the other.
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This blog about people’s reactions regarding the woman who is accusing Ben Roethlisberger pisses me of more then I can express. I am in a class here at Penn State which deals with sexual and domestic violence and pretty much the main theme of the whole class is to NOT BLAME THE VICTIM! Who are we as a society to say that just because this man is a much admired athlete that he would never be capable of a crime as heinous as rape? The simple fact is that because we are a society that idolizes musicians, actors, and athletes, getting justice from this select group of few is almost impossible because they are in the media. People get to know these superstars through the television, internet, radio, and other forms of media, so they feel as if they really know who these over publicized people are. The truth is we cannot really ever know who these celebrities are and turning a blind eye to whatever the truth might actually be can turn into something very dangerous.
This situation with Ben and the woman who is accusing him is not something that just pertains to Steeler’s fans. Any well loved sports star has a huge following of die hard fans that would be willing to cut off a leg to meet their idol. Unfortunately, for people who have been victims of crimes committed by superstars rarely are supported in their accusations, which could ultimately be a very nasty precursor to what our society is turning into. Just because you throw a football and can run fast means that you cannot commit a crime? And even if they are convicted of committing a crime their sentences are usually reduced to paying a fine or serving minimal jail time. This is so obviously not fair but it usually turns out that way and in my opinion, that is just disgusting and the total opposite of what our justice system is supposed to be.
Now, I am not saying that every man who is accused of rape is guilty of the crime; I just think that for people who clearly do not know what has happened to make such horrible comments about the case is wrong. The facts and name of the woman who is making the accusation are not fully known to the public so who are we to make comments and feel like we know everything about this situation? There is no way that we can ever know what really happened with these two individuals but just to assume that this woman could not have been raped because it took her a while to report it is awful. Just remember that statistically, most rapes are not reported.
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I have found that in a lot of these videos this blog shares there is a common trend among the commenters. They are all idiots. Now, I’m not basing this on their views which are usually minformed racist or sexist rants that are highly offensive to many, but I’m talking about the grammatical errors. There is no way I can take something that says, “no why? because she was smart” seriously. You know who is not smart? You, for using “no” instead of “know.” I get that these are tiny comments on a Youtube clip, but the serious content deserves at the very least a spell check. I just wanted to make that point. Anyway…
However, this case leaves me (and all of us) in a precarious position. On the one hand, I want to be a kind of feminist in this case and support the woman. On the other, her accusations can destroy the football player’s reputation forever, branding him a lying rapist. I believe, there is no way any of us can take sides unless a sufficient confession by one of the two is shared, so all comments should be kept to the commenter-but I’ll comment nonetheless.
Isn’t it terrible that people can not only just not believe this woman, but also are eager to rip on her and accuse her of being the bad person? What could her motivation be? One of the comments said “How many women if they were really raped would just want an apology? Or just sue for $400,000, when Ben is worth a $100,000,000?” First of all, the money she is asking for doesn’t even go to her personally, but to a non-profit organization for abused women, so that should eliminate all who think she’s a gold digger. And even so, her request was only $100,000, so if this football player is worth multi-millions, then is $100,000 that much for him to spare to a charity? Second of all, if an apology and acknowledgement is what would help this woman make peace, isn’t that great? Her demands are not outlandish and actually comparably appropriate.
Some day, any one of us could be in the her and I assume you would want the benefit of the doubt.
The kind of backlash this woman received, as well as others who have come forth with accusations of rape, is appalling. If people are expected to act this way, someone who is raped is going to be that more hesitant of come out. This woman in particular was obviously afraid of the response, so she didn’t tell the police, but was still hurt. Why are we so critical of everyone? Uggh.
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Who can really know what went on besides the two people who were allegedly involved in the alleged crime? If Big Ben sexually assaulted her, then by god he should pay a penalty, and also make a donation. If she is lying, then she should pay a fine to the courts and make a public statement to the effect that she knowingly lied in order to gain profit. One of them is lying, and it is the courts job to figure out who it is. It seems suspicious that she only told the casino security, yet it could be said that it was suspicious that they didn’t do anything. The amount she asks for doesn’t seem suspicious. The donation to the charity doesn’t either. However, if she were truly devious, she could be asking for that to help her win the sympathy of a court system or the people. There are a lot of ifs and thans, and only a thorough cross-examination or something could determine whether or not she is lying. She may contradict herself. Some witnesses may say they have no idea what she is talking about. At the same time, they may completely absolve her.
