Recently, I found out about a rather scary news story. Five football players were arrested this summer for the rape of an undergraduate student at Vanderbilt University. Then I found out something even scarier: I knew one of the football players.
In my research of this story, I had many questions, but more-so, I was in shock. I knew a rapist. I spent time with a rapist. I took classes with a rapist. I was facebook friends with a rapist. Oh, I’m sorry, “alleged” rapist. Sadly enough, I’m sure Brandon Vandenburg is not the only alleged rapist I’ll ever be able to say these things about, but that doesn’t make it any less scary or shocking.
Despite all my confusion, there was one thing that stood out to me on many of the articles I read: the comment section. Now I’m not one for reading internet comments, for very obvious reasons, but sometimes I scroll too far after I finish an article and get sucked in. This time, I did just that and was a little bit put off by some of the things I read. That’s not to say I’m not usually put off by the comments I read, because I am, but these didn’t seem like people just trolling YouTube videos. These people had serious problems with the sport of football and claimed it should be gotten rid of because obviously it was the reason these boys allegedly raped this girl.
I have a very big problem with that claim. I am a vocal advocate of getting rid of the rape culture this country is undoubtedly immersed in. I am also a big football fan. Thus, I found myself at a crossroads when reading these comments.
It does seem like we always hear about some athlete committing some act of sexual misconduct or some athletic department getting into some kind of trouble that involves inappropriate sexual actions (see: Penn State, Oklahoma State, Brett Favre, Ben Roethlisberger etc.). It also seems like we hear a lot more about athletes in general than the average joe. The logical conclusion would then be that we hear about more athletic sex scandals, because we hear more about athletic programs and athletes in general, not necessarily because they do more heinous things.
Rape is an extremely touchy subject, and for good reason. It’s not something to make light of or make excuses for. That being said, football is not the reason this girl was allegedly raped. Football did not turn those boys into monsters. A perpetuation of rape culture and the need for hegemonic masculinity in a patriarchal society did. The notion that men need to be dominant over women and the fact that that notion is spoon-fed to both boys and girl almost from infancy is what made those boys think this was an okay thing to do.
If we wanted to discuss why it took so long for these boys to face charges, or why they all didn’t immediately get arrested, then we could talk about the effect being an athlete, specifically a football player, has on not only the public’s perception of a person, but that person’s perception of themselves. If we wanted to discuss why this news story has not received much more national media attention than the miniscule amount it has, then we could talk about how football and being an athlete comes with certain privileges and preferential treatment not afforded to the average citizen. However these are not the most prominent issues I saw raised among the general public who were made aware that this incident had allegedly transpired. I saw an outcry for football to be banished, because five boys, who just happened to be football players, allegedly made an egregious mistake.
Football, and every sport for that matter, is a great part of our culture, each contributing to society in its own way and in turn being affected by that same society. Sports are a rich part of our history and culture and calling for the complete extermination of one of them is crossing a line that I wasn’t even aware existed. If we really want to solve the problem that is rape culture in our society, getting rid of sports is not the way to do it. Getting away from our inherently patriarchal society and changing the way people instinctively think about gender roles is a step towards solving the problem. It may be the most difficult step, but if a solution is to be reached, it is the only realistic step.
It's A Small World, After All. 