Monday, October 6, 2008

Homework Week #2

Local:


National:

International:

7 comments:

Erin Boshuizen said...

Man drugged banana cream pie: Not only is this a case of sexism but also a case of agism. the perpetrator was not my any means down played in this article. It was refreshing to read that he female was hardly referenced. I have observed that when incidents involve children they are usually take more serious, but when they violence happens to those of an older age the tables flip and it becomes less severe.

Erin Boshuizen said...

Clark county: "She ran out of the house after she CLAIMED he pointed a gun at her, deputies said." I was really happy with the gender neutrality of this article until i read this statement. The writers of this could just as eaily written 'she ran out of the house after she noticed he had a gun.' Or even 'she ran out of the house after she was treated with a gun.' Im not sure if this is the way that they are taught to write articles, just incase information is wrong they cover their but my saying claimed for fear that they might get sued for slander. Its also addresses the need to bring in a weapon to gain control. Katz talked about this in the movie; when a male feels like they are not macho or are losing contol they find was to make up for it by bringing in weapon or threats in order to gain that control back.

Sophia Mamoyac said...

Man Drugged Banana Cream Pie, Raped Child
Judge Sentences Man To 27 Years In Prison:

This article is a perfect example of what we have been talking about in class (and reading about in The Macho Paradox) about how when disturbing, horrific cases such as this arise, they are reported as individual cases, rather than as a much larger issue. The individual case is not related to the larger social context. When District Attorney Mike Bonfoey stated, “This case demonstrates that child molesters can appear anywhere in our community. This was a disturbingly disgusting event by a man who was trusted by the victim and her family. Sexual predators and child molesters should be in prison in order for our children and our communities to be kept safe” it was suggested that in order to keep our communities safe, these perpetrators just need to be locked up. While it is definitely true that victims and those who are vulnerable must be protected from these people, that alone is not going to be a solution to the problem. We will just keep hearing accounts like this of assault and sexual abuse. The focus isn’t on prevention and people need to start looking at why incidences of abuse are so prevalent (despite the fact that a large percentage isn’t even reported). Not all perpetrators are in jail, and it would be impossible to have them all imprisoned, since it is way more than just a few “sick” people. (And besides, even though this man did get 27 years in prison, that’s definitely not enough time). As a result, prevention must be the goal.

Also, the statement that “child molesters can appear anywhere in our community” made me think about Jackson Katz’s book and how the word “community” needs to be examined closer. Since abuse and sexual assault is so prevalent in our communities, couldn’t it be that the perpetrators are a product of the community. This is also another example of, as Katz and Carrie Giese both pointed out, perpetrators being close and trusted loved ones.

Danielle Taber said...

I read the article Man drugged banana cream pie, raped child. This article demonstrated sexism and gender right away in the title of the article. You knew right away that this was a man who raped a child. We talked in the class about how the perpetrator is usually someone who is close to us. In this case it supports that indefinitely. This was a man who invited his family friend's daughter to dinner and to stay the night. This molestation of this young 14 year old girl was premeditated and the entire time this man knew exactly what he was doing. I believe that his sentencing was right for his actions because by keeping him off the streets we are just trying to keep our children safe so he cannot hurt anyone else's daughter or son.

channingt said...

I too read the one about the pie:

My first thought is... HE DRUGGED HIS WIFE TOO?!?!?! I thought, he's alone in the house, the kid comes over... NO. He's a married dude, and he knocks the kid and his wife unconscious in order to do what he wants to do. Just the headline of this article makes me sick, but the fact that this guy wanted to rape that girl enough to have to drug his wife also is just insane to me. Wanting to think critically here and not demonize the perpetrator, but... what the hell?

He did NOT receive a long enough sentence. Period. Other articles have steeper sentences than this. 34 years maximum? C'mon!

Getting back on track... I agree with Sophia's comments about the "community" issue, the "surprise" felt by those around. Also, I agree with Danielle's comments about the crime being premeditated, and perpetrated by someone known to the victim.

I would also like to say that the fact the this perpetrators gender is pointed out is interesting. If a man kills a women, it's expected, it's normal, the media reacts in the usual way. But if a man rapes a child, he is singled out, separated from the rest of "men," the mythical norm. We ostracize the ones who will harm our image. Interesting.

Andres Estrada said...

In the three articles that heather hoffmans posted, each one of them troubled me about how outcontrol violence against women is. The article that gript me the most had to be the one about the father who druged his daughter with a cream pie, to later to sexualy assault her. Im not a mean person by anymeans but I wish the very worst for that evil individual in Prison. The next artical that grip was the one about the woman who daughter was in a abusive realationship, to later be killed by her boyfriend.That artical was troubling because many young women could be in bad realationship like this and could be risk of harm. I believe through education this unfortunite situation could be avoided. The final artical that I read was on the man who was on a many hour standoff with the police, after threatning his wife with a gun. Hostnestly if a person has to treat his wife with a gun that person has a problem. It is a goodthing that the police got him.

Miranda said...

This article and case definitely dealt with ageism, the power of an older man against the innocence/purity of a female child. As I read through the comments, I found that what Erin said was very accurate, the tables do in fact turn in the case of ageism. I have found that the courts do not tolerate harm towards any children, which is how it should be, but I do however see that if the women had been older, I could've seen the headlines reading a lot different, leaving the case less of an immediate solve. I imagine that if the survivor were a adult women, she would have been mocked for her stupidity, or even the wife that was drugged as well, would have been ridiculed or deemed a suspect.

Within the article I really enjoyed the statement given by the district attorney, Mike Bonfoey, in regards to bringing the violence against anyone, to the attention to men, and bringing it even closer as to in your own "backyard" so to say. This personalizes it for readers and allows for a deeper connection.