How many famous sports stars have had lawsuits laid against them? That would be an interesting statistic. Does Big Ben have a history of such charges or allegations? Are any of his friends willing to talk? I think it’s a 50-50 chance that he did or didn’t do it. I have no idea.
I think the people who made those comments should shut their fucking mouths. They don’t know what it is like to be raped. They don’t know all the facts. They certainly don’t personally know Big Ben Rothlisberger. He could be a sleazy character. I do believe that a court could come to a fair decision, after conducting a fair and thorough case.
I jump to conclusions. However I believe I have the restraint to keep them to myself, or if I do voice them, I don’t voice them so vehemently as to back myself into a corner. If new information arises, I may change my mind. I like being able to change my mind, it helps me make rational decisions, and also a lot of right decisions. Jumping to a conclusion I think is fine, as long as you keep it to yourself and are open to new information. I have definitely jumped to some conclusions at face value that have been wrong, and I regret pushing them so hard. It’s not a good feeling to have. It is not a “oh I haven’t won!” feeling, but a feeling of embarrassment and chagrin. I try not to jump to conclusions. Sometimes I cannot help it. Though I always remain open to new evidence.
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From what I have experienced in my life, people believe what they want to believe no matter what. People have the discretion to acknowledge the full, true story or live with knowing minor details and forming an opinion based off what they want. The reactions that people displayed in the comments of the video are outrageous. For some of them, you can tell that the people commenting negatively about the casino worker are Pittsburg Steelers fans who would obviously have a bias over the truth. People are extremely quick to jump to conclusions about any situation if it exhibits some type of drama or negative appeal. People are also quick to doubt people’s integrity and goodness as opposed to being positive and believing in their moral character. Accordingly, there is reason to believe that the lady is lying, because it is very common for women who willingly have sex with famous people, to later deny it being willingly, just to make a quick buck off of their trial or negative publicity. Nevertheless, people should not judge every situation and person to be the same because, If we’re going to doubt one person, it is only fair to doubt every person in the ordeal. I agree that it was dumb for the lady to use the excuse that she did not tell the police because she was afraid of losing her job. If she wants justice, she cannot make excuses like that. Also, I believe that publicity and the media make situations like these more dramatic than they should be, leading to false accusations, faulty assumptions, and wrong judgment. I personally, hate the Steelers, so I don’t put it past Ben Roethlisburger from doing what the lady accused him of doing—Haha. I’m kidding though; I just believe that justice should and will prevail sooner or later and that no one should assume that one party is right while the other is wrong when there has not been any substantiating evidence proving either one innocent or guilty. I think this scenario can relate back to race issues in today’s world also. People automatically judge and assume the situation of individuals and groups of people without knowing their entire story. I believe that there would not be any racism in the world if everyone knew each others’ full story. The discrepancy in that solution is people’s reluctance to do so. No one in today’s society is willing to make that extra effort to get to know someone else’s story. If more people were open to learning and knowing this information, there would be more empathy and understanding for each other’s lives. Again, people believe what they want to believe when they decide they want to stop being open to what other people have to say. Then again, there is that problem of trusting everyone’s story to be true. Some people even translate being open to other people to being weak and vulnerable to their lies and deception. This is a fucked up world we live in.
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I believe topics like this are really controversial. You can look at it two ways: she did it intentionally for publicity and/or money, or she really was raped and didn’t seek the right help or was too frightened to call the police. News stories don’t really give enough information to really know what the true story is. Every time I hear a rape case I’m very uneasy about it. I really don’t know who to believe in the case simply due to how the Media releases it and how much attention is drawn to the situation and people in it. I hate to point fingers in this situation and it’s hard to not knowing the facts of the case. If she really was raped I feel really bad for her that she didn’t get the proper help that could either prove or deny her case. She should have been smart about it and called 911 right away regardless of who was involved. It makes her story less credible knowing that the police wasn’t called and she decided to sue more than 2 weeks after the fact. She took way too long to report it, leading people to think she is plotting against the football star.
People judge this story depending on their beliefs and judgments. If you are a hardcore Steelers’ fan, your going to side with Ben Roethlisberger till the end viewing him as innocent regardless of the facts. If your not the teams fan, that’s going to lead you in the opposite direction to side with the woman involved. I don’t think its right to judge the situation without the facts. There are just so many of these cases that go around and they get thrown to the bottom of the news pile due to the outcomes usually the same: either a, the charges are dropped or b, the case falls through in court due to lack of evidence or a settlement. No celebrity wants this stuff floating around about him or her. They will do anything and everything in their power to make sure it ends in their favor regardless of the victim. Reputation matters more here than making sure the girl is okay or even giving her the light of day to fight the case. I also don’t think its fair that a lot of people take into consideration the “looks” of the victim. How shallow is that? If she’s good looking, she’s automatically a whore or prostitute. If she was bad looking, she’s a gold digger seeking attention. The world is definitely not fair for women. Boys can sleep around all they want and get called “the man”; but when a girl gets caught doing the same, she’s an automatic whore. I don’t get it. Don’t judge a situation without knowing all the facts.
