Brock Turner: The Privileged Rapist

It was the epitome of white privilege, the narrative went — a student and star swimmer at prestigious Stanford University is arrested on rape-related charges, and after more than 16 months, he’s sentenced to only six months.

And the authorities refuse to let the public see his arrest photo.

Until recently. Here it is:

What we all saw instead were these presumably ‘less rapist-looking’ images. The first was released by Stanford U.

The second is credited to the Santa Clara County Sheriff:

One question is: Why do we presume someone white and male and ‘clean-cut’ is less likely to be a savage rapist than someone more unkempt? Does short (blond) hair and a blazer mean one is safe to be around? Does the hoodie make him more dangerous? How racist and classist are those inferences? Also, notice in the last image how his head is low in the frame, giving the impression he’s small, more like a child: Innocent. Good. Young. White.

If he were poorer and Black, he’d be called ‘a wild animal’ or ‘a vicious thug’ among other white supremacist coded language for ‘normal Black man’.

Here is the victim’s statement to the man who raped her:
https://www.sccgov.org/sites/da/newsroom/newsreleases/Pages/NRA2016/Turner-Sentencing.aspx

Thank goodness two Swedish male students intervened on her behalf, witnessing the rape. Thank goodness he was caught doing such vile violence to her. The particulars of the violence have a long history in Amerikkka, against women white and Black, Indigenous and Asian.

What he can be thankful for is his race, class, and ethnic background. And his status as a college student at an elite school and a star athlete to boot–in a predominantly white sport at that. And having a judge, a father, and a friend who cares more about his present and future than the woman he attacked.

Not only is Judge Aaron Persky an accomplice, but so too is the rapist’s father, a former Stanford student. Persky has acted on behalf of rapists before. (See here for that story.) The father’s statement read: “His life will never be the one that he dreamed about and worked so hard to achieve…” “That is a steep price to pay for 20 minutes of action out of his 20 plus years of life.”

The callous lack of regard for the woman his son raped is astounding. No mention of being ashamed at what his son did ‘for 20 minutes’. No acknowledgement it was rape, even though there were witnesses.

As Andrea Dworkin once wrote, “the punishment for getting drunk and going in a frat boy’s dorm room should be a hangover, not rape.” [Source: here]

Or being outside. Or at home. Or being anywhere when inebriated. Or not inebriated. What patriarchy does so well is punish women for simply being.