When I first heard the phrase “rape culture” years ago, it sounded so dystopian that I wanted to believe it was an exaggeration.
But then came shocking revelations from all corners: the Catholic Church sex scandal, the Boy Scout sex scandal, the Fox News sex scandals, the Bill Cosby sex scandal and the numerous revelations of the #MeToo movement.
Any doubt about the existence of rape culture simply crumples under the weight of reality.
“I don’t always use that term because it is too vague,” said Wayne State University social psychologist Antonia Abbey, whose research focuses on male sexual violence and aggression against women. “I will use ‘patriarchy’ or ‘misogyny,’ the idea that throughout history, men have had power over women and children.”
Because of #MeToo, and all the firings, resignations, civil lawsuits and criminal charges the movement produced, it really did seem possible for a moment that we were on the verge of a true cultural shift. Maybe men of power and privilege would finally understand that women are not objects to be used for their subjugation and pleasure and would, you know, keep their hands off.
If a recent series of bombshell criminal charges against rich, powerful, famous men prove true, this view was far too optimistic.
Famous defendants
Recently a federal indictment charged three brothers associated with the high-flying world of luxury Manhattan and Miami real estate with drugging and raping dozens of women. If even half of what’s in the indictment is accurate, it would make it painfully clear that a subset of privileged, narcissistic men still believe women exist for their domination and gratification. And perhaps nothing will ever change that.
The Alexander brothers — twins Alon and Oren and their brother, Tal — are accused of a veritable crime wave. For more than a decade, according to Manhattan U.S. Atty. Damian Williams, the brothers “alone and together” repeatedly and violently sexually assaulted and raped women after drugging them with cocaine, mushrooms, GHB and other substances. Lawyers for the brothers have said they are innocent of the charges.
“Our investigation is far from over,” Williams said in a statement announcing the sex trafficking indictment. He urged any other victims to come forward. The brothers remain in custody in Florida.
The recent accusations against music entrepreneur Sean “Diddy” Combs are also mind-boggling. Williams announced in September that a federal grand jury had returned a three-count indictment of Combs alleging crimes so heinous that a judge has refused three requests to free him on bail. He remains in a jail cell awaiting trial, and faces additional lawsuits for sexual assault.
The indictment accuses Combs of running a criminal enterprise for the last 15 years in which many women, and some men, were systematically drugged, sexually assaulted, punched, kicked and threatened. A lawsuit filed accused another music titan, Jay-Z, of drugging and raping a 13-year-old girl at a 2000 MTV Video Music Awards after-party in Combs’ presence. Jay-Z has vigorously denied the charges, and a lawyer for Combs has said he has “never sexually assaulted anyone.”
