Friday, July 23, 2010

Such Nice Boys, I'm Sure...

Our Guys by Bernard Lefkowitz
1998
Weight: 1 lb
Method of Disposal: I'm thinking about it...any suggestions? It will be gone by Wed. no matter what.

In honor of Switzerland’s refusal to extradite the lovely Roman Polanski I am getting rid of OUR GUYS. I mean, who cares? Really. As Whoopi Goldberg said, “It wasn’t rape rape.” Whatever the fuck that means!



In OUR GUYS the author leads us through his exploration of a brutal assault that occurred in 1989 when a group of wealthy teenage boys raped a 17 year old disabled woman with a broomstick, a baseball bat, and their selves. The boys had grown up with her. They knew her, and their parents knew her. The author spends many years doing research and conducting over 200 interviews. In the end, he uncovers a school board, parents, and a community that tried to cover the whole thing up. They were not successful in that endeavor as this book was published, a movie was made, it was turned into a LAW AND ORDER episode, and it made national headlines. I still think they ultimately won. The boys were punished far more lightly than they should have been. At the publishing of the book, charges were dropped against a couple of the boys and some others were up for an appeal. In 2005 Richard Corcoran, Jr (his charges had been dropped and he had won a $200,000 settlement from the whole ordeal) shot his estranged wife and boyfriend before killing himself *. Another student involved, Chris Archer, was accused of rape again when he went to university in Boston. The charges were dropped. 13 boys were in the basement when the young woman was brought in to be abused. It seems that most of them (if not all of them) received a slap on the wrist and a lot of bad publicity. It probably wasn’t rape rape. You know?

When will we stop worrying about the lives and careers of the rapists over those that they victimize? I think back on my own rape and how expensive it was. I went to the Emory Emergency Room for a rape kit, and I was promptly sent a customer satisfaction survey and the bill. My financial backing to pay the bill fell through, but I thought I would have some time to figure it out. Nope. I got a threat that I would be sent to the creditors. I am lucky enough to have a support system and so was able to get out of that hole. Not everyone has people who can or will do that for them. You cannot be raped if you are poor**. I believe the fee was around $500 and it was only so cheap because I did not get the rape kit that you need to file a report—which can be $1,000+. How much did my rapist have to pay? Nothing. I never saw him again, and I hope it stays that way.

So, fuck you Mark. Fuck the guilty people of 1989 Glen Ridge. And FUCK YOU Roman Polanski. As for Switzerland, you have really let me down this time.



*http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/2005/02/08/2005-02-08__89_rape_suspect_shoots_2__k.html.

**http://health.usnews.com/health-news/blogs/on-health-and-money/2008/2/21/rape-victims-can-be-hurt-financially-too
If you have been raped or someone you know has check to see if you have a local rape crisis center. Many of them will foot all or a large part of your bill, as well as send someone to make sure your rights are protected. Because I live in Georgia I would like to give a shout out to the Dekalb Rape Crisis Center.

3 comments:

  1. I think you should leave this book randomly at some co-ed college or something. Perhaps someone will pick it up and read the horrific ordeal. The boys got off lightly, so making sure others read about what they did and judge them, even if only in their heads, will at least continue their punishment.

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  2. This book is so case-specific. It does not branch into systemic problems at all. I wish it did. Maybe a campus like Emory...maybe if it had some valuable information folded up inside of it...

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  3. This was an excellent book. I agree that it might be well-placed somewhere for others to read. Unfortunately, men are not likely to read this and not likely to know or believe that this happens and that laws need to change. And we need everyone, men and women, working together to change this skewed system of justice where women must pay to prosecute their attackers.

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