Men's Rights (lol) - Page 2

I guess at the end of the day we're both 'right' in a sense.

My prospective sort of comes (I have a somewhat politics/law background educationally speaking) from a due process standpoint. Effectively, I am bothered by the fact that when someone accuses another of rape the accused name is permitted to be published but often time the accuser is not.

Generally speaking, I think its fair to say that the AVERAGE person would immediately presume someone who is accused is guilty. For example, numerous players on the Duke Lacrosse team (even some who weren't even present at the party that spurred the false accusation) received failing grades from their professors in certain classes despite their claims that they did all work acceptably.

Obviously, someone who is raped and can't get their attacker punished for whatever the reason is have their lives turned upside down, but at the same time they do have women's shelters and other programs to at least give them counseling and assistance. There are far less psychiatrists and public interest groups looking to treat the falsely accused.

In a way I'm sort of playing devil's advocate, and I certainly don't mean to diminish the pain of a victim of sexual assault, but rather I think it's fair to say that falsely accused men are in a unique situation where the average person would not want to touch them with a ten foot pole and would probably deal with much the same feelings and emotions as a traditional rape victim would without access to outlets to ease their pain.

Either way, I can't be for sure as I haven't been on either side of this situation. Regardless, at present I think it is fair to say that we do live in a society (in North America at least) where the simple act of a woman telling an authority figure that you raped her would result in loss of income, reputation, and serious mental anguish, and in many states this would not have any negative repercussions for the false accuser whatsoever.

On December 02 2012 00:00 nolan wrote: I guess at the end of the day we're both 'right' in a sense. My prospective sort of comes (I have a somewhat politics/law background educationally speaking) from a due process standpoint. Effectively, I am bothered by the fact that when someone accuses another of rape the accused name is permitted to be published but often time the accuser is not. Generally speaking, I think its fair to say that the AVERAGE person would immediately presume someone who is accused is guilty. For example, numerous players on the Duke Lacrosse team (even some who weren't even present at the party that spurred the false accusation) received failing grades from their professors in certain classes despite their claims that they did all work acceptably.

I think that in well publicized cases the accused is often assumed guilty. I also think that this is a common thing when cases are heavily publicized, like in the Duke lacrosse case. However like I said there is huge social pressure against women bringing forth cases of rape, and it often times takes the form of doubt, mistrust directed at the woman who is making the case. There is a lot of literature about women who bring accuse men in their social circles of rape (as is often the case since the vast majority of rapes are committed by friends or acquaintances) the men are protected and the women are ostracized. The same thing happens in cases of sexual assault.

Obviously, someone who is raped and can't get their attacker punished for whatever the reason is have their lives turned upside down, but at the same time they do have women's shelters and other programs to at least give them counseling and assistance. There are far less psychiatrists and public interest groups looking to treat the falsely accused. In a way I'm sort of playing devil's advocate, and I certainly don't mean to diminish the pain of a victim of sexual assault, but rather I think it's fair to say that falsely accused men are in a unique situation where the average person would not want to touch them with a ten foot pole and would probably deal with much the same feelings and emotions as a traditional rape victim would without access to outlets to ease their pain. Either way, I can't be for sure as I haven't been on either side of this situation. Regardless, at present I think it is fair to say that we do live in a society (in North America at least) where the simple act of a woman telling an authority figure that you raped her would result in loss of income, reputation, and serious mental anguish, and in many states this would not have any negative repercussions for the false accuser whatsoever.

I don't think men accused of rape are in that unique of a situation. Women who are raped carry it with them for their life and deal with it to varying degrees. People will see them as "damaged goods" or deny the significance of their rape and suggest they just get over it and not understand if they can't. I downright deny that the feelings men feel after being falsely accused are the same as a woman who has been raped, though I am sure it's a terrible feeling.

I'd like to point out that the last paragraph you wrote can have "men being falsely accused of rape" replaced with "women who have been raped" and be just as true, but for a much greater number of women.

-e- it seems to me that the solution to a problem that men don't have psychological support after being falsely accused of a rape is a more robust and accessible public mental health system.

I'd like to say that I'm not trying to argue that rape is a worse thing than false accusations of rape, but instead that rape is an incredibly real issue and is often ignored. 15% of college women are raped. Why is this not a headline every week?

Well put.

High five for us not being internet douchebags to eachother and discussing things in a civil manner.

-e- about podcasts two that i like a lot are Throwing Shade and My Brother My Brother and Me.

Both are comedy shows, first is about women's and gay issues second is generic advice. Both are i guess irreverent comedy I guess? They're kind of improv and often quite absurd