Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Homework #2

Happy Valley Man Charged with Alleged Sexual Abuse Of A Child: Investigators say the suspect was a long time friend of the victim's family and well acquainted with the 5-year old reported victim in this case.

Unwilling Teenage Wives make Polygamy Child Abuse: Recent cases of child abuse were reported from Utah, the cases of John Daniel Kingston and his brother David O. Kingston. John Daniel Kingston forced his 16-year-old daughter into a both incestuous and polygamous marriage to her uncle, David O. Kingston. She would become his 15th wife. According to the girl, when she tried to escape the relationship her father beat her with a belt and left obvious bruises on her back arms and legs. She said that her father also punched her in the f ace and bloodied her nose. David Kingston received time in prison for sexual abuse and incest.

Cambodian Acid Violence Against Women: it would seem that around 50% of attacks are the consequence of real or perceived extramarital affairs or other aspects of life leading to seeking of revenge. This is an extreme and tragic consequence of men seeking to control women.

2 comments:

Sophia Mamoyac said...

Happy Valley Man Charged with Alleged Sexual Abuse Of A Child:

The title of this article is a perfect example of what Carrie Giese talked about on our first day of class when she showed us the different news article titles. The first thing I noticed about this article was that in the title it says “alleged” sexual abuse, indicating right off the bat that the victim may be lying and the perpetrator is innocent. This makes the reader skeptical of the victim and almost defending of the perpetrator. This once again takes the focus off of the victim and places it on the perpetrator, making the reader believe that he was really the victim, being wrongfully accused.

Another part that stood out to me in this article was where it states that “Investigators report Douglas Alfred Feller was a long time friend of the victim's family and well acquainted with the 5-year old reported victim in this case.” This is yet another example of how perpetrators are often close to the victim, and as a result, they are the last person you would expect. The part that really interested/troubled me though was how persistent this article was in making sure it was known that he may be innocent. While I fully understand protecting criminals’ rights, the way the article was written like this almost makes me feel like we should not believe that he did this, or that it is in some way downplayed. Putting all these disclaimers at the end almost takes the focus away from the rest of the article as it is the last thing the reader sees. Plus, the last sentence of the article, “There are cases of this nature that ultimately, do not result in a conviction” really surprised and bothered me as it shows how cases and so-called “allegations” like this ultimately go without proper justice being served by the perpetrator.

Lauren L said...

Cambodian Acid Violence Against Women:

The author of this post is an educated male Western doctor. His bias against these victims is evident. Even as he is trying to help them survive horrible disfiguring torture he is talking about them in the most discriminating terms. He implies that all victims of acid burns are poor, beautiful women deserving of our help and pity because they are no longer beautiful.
The entire post (or advertisement, it seems that he's trying to drum up support for his clinics) focuses on the problems and suffering of women with almost no mention of the men who are perpetrating these crimes. He mentions the Khmer Rouge without even realizing that 100% of the soldiers inflicting these crimes against Cambodian men and women were MEN. 99-100% of the leaders of the Khmer Rouge who supported and dictated the extent of the genocide were MEN. As Dr. Grut did admit, 50% of acid violence is directed against women, the other half of the victims are collateral damage or came about from other types of disputes. However, only women are focused on in the post, not the disturbing problem of Cambodia’s political problems or history of violence against all Cambodians. The most frustrating part of Dr. Grut’s message came at the end. He is quoted as saying, “So often the attack takes from the victim the only real asset owned in a quagmire of poverty, her physical beauty, which in many societies is the only way for a woman to advance”. First of all, saying that physical beauty is an asset means a woman’s beauty would be helpful to her in dealing with all people. Would a woman care that she is dealing with a beautiful woman in a business transaction? Does a child love his mother more because she is considered beautiful? No, only a certain type of man would consider beauty to be a factor in dealing with a woman. Physical attributes are not an asset. Secondly, he asserts that “in many societies (physical beauty) is the only way for a woman to advance”. Which societies Dr. Grut? We thought you were just talking about Cambodia but now it seems you are making overarching assumptions about other cultures. IF that is true in Cambodia, it is only because men are in charge and will only allow beautiful women to advance. But where are women allowed to advance to? Most probably marriage to a rich and powerful man; certainly not to positions of power within the government or control of companies.