The Glen Ridge Rape Essay, Research Paper

Bernard Lefkowitz? s Our Guys raises a batch of issues, all of which have been discussed throughout this semester.

Merely a few pages into the book, words had already begun to leap out at me, capturing my attending. ? The childs in Newark, black and brown, talking Spanglish, goons over their caputs, wheeling their stolen autos over to the local chop store & # 8212 ; they were foreigners in America. Strange, everlastingly separate and separated from the American ideal. But these Glen Ridge childs, they were pure gold, every female parent? s dream, every male parent? s pride. They were non merely Glen Ridge? s finest, but in their flawlessness they belonged to all of us. They were Our Guys ( page 7 ) . ? This is a narrative about White Privilege, I thought. After reading the following two pages, I changed my head. ? & # 8230 ; I wanted to understand how their position as immature athlete famous persons in Glen Ridge influenced their intervention of misss and adult females, peculiarly those of their age & # 8230 ; ..I was particularly funny about what licence they were permitted as a coterie of admired jocks and how that magnified the sense of high quality they felt as persons ( pages 8-9 ) . ? Oh! This is a narrative about athlete civilization, I thought.

I had merely touched the surface. Subsequently on, I realized Our Guys was about jock civilization and white privilege & # 8230 ; every bit good as colza civilizations and patriarchate, male privilege and compulsory heterosexualism, erotica, answerability and? fault the victim. ? All of these issues were portion of this, a existent life narrative, a existent colza.

Reading the narrative of the Glen Ridge Rape, I was able to do observations and draw decisions that Ridgers who lived inside their glass bubbles weren? T able to do. They didn & # 8217 ; t recognize what type of things they were learning their kids. Ethical motives and values are instilled into a individual at a really early age. It can get down at birth. Males of Glen Ridge were taught that they had power and were expected to make certain things. ? In their young person boies were permitted and even expected to raise a small snake pit. ? There was a boys-will-be-boys attitude that went back to the 19 1950ss? & # 8230 ; .Boys were supposed to be vigorous, self-asserting, competitory ; they were expected to prove the boundaries of behaviour within clearly established bounds? ( page 63 ) . This is what boys learned at such an early age. Many of them grew up in male dominant households. Patriarchy was practiced in many places. Male influence made it hard for most of them to set up strong relationships with or larn to appreciate members of the opposite sex.

Something else that was taught to the immature male childs of Glen Ridge was the importance of sports. ? & # 8230 ; . [ E ] xclusively male Glen Ridge brotherhood of jocks ; the masculine manner established at place was reinforced on the town? s playing Fieldss? ( page 69 ) . ? The Glen Ridge image was something everyone was measured against. The image was that the successful child was attractive, good groomed, articulate, and making good in school or in some endeavor, like athleticss. If you didn? t meet these criterions, you could be treated like an castaway? ( page 75 ) . These were the idealised criterions held by the town for its immature males. If you didn? t run into them, you were capable to roast and isolation, sometimes even maltreatment and anguish.

It? s one thing to present sports to a kid as an extracurricular activity, or because of it? s benefits, but it? s rather another to force them toward it because they? ll ne’er be considered a existent adult male because they don? t drama on the field. Not merely was jock civilization a immense portion of Glen Ridge life, but being a athlete besides had it? s responsibilites. ? Jocks got rummies at parties & # 8230 ; acted boorishly & # 8230 ; were sometimes a small more aggressive with misss than manners permitted. Chiefly, though, parents believed that this behavior tantrum within the boundaries of? male childs will be boys? “ ( page 73 ) .

I can & # 8217 ; t assist but inquire what in the universe were these people believing? Where do you pull the line? If you let your boy act a small sharply on juncture and learn him that this is what “ existent work forces ” do, what & # 8217 ; s to halt that same male child from forcing up on immature adult females, floging out at person or even perpetrating colza? They & # 8217 ; ll believe it & # 8217 ; s okay because it & # 8217 ; s portion of being a male & # 8230 ; .a male in Glen Ridge. Not merely did parents digest this behaviour from their boies, but the full town tolerated it from all the male childs, even in school. “ Some instructors & # 8230 ; they tolerated behaviour from the male childs that they would hold punished had it come from a miss ” ( page 83 ) .

This hyperbole of how work forces were supposed to act fed into the colza civilization that Glen Ridge was a portion of. Examples of colza civilization would be colza, torment, assault, aggressiveness, laterality, and even patriarchy. Sounds like Glen Ridge to me. In a colza civilization, people bit by bit conform to criterions of colza, sometimes without recognizing it. You learn to accept certain behaviours that wouldn & # 8217 ; t usually be accepted or found in other civilizations. Sounds like Glen Ridge to me. Unconsciously, Ridgers made their town a colza civilization and made it portion of their mundane lives. It was accepted and expected. “ Boys will be male childs. ” If you didn & # 8217 ; t run into the criterions, you weren & # 8217 ; t a existent adult male.

The athletes who were ever in the limelight were Paul Archer, Richie Corcoran, Kyle and Kevin Scherzer, and Peter Quigley. They were in the spotlight on the field, in the societal scene and even in school. They explored the outer bounds by floging out sexually. They would snarl bandeau straps, push misss up against cabinets and do expressed remarks or petitions. Kevin did things the other cats didn & # 8217 ; t daring. He would sit in category and expose himself, daydreaming the pupils or sometimes yanking off. He & # 8217 ; d even feign to “ hunch ” the instructor when her dorsum was turned.

