Sexual Predators and the Double Standard in America
Posted in Politics by guest
Guest Article by JJ
Last night I was watching some good ole’ Fox News programming (liberal types may insert laughter and ridicule here) and it became blatantly clear to me that one of the following is true: Bill O’Reilly has become a big “softy”, or there is a huge double standard in this country when it comes to sexual predators.
What am I talking about, you ask? Well, over the past year or so, Bill O’Reilly has been exposing some seemingly retarded judges who presided over certain child molestation/rape cases in which the perpetrators basically got off Scott-free, even though they pleaded guilty. So Bill O’Reilly, Fox News, Oprah Winfrey, and many other media outlets have been raining down hell-fire on these judges and convicted child molesters ever since; I mean absolutely killing these people, to the point that many of these judges have resigned or been run out of their respective towns. Funny thing is, all of the cases targeted by O’Reilly and the various other media outlets have shared one thing in common: the sexual predator in each case was a male.
Now, back to last night. On the show The O’Reilly Factor, the sentencing of Debra Lafave was being discussed, as she was sentenced yesterday to three years of house arrest followed by seven years probation (For those of you who live under rocks, Debra Lafave was a teacher who pleaded guilty to having a sexual relationship with a 14 year-old male student, See link above). I suppose I was expecting everyone to be freaking out over the lenient punishment handed down. Or perhaps I was hoping that O’Reilly would be, like, screaming into the camera, threatening to hunt down the judge and eat his children as he does. But it wasn’t like that. Everyone was calm. And O’Reilly was quite passive about it all. To his credit, he did indicate that he disagreed with the sentencing, but he was not his usual “my head will explode I am so angry right now” self. I thought to myself, “If this had been a male teacher having a sexual relationship with a 14 year-old boy or girl, consensual or not, Mr. O’Reilly would be shooting fire out of his eyes!”
So what gives?
I was discussing this with some friends and co-workers this morning and they, much like Mr. O’Reilly, were basically indifferent to the sentencing of Debra Lafave. The conversation generally went something like this: “Sure, it’s always bad when an adult in a position of power uses that power to take advantage of a child. But in this case a 14 year-old, hormone raging, pubescent teenager got laid… by a piping hot older chick who is his teacher no less – every school boys dream. He’s hardly a victim.” But I know for a fact that the opinions expressed during our discussion would have been very different had the sexual predator been a male.
At this time, I find it necessary to once again stress that Debra Lafave is smoking hot (see link above).
But in all seriousness, is that it? Is the reality and severity of this particular case being clouded by the fact that the sexual predator was an attractive female? Does the fact that the victim was a teenage boy also contribute to this? Was he really a victim? Would we feel differently if the victim were a female? I know I would feel differently if the sexual predator were a male.
The bottom line is that in any case, under our Country’s laws, a crime has been committed and a child has technically been raped, regardless of whether the sex was consensual. So why is there a double standard here? Male perpetrator vs. female perpetrator: why do so many see the two scenarios so differently? Let’s hear your thoughts.
March 24th, 2006 at 1:15 pm
In the eyes of the law there should be no difference. Does the Equal Protection clause ring a bell?
March 24th, 2006 at 1:39 pm
I agree that in the eyes of the law there is no difference, as I stated in the article. But the focus of this article is not how the law or the judicial system view the two scenarios (male sex offender vs. female sex offender). Sorry if that is not clear in the article. The question being asked is why do many people (media, society, etc.) tend to view a male sex offender more harshly than, say, an attractive female sex offender like Debra Lafave?
March 24th, 2006 at 1:50 pm
I’m not sure what to think of this. Even if the sex was consensual, the boy is only 14 and thus it is statutory rape. He can’t technically “give” consent in a legal sense, right?
Thus, she’s taking advantage of him, and should be punished. Like what was said in this article, if a male had convinced a younger female to have sex, and she consented, it would still be rape and he would definitely be seen as the one taking advantage of the under-18-year-old girl.
Also, females tend to get it a little easier in court, historically at least (see court cases involving custody battles, criminal sentencings, etc).
March 24th, 2006 at 2:18 pm
Exactly, it goes back to the questions I asked in the article, was the teacher really a “sexual predator” and was the boy really a victim? In eyes of the law, of course they were. But most of the people I’ve talked to about this don’t see it that way. They don’t view the teacher in this case as harshly, because their assumption is that since males are typically more sexually driven (especially as teenagers), then certainly the teenage boy was okay with having sex with an attractive older woman. But that assumption could be completely wrong.
If this particular case involved a male teacher having sex with a 14 year old girl, and he got no jail time in his sentence, everyone would have their panties in a bunch. People would be calling for the judge’s head. This would be true even if the girl were the one who pursued the relationship. In this case however, the circumstances are just the opposite and no one really seams to care that the teacher got no jail time.
March 25th, 2006 at 9:00 am
You can’t push a rope.
Out.
March 25th, 2006 at 12:59 pm
Yeah, good call. This article is not very good. Not really sure where I was going with it, and I seemed to have answered my own question. Anyway, my busy season is winding down so hopefully I’ll be able to come up with something that has a point and is actually interesting. I’ve got a couple more pieces in the works. Just trying to contribute a little.
March 25th, 2006 at 2:31 pm
I thought it was good. Yeah, it did answer itself but it brought up a controversial issue we hadn’t talked about yet. I suppose I’ve had some pretty deep conversations about this article and not had the time to comment on the site… maybe I should stop talking and spend more time commenting.
March 26th, 2006 at 3:12 am
Yeah, and really it isn’t resolved yet. I mean we both agree that in the eyes of the law there should be no difference between the male and female sexual predator, but in reality there is. Regardless of what people think, the law should be equal, and it obviously is not in this case. Should we let our personal opinions affect the outcome of justice? No way!!
March 26th, 2006 at 10:22 am
Fo shizzel, steven. Fo shizzel.
April 15th, 2006 at 10:07 pm
http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AI...
Looks like she’s back in jail…