A Penn State Primer

I’m not going to add much to what I’ve written about Penn State so far, at least not until more information comes out (and it most certainly will). But for those who are interested in a detailed timeline of what happened and when, asiangrrlMN has a great three-part primer over at Angry Black Lady Chronicles. (Part 1 is here, Part 2 is here, Part 3 is here.) I encourage people to read it, but do be warned that it is triggering, even for those of us fortunate enough not to have suffered abuse.

One thing I do want to highlight from her posts is this:

I want to  share a resource for boys and men who have been sexually assaulted.   It’s called 1in6.org, and it’s called that for a reason.  1 in 6 men have been sexually assaulted, and we don’t talk about it.  Women who have been sexually assaulted have resources and support and can at least talk about it with some people.   It’s still a terrible, difficult thing  For men, there are different issues of shame and isolation and simply not having the resources.  That’s why we have to talk about it and keep talking about it, screaming about it, really, even if people tell us to shut the fuck up.  That is part of the reason I’m writing about the PSU outrage – we can’t afford to let this be a two-day wonder.

That is absolutely right. More women than men have suffered sexual abuse. But the number of men who have been abused, especially those abused as children, is still staggeringly and depressingly high. And they must be told, in no uncertain terms, that it was not their fault, that they did nothing wrong, and that all decent people support them unconditionally. Anyone who is raped or sexually assaulted is deserving of our support and compassion. And anyone who rapes or sexually assaults someone is deserving of our opprobrium. Gender is irrelevant to those statements.

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9 Responses to A Penn State Primer

  1. Cross Cultural Comparisons says:

    Word on the street is that all or most of the boys Sandusky molested were underpriveleged Black kids.

  2. Robert says:

    That is what I have heard as well.

  3. Ruchama says:

    According to this NY Times article http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/17/sports/ncaafootball/internet-posting-helped-sandusky-investigators.html?pagewanted=3&ref=education

    As additional suspected victims were located, a profile began to emerge, according to people with knowledge of the investigation. Sandusky engaged in what experts on child predators call “grooming” behavior, law enforcement officials asserted this month, making his first approach when children were 8 to 12 years old. He tended to choose white boys from homes where there was no father or some difficulty in the family, investigators said, and he drew them in with trips to games and expensive gifts like computers.

  4. pillowinhell says:

    Well the Times description of Sanduskys behaviour certainly matches with the usual patterns of pedophiles. My guess is that the Black kids may not be coming forward because underprivileged Black youth have a lot to fear from authority figures. And that white kids would feel more entitled to getting help, protection and justice. I hope this doesn’t mean that the Black children get swept under the rug and left to suffer alone.

  5. Ruchama says:

    There aren’t that many black people in Central Pennsylvania. Just based on the demographics, I would guess that most of the victims are white.

  6. Cross Cultural Comparisons says:

    “My guess is that the Black kids may not be coming forward because underprivileged Black youth have a lot to fear from authority figures. And that white kids would feel more entitled to getting help, protection and justice. ”

    Black people feel pretty damned entitled too. And I don’t know what authority figure a young Black man coming out to expose previous abuse would have to fear.

  7. pillowinhell says:

    How about the mob rallying in defense of Paterno? Or police that seem very willing to harass or jail or dismiss Black people? How about a university that did everything in its power to squash the knowledge that they had a pedophile in their midst? How about the unique shame of being male and a rape victim? How about all those people who will shame their parents for not realizing what was going on? Or not demanding justice for their children?

  8. Cross Cultural Comparisons says:

    Naw. There’s no risk to Black folk in this. I don’t know why Paterno’s been fired. Its Sandusky who’s ass needs to be kicked outta that school and thrown in the slammer.

  9. pillowinhell says:

    Um…because he’s complicit in covering for a pedophile for 15 years and did the bare minimum, which covered his ass. Legally he may not have done anything wrong, morally he’s disgusting. A football team and a hero do not merit the suffering all those boys went through.

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