Many pupils and instructors thought this was warped behaviour, but they let it skid. Teachers moved them along to maintain them out of their hair and avoid the existent issues. Students would express joy it off, non make bolding to travel against the powerful Jocks. Guys had undisputed power.

Girls were particularly careful non to travel against the Jocks. They wouldn & # 8217 ; t talk against them or rat them out. Many of them acted as groupies, or Jockettes, as they were called. The Jocks would utilize some misss as party ornaments, others for sexual release. Some misss acted as Little Mothers, baking cookies and taking attention of the injured jocks. Others were sex playthings. A miss who gave unwritten sex was “ hovering. ” If I guy knew he was traveling to have unwritten sex, he & # 8217 ; d state his friends and they & # 8217 ; 500 fell in the room, out of sight from the miss, and undercover agent on them. This was referred to as “ voyeuring. ” This was a favourite yesteryear clip, every bit good as watching erotica. They would garner around the telecasting set, watch erotica and masturbate together ; it was no secret. Their involvement in erotica might hold besides contributed to their aggressiveness toward females. “ Pornography is about ever about power and aggression & # 8230 ; . [ B ] ut these athletes were aggressive to get down with & # 8230 ; [ G ] irls were an easier mark because they weren & # 8217 ; t every bit strong as them, and they had been taught non to compain about how they were treated ” ( page 183 ) . The misss of Glen Ridge High School would titter at and ignore the Jock & # 8217 ; s gross outing behaviour. They learned to populate under subjugation. Many of them took it as a manner of life. Others knew it was opprobrious behaviour and it effected the manner their ideas of all work forces.

All these behaviours were observed by Leslie Faber. Neurologically impaired, there was no manner Leslie was able to even get down to grok what was traveling on around her. I can & # 8217 ; t even to the full comprehend this. Leslie saw and heard things, but no 1 stopped to explicate it all to her, to divide fact from myth and right from incorrect. The athletes took advantage of this, every bit good as many other things. Somewhat of an athlete herself, she looked up to the athletes. She thought of them as her heroes. Like many other misss, she couldn & # 8217 ; t believe of traveling against them. She was willing to make anything to go socially recognized.

A baseball chiropteran. A broom handle. A stick found in the park. Forced unwritten sex. Did she state “ no ” ? No, she didn & # 8217 ; t. Did she state “ yes ” ? No, she didn & # 8217 ; t. She merely went along, ne’er expressing a word, merely shouting soundless cryings. A group of athletes pack raped her, ne’er one time halting to believe of what they were making. A few of them might hold had ideas of compunction, but it wasn & # 8217 ; t adequate to halt what was traveling on. How could they have done something so barbarous? Certain, they say she looked normal. Is that an alibi? Is that an alibi for anything that happened? Push aside the fact that she was mentally retarded. Would it hold been okay to coerce a “ normal ” miss to give unwritten sex, to force a baseball chiropteran into her, every bit good as a broom handle and a stick found in the park? ! NO, it & # 8217 ; s non.

When word of this got about in the ill small town of Glen Ridge, it took hebdomads for person to talk up. They “ & # 8230 ; saw the grounds, but they chose to disregard them. Partially because they didn & # 8217 ; t want to defile the town they treasured & # 8230 ; with dirt ”

( page 493 ) . Even when action was taken, everyone was disbelieving. Who to believe? A mentally retarded miss who was ne’er socially accepted or a clump of aggressive, problem doing athletes? “ Oh, but those good male childs, they couldn & # 8217 ; T perchance hold done something incorrect! They & # 8217 ; re fine-looking male childs, so popular and well-liked. They come from good off white households. Accusations like these can mark them for life! ” Oh, what it & # 8217 ; s like to hold white privilege! And that & # 8217 ; s the manner it was. The athletes were supported ; the town didn & # 8217 ; t turn their dorsums. It was all Leslie & # 8217 ; s mistake. She had engaged in some kind of sexual activities before, hadn & # 8217 ; t she? She had made some sexually expressed remarks before, hadn & # 8217 ; t she? Well, she asked for it. Leslie gave her side of the narrative, and when everyone learned of the ghastliness that went on, most of the town still thought it was her mistake.

And so it went to test. And even so, even after she had been viciously raped and gone through so much hurting, embarrassment and anguish, Leslie still stuck with them. On the base, she lied to protect them. “ I lied in tribunal because if I tell the truth the male childs & # 8217 ; ll travel to imprison ” ( page 432 ) . She portrayed herself as a sexually experient immature adult female, stating Zegas she had given many “ cock suckings ” before and knew what boys liked. If it was unable to find that Leslie couldn & # 8217 ; t calculate out what was right and incorrect earlier, her conflicting narratives would hold done it. It was obvious this immature adult female was confused. She didn & # 8217 ; t want to ache her “ friends. ”

And the finding of fact was decided. The athletes were found guilty. But still, Leslie lost. The Jocks were given light sentences and released on a little bond. Justice was served, in the legal sense, but non morally.

And so, Glen Ridge continues to populate in their glass bubble. But they are non entirely. Thousands of these communities exist across the state. I was able to do it through all 502 pages of Our Guys, but throughout the full clip, I fought feelings to set down the book and bury about it wholly. I genuinely found it gross outing. What bothered me most though, wasn & # 8217 ; t what happened or how, but the fact that I could believe it really happened. “ The Jocks didn & # 8217 ; t contrive the thought of maltreating immature adult females. The governing coterie of adolescents adhered to a codification of behaviour that mimicked, distorted, and exaggerated the values of the grownup universe around them ” ( page 493 ) . We live in this society.