White Privilege Concerning Rape

Does the color of your skin determine your conviction?

The Groveland Four. Also known as Walter Irvin, Samuel Shepherd, Charles Greenlee, and Ernest Thomas.in 1949 a 17 year old girl in a wheelchair accused them of raping her at gunpoint. Soon after Irvin, Shepherd, and Greenlee were arrested and severely beaten. Ernest Thomas fled and a group of 1000 men were formed  to hunt Thomas down. Once found, he was shot 400 times. Decades later the 17 year old girl confessed that it was not the Groveland Four who raped her. Did I mention the Groveland Four were black?

On May 13, 1956, sixteen year old African American  Annette Butler was kidnapped and raped by four men. Ernest Dillon, his brother Ollie, and their two cousins Olen and Durora Duncan made it a mission to look for “colored women”. The crime of rape in Mississippi at that time was rape or life imprisonment. The only man convicted in this case was Ernest Dillon. He got twenty years in prison while the other three received no punishment. Did I mention they were white?

Who knew that there would be new rapists on the Twitter trending page on a monthly basis? According to The National Sexual Violence Resource Center (2018), “one in five women” will be raped at some point in their life. That being said, more than 90% of sexual assault victims on college campuses do not report the assault (1). Why is that? Why are so many women staying silent about their  experiences? The answer is probably because men are not getting convicted properly. Specifically white men. For instance, the most famous rapist to ever practically get away with rape: Brock Turner. Christine Hauser from the New York Times describes that Turner sexually assaulted a 22 year old unconscious woman. There was a public outcry when it was announced that Brock Turner would serve six months in jail. Ultimately Turner served three months. According to USA Today, “ out of 1,000 rapes, 995 perpetrators will never be incarcerated”.

Shane Piche admitted to raping a 14 year old girl, he was sentenced to 10 years probation.

Michael Wysolovski held a 17 year old girl sexually captive in a ‘cage’  for a year, he will ultimately serve 9 years probation.

David Becker ‘digitally penetrated’ two unconscious high school women. He was sentenced to two years probation.

Nicholas Fifield sexually abused a mentally handicapped woman, the charges were soon dismissed.

All of the men mentioned above faces no jail time whatsoever and practically got away with it. The interesting thing about these instances and why society has a problem the way they were handled is because they are all white men. These cases become so popular because the white men always seem to get away with it. This raises a question, can white men get away with rape?

Feminist theorists would argue that women are too afraid to speak out about their experiences because they fear that their abusers will get away with it. The men I listed above have all gotten away with their crimes. That being said, imagine being a victim of rape wanting to speak out. Imagine hearing all these rapists get away with the harm they have caused. There is no doubt that as mentioned before, “90% of sexual assault victims on college campuses do not report the assault” ( NSVRC, 2018, p.1). Since most rapists who do not get ‘properly’ convicted are young college students, the prosecutors usually have their ‘future’ in mind as they make a conviction. White privilege doesn’t just concern police brutality, it also concerns sexual assaults. We’d be lying to ourselves if we said we don’t treat white convictions the same as POC convictions.

https://www.rainn.org/statistics/campus-sexual-violence

(Mohr) describes Sarah Super, who was a victim of a violent knife-point rape as a brave women who spoke out on white privilege (1).Sarah spoke to the court before her attackers sentencing and said said the following; “I will have the energy to help fix what is wrong, to cast my light on the pervasive viscous was of entitled men and privileged boys who continue to think that they are exempt from the law and can take away a woman’s sense of safety and wholeness without a second thought”(Mohr, 2015, p.1).

It is both heartbreaking to hear women speak out about their sexual abuse, it is however infuriating to hear that the men that committed those crimes will serve little to no jail time. It’s is heart wrenching to me personally because of how normalized rape is. I’ve had countless times where my friends have confided in me and have told me about their sexual assault stories. Rape culture is real and so is White privilege.

Here are a few links!

Works Cited

LaMagna, Maria.Winnipeg Free Press (MB). 06/12/2014, pA15.

Mohr, Elizabeth. (2015).St. Paul victim: Rapist not mentally ill, he’s a product of white privilege.The Pioneer Press. Saint Paul Pioneer Press (MN).

The National Sexual Violence Resource Center. (2018). Sexual Assault in the United States.

https://calendar.eji.org/racial-injustice/may/13

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/09/us/brock-turner-appeal.htmlu

Why Depression Matters; How Toxic-Masculinity Affects Men

Why is depression in men brushed off? How does toxic masculinity have a direct corelation to depression?

