Feministing.com is the brainchild of noted modern feminist mouthpiece Jessica Valenti and since it was conceived in 2004 it has been an important feminist outlet on the Internet, particularly for young feminists. It exemplifies everything about modern feminism: from rape culture through to abortion they have it covered. And just recently they have graced the world with what is a perfect example of reporting on an issue with either willful and malicious ignorance, or first class indoctrination.
Either way, no-one will know unless they read the fine print.
Screenshot: Study shows an alarming rate of young inmates are sexually assaulted
http://feministing.com/2013/06/12/study-shows-an-alarming-rate-of-young-inmates-are-sexually-assaulted/
“The US department of Justice released a survey that suggests that about 20% of juvenile inmates experience sexual assault while doing time in juvenile detention centers and group homes.”
It’s entirely unsurprising as to why this study of more than 8500 youths would attract feminist attention. Beyond being an important report about troubled youths and their experiences in the justice system this is a potential goldmine for victimization with a feminist stamp of approval. At least after the data’s been selectively mined that is.
“I think it is also worth reminding folks that the criminal “justice” system in the US disproportionately targets and affects people of color, undocumented, and queer people.”
Author Sesali Bowen left men and boys out of that sentence. Over 85% of US juveniles in residential placement are male, and that statistic only increases to 93% when taking into account all US prisoners. Somehow though, this is not considered disproportionate enough for Sesali to care. The widespread systematic discrimination against men in the justice system is not relevant to feminist approved victimization.
She goes on to tell us that “these crimes are usually committed by adult staff” and that “reveals how most sexual assaults (across age and gender lines) occur at the hands of those that we already know.” She tells us that these young “people” are being victimized by “adults,” and even goes so far as to say “sexual assault might represent a strong deterrent from ever reemerging within that system.” A rather flippant remark for a feminist to make given a gendered prison rape epidemic they don’t care to focus on.
But failing to mention that the majority of juvenile inmates in this report are male is small fish compared to what she is carefully hiding from readers. It turns out that most of those molesting hands are lacquered in nail polish and most of those sexually victimized young “people” are male. Here is the link to the report and relevant quotes from it:
http://www.propublica.org/documents/item/709100-svjfry12-emb-052813
“An estimated 92.4% of all youth who reported staff sexual misconduct said they were victimized by female facility staff.”
“Among the estimated 1,390 youth who reported victimization by staff, 89.1% were males reporting sexual activity with female staff and 3.0% were males reporting sexual activity with both male and female staff. In comparison, males comprised 91% of adjudicated youth in the survey and female staff accounted for 44% of staff in the sampled facilities.”
Majority female perpetrators and majority male victims? This is an absolute affront to the feminist approved victim narrative. These statistics are not hidden in an obscure corner of this report, one is featured in the highlights. I encourage you to look for yourself. Feministing’s article goes beyond the normal ignorance of the rape of men in the US prison system, it is a deliberate obfuscation of statistics that show women use their positions of power to abuse at risk young men and boys. There is no way you can take an honest look this study and miss this. Sesali herself tells us she gave the survey “further inspection” to check for disproportionate victims.
None of the young feminists who read Sesali’s article are ever going to know her erasure of abused boys and female abusers. “Staff” will become men. Young “people” will become young “women.” Everything will slot neatly into an unchallenged victim narrative and Jessica Valenti’s victim machine will churn out another group of people who care more for the narrative than the reality.
Why does this erasure happen?
As they’ve made it quite clear misandry doesn’t exist in their theory. Through their prism of gender blindness, misandry becomes misanthropy, and “men” are relegated to “people.” No matter how heinous the atrocity, no matter how disproportionate the ratio, men are expected to bear the burden of this gender invisibility for the inclusion of women. Men are simply not allowed to suffer as men.
Of course its in their own interest for the greatest peddlers of misandry to deny its existence!
This is of course a deeply traditional gender dynamic. Feminists will often discuss the effect of viewing men as the default, for example this feministing.com interview with decidedly anti-male sociologist Michael Kimmel. But these feminists will only stand up and cry for change when there is direct benefit to be gained for women. In the many remaining cases, they are entirely happy to use traditional gender constructs to forward their heavily customized “damsels in distress” narrative. This is the great duality of feminism that renders it a movement solely for the benefit of women, and ineffectual for tackling issues facing men.
Whether or not feminists like Sesali Bowen are cognizant of their deeply anti-male behavior is not relevant. What matters is that they are held accountable for attempting to erase the victimization of men and boys, and the women who have abused them.