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This past summer, on July 17, 2009, the Pittsburg Steelers’ quarterback Ben Roethlisberger was sued by Andrea McNulty for sexual assault. She claims that the quarterback, commonly known as “Big Ben” assaulted her during his stay in Harrah’s Lake Tahoe in Nevada, for a celebrity golf tournament in June 2008. According to McNulty, she was working as an executive casino host that summer when Roethlisberger approached her to have a friendly conversation during the golf tournament. The night after they met, the quarterback called her desk supposedly because the TV in his room was not working properly. While in the room she noticed that the TV was fine and when she attempted to leave Big Ben blocked her exit, grabbed her and starting kissing her. She did not file a police report, but she reported it to the hotel’s security staff. Angela Antonetti , a co-worker or McNulty, stated that McNulty mentioned having consensual sex with the quarterback and even hoping to be pregnant by her encounter with Ben. The suit originally asked for $440,000 in damages from the quarterback and alleges that hotel officials for Harrah’s Lake Tahoe went to great lengths to cover up the incident. However, recent reports have indicated that McNulty is willing to drop the charges if Roethlisberger admits to the rape and donates $100,000 to charity.
Roethlisberger’s case is not the first of its kind, nor will it be last of its kind. When I was reading this article, I couldn’t help but think about how my discussion group was talking about how there are “acceptable” inequalities in the United States. Professional athletes in this country are treated like kings and live like kings. Athletes have multi-million dollar contracts, work for only a couple of month out of the year and get to live the “good life”. I just don’t understand why these people are so praised in our society nowadays; I find it absurd. People go to great lengths to support and praise these individuals. In Roethlisberger’s case, he was defended and portrayed as the “victim” of a fanatic that wanted to blackmail him in order to get some sort of economic compensation. Reading from the comments from the video, you can tell that the authors of these fully support the Steelers’ quarterback by how hardly they criticize the actions of McNulty. “What a stupid fuckin whore(…)If there is justice, this bitch will pay.” “He did nothing wrong but be a popular athlete and she is a gold digger!” “Now after the charges were dismiss she`s trying to save face and make Ben look bad by wanting him to donate money to the Abused women Association” “What is it with americans fucking trying to sue everybody? get your own fucking money stupid woman!” “What a bitch trying to set him up like that.” These were among the comments of the video of people defending their hero, the saint, Benjamin Roethlisberger.
I am not choosing sides here at all. Maybe McNulty is a gold digger or maybe she’s a victim; time will tell. What I strongly oppose is how blindly people follow a person whom they don’t know at all.
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Here’s what I am uneasy about. I understand the position that people should not jump the gun to defend Big Ben because of the fact that they happened to be an avid fan of the team, however, I am also not sure how you could side with someone who has no evidence to accuse someone of his stature of rape. I know that rape exists, and it’s always strange to see if happen with famous and wealthy people, because when it ISN’T those people, everyone points directly at the accused. In this situation and other situations with athletes and rock stars and such of their like, the finger is pointed at the ACCUSER instead. Strange indeed. BUT I do also see how there are a million and a half benefits to get out of being able to press charges against someone with a ton of money and fame. The strange thing about this case to me isn’t that she waited to say anything, because I also would believe it true that many women try to suppress their feelings and emotions about the situation but find later that they can not.. the part of this story that puts me on edge is that she only wants an apology. I mean, I can see how what’s done is done and if she truly is scarred for life then no amount of money would be able to change that anyway, however, she only wants an apology and a donation to an awareness cause for other women assault situations. I feel like this is just some crazy woman activist in order to make more of a stand. But, maybe then thats a good thing? The fact that she wants a public apology from Ben about the situation is also strange, considering if done in that fashion, it will almost definitely be insincere on his part, therefore not rendering any better emotions from her at all. I agree with the fact that if the evidence supports, then discrimination in the court of law in favor for the superstars is completely wrong, however, you have to also weigh the defendants purpose I think. Yes, rape happens, and yes, I am sure that if it happens in normal people’s lives than it probably also happens in sports icon’s lives as well, but there is still the different advantage sides! If a girl claims rape on a guy that has nothing that she could be possibly trying to get, like money or fame, than it is much more likely that she is also telling the truth. I know this sounds as if it is a mediocre explanation of the situation, at best, but I feel as though you really CAN’T judge them both the same way. If you did, it would almost always be an outcome of women victory and cashing in on an improbable judging system, even if they were lying! Then again, if you don’t treat them equally you are also going to disadvantage the woman who could just be fighting for her actual rights and causes in the fact that she really was raped, and perhaps not given justice. Quite the predicament. Maybe America is becoming too obsessed with sex?