Mental health has been something that is only talked about within women. It is rare for men to even be allowed to speak out about their mental health, let alone be a part of the conversation. Mental health problems in women are just as prevalent in men. That being said, men are less likely to seek help. This can be seen as a way of men continuing the toxic masculinity cycle that their parents/caregivers have set up for them.

Mortality is affected by mental illness. According to Ed Warren, depression and anxiety are the most common mental disorders. Ed describes the severity of depression and believes that it all depends on the “number, duration, and severity of the symptoms” (Warren, 2017, p.25). Warren describe some symptoms for depression include:

  • Fatigue/loss of energy
  • Worthlessness/excessive or inappropriate guilt
  • Recurrent thoughts of death, suicidal thoughts
  • Diminished ability to think
  • Psychomotor agitation or retardation
  • Insomnia/hypersomnia
  • Significant appetite/weight loss

As for the severity of depression, he also describes various types of depression:

  • ‘Sub-threshold’ depression
  • ‘Mild’ depression
  • ‘Moderate’ depression
  • ‘Severe’ depression

It is no secret that mental health can’t lead to suicide. However, it is surprising to hear that “13 men take their own life each day”. According to Ed Warren, men are prone to become addicted to drugs and it’s known that men under stress are “more likely than women to go in for hazardous behavior” (Warren ,2017, p.25). This may be purely because many people misinterpret the meaning of men being depressed. When men ‘come out’ and speak about their mental health, they are labeled as ‘crybabies’. On the other hand, when women speak out about any mental issues they face or have been facing, they automatically become labeled as  brave women. Why is that? Toxic Masculinity.

In American culture, men have a difficult time in expressing their emotions because of the fear of retaliation from society. It all starts in their childhood. When young boys or even young children express their feelings, those around them begin attacking their persona and begin to bully that individual. It all stems from the parents perspective on gender norms and everything they believe a boy should ‘feel/be’. Exposing young boys to the same phrases such as; “man up”, “don’t be such a girl”, “you throw like a girl”, “ don’t be a cry baby” will only allow young boys to grow up feeling like they can not express how they feel on a day to day basis. Men’s feelings have been dismissed since the beginning of their lives. That being said , this can create mental issues due to repressing all those feelings.

By repressing feelings and bottling them up, men have not had a chance to speak about their mental issues. According to a study conducted by the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy, depression is a  “common and disabling condition that affects 1 in 6 people over the course of their lives”( Alameida, Alfonso, Hankey, 2010, p.1). So the question isn’t whether women are more depressed than men. It is why toxic masculinity shaped the way men express themselves regarding depression.

Growing up with a very traditional Mexican American father my mental concerns were always deemed appropriate. That however cannot be said for my three brothers. In many traditional families men/boys  can never speak out about their mental issues. They are faced with automatic dismissal, or even mental/physical violence. These types of situations are often what makes men have a constant need to repress their feelings. From an early age they have been told to not feel a certain way. How do we expect men to express their feelings if they are told from childhood to keep them inside?

Symbolic interactionist would view mental health as something that is socially constructed and that varies from time to time. They believe that meanings and labels can really affect the mental health of an individual. Since men are labeled as ‘crybabies’ if they speak out about mental health, it has affected the way men have expressed themselves. The way men get labeled when they talk about their mental health is the reason why men repress their feelings. This can ultimatley lead to depression. Society has put a label on them for speaking about it, thus making men only repress their emotions for fear of retaliation.

There is no doubt that mental health has been an ongoing problem that America has faced. That being said, when women speak out about their mental health they are applauded by both genders. However when men speak out they are usually shunned away and their mental issues are brushed off. They are seen as week. This level of toxic masculinity needs to be stopped. Society is often surprised when it comes to light that a man has suffered from depression. However that is where the issue lies. We shouldn’t be surprised when men speak out about their mental health. Men feeling depressed should be normalized.

Mental illness should be taken serious, no matter what gender.

Here are a few links that I found interesting and helpful when learning about depression.

Works Cited

Warren, Ed. (2017).Men and Mental Health. Vol 47. Issue 11.Practice Nurse,1-2

Harvard Mens Health. (2010).Vol. 14 Issue 10, p3-7.

National Sexual ViolenceResource center
https://web-a-ebscohost-com.ezproxy.fcclib.nocccd.edu/ehost/detail/detail?vid=6&sid=31e76f27-e028-4ba9-aa15-b12c1c9125ee%40sdc-v-sessmgr02&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZSZzY29wZT1zaXRl#AN=49165557&db=hxh