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I found the article concerning Ben Roethlisberger interesting. It really opened my eyes and made me realize that most people, including myself tend to jump to conclusions. To be perfectly honest, when I first heard of this article I thought to myself that Ben was probably innocent and that the woman that accused him was simply trying to give him a bad reputation, and ruin his career. I also thought it was possible that she was trying to take his money. I initially thought this was the case because male athletes tend to get poor reputations. Not until after reading Sam’s post and the “Sports misogyny and the court of public opinion” article did I stop to think that maybe she actually assaulted. Just because Ben Roethlisberger is very rich and famous and could probably date almost any woman that he wanted, it doesn’t necessarily mean that he is above assaulting a woman.
What I don’t like is how celebrities are given special privileges in the courtroom and even seen as superior in the eyes of the law. It seems like a very common practice that people of fame use their name and reputation to get out of trouble. The people commenting on the Youtube video have never met Ben, so they have no idea what he is like in real life or what goes through his mind or what he is capable of. It is very possible that this lady had repressed the act of being assaulted and was afraid to say anything due to the high status of the perpetrator.
Now that I think about it, misogyny is something that is everywhere. Even just guys joking around about women and thinking that men are superior is something that I hear a lot. You know, all the “women belong in the kitchen” jokes and all of that. I even tend to make passing jokes in that realm, with no real meaning or thought behind it, however I can see how some people can take it seriously. But on the same note, I can see how a serious accusation, such as the one in this article, can be taken lightly, or even viewed as just a ploy to get something else. So, it doesn’t surprise me that so many people think that this lady is just another gold digger or crazy person trying to ruin a famous person’s reputation.
Overall, I found this article to be pretty relevant to my life in some aspects. As I said earlier, I tend to make sexist jokes, with no meaning behind them, yet still they can be hurtful. Accusations like these are very common, and we only hear about the ones involving famous people. Most of the time, no one hears of them, however they are just as terrible.
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To be honest, when first reading this blog I don’t think people should be jumping to either person’s defense; because no one knows (or will ever truly know) what happened between this sports star and former casino worker. Because I myself am a woman, I guess I tend to side with “victims” especially if they are female, but I tried to stay as unbiased as possible until after reading the whole article.
SO after reading the article…ha I side with the woman! Well, I don’t really “side” with either because again I don’t know what happened but what I’m saying is that I understand the woman’s actions if she was indeed raped by Ben Roethlisberger. Assuming she was raped…I completely understand why she wouldn’t be announcing it the day after! I know a lot of people find this hard to believe because they think she’d want to “accuse” the predator as soon as possible, but I don’t think that’s the case at all. Accusing anyone of rape is putting the whole situation in the public’s eye and can you imagine how much larger of a scale that’s on when the “predator” is freaking Ben Roethlisberger? If she really was raped, of course she hesitated to admit it. She’d be submitting herself to be a nationally-known “victim” but more than that an object of hatred or resent. As the article showed, this has happened too many times to count. Katie Hnida’s case especially exemplifies the hatred directed towards a woman who’s claims might nab at the egos of male athletes and their fans.
As for the comments, I don’t want to sound like I’m siding with this woman too much because again I don’t know that she was for real raped but how can people really call her those things? Calling her a “golddigger” doesn’t even make sense if IN THE VIDEO (as opposed to the article, which many people didn’t read) the reporter said that she wanted Roethlisberger to donate $100,000 to a Women’s Aid fund. This is indeed a hefty amount of money and no doubt she’s asking this because she knows he can afford it. But nevertheless, she’s not asking for money for herself. She’s just the face that’s tacked on to this whole scheme…which can do nothing but bad things for her really. A lot of women and maybe some men too might see her as a heroine for bearing her name to the public in a situation like this. I can’t really give her this title if I don’t know for sure what really happened between her and the Steeler’s quarterback but I find it hard to believe that she’d bluff a story like this and with regards to herself ask only for an apology.
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