Comments

1
If people actually went to jail for falsely accusing people of rape I guess the two would be equal, but since they don't I will continue to presume the person accused of a crime punishable by prison time is innocent until proven guilty.
2
Until rape becomes a crime that is easier to actually prosecute based on evidence (in the face of a legal system that repeatedly goes out of its way to remind you how hard it will be to convict and how likely it will be that your good name will be dragged through the mud if you admit to being a victim) then I guess I will tend to find credible the words of an adult woman brave enough to articulate in adult words what she was barely able to understand as a 7 year old child rather than an adult male with the proven ability to make terrible choices about sexual activity with members of his ex lover's family. I'd love to see the statistics to support the oft-trotted out trope that lots of women falsely accuse people of rape despite the horrifying consequences any woman who speaks about their own rape endures in the hands of the legal system and the public. Ugh. One in 4 women are actually raped and/or sexually assaulted in their lifetime. Very very few of those rapes ever go to trial because of how easy it is for the man to claim that the woman has some sort of ulterior motive in claiming to be assaulted.
3
@trishia good call we should all just blindly believe every allegation of rape, why even have a trial?

http://www.oregonlive.com/pacific-northwes…
4
Elizabeth Lynn Dunham. The list is countless. And unforgivable.
5
I disagree with this Aaron Brady bit. First of all, it's none of my fucking business; their family has substantial, deranged problems from all prior reports. But that's for them to sort out. I have a problem with lumping this molestation case into any sort of "rape culture" argument because the accusation is of child molestation, not rape; these are arguably very different phenomena. And I don't like the demonization of people who suggest firmly-held memories can (gasp!) be nonfactual, or that it's incredibly horrible to say the fucked-up scenario of their family (NOT MY BUSINESS) could've resulted in the occurrence or content of a coached recording and lasting imprint. Don't be so sure. Those of us who claim uncertainty aren't "rape cultured" (but add that to my new, least-favorite phrases)-- it's showing some fucking humility.

On the other hand, believing everything everyone says without knowing any facts; especially when there stakes involved for all; that's what I would call "cultured ignorant". I believe neither Woody (who's clinically deranged, and makes good movies) nor Dylan (who has a real memory, occurring in a bizarre context but without certainty; and now a catharsis in a newspaper)-- but completely disagree that this is some profound symbolization of a greater cause for sex abuse-awareness. Instead, I think choosing this case to make some sort a larger point about child abuse or rape in society as a whole is a huge, conflated error.
6
and then this happened today...

http://www.oregonlive.com/clark-county/ind…

Are most rape allegations false? No I don't think they are, but if you are going to put someone in jail for many years you better be sure and false accusations happen often enough to make me very uncomforatable with convicting someone solely on victim testimony with absolutely no corroborating evidence, especially in cases where there is an adult who has a reason to be coaching the child to lie.
7
Well Lady Gaga's Artpop featured work from two child molestors: R Kelly and Terry Richardson.

Most of my knowledge of this case comes from living through the 90s and reading Mia Farrow's book, which included 100 pages of her version plus court records. I have never quite believed the story. And I've never really even heard Allen's side of it.

The Daily Beast article mainly attacks the credibility of Mia Farrow, and a separate article on the site says she's saying what she believes to be true.

And in general, I don't trust people who say "rape culture," especially not in reference to rich white Americans.
8
"Rape culture" is a rhetorical get out of jail free card. Call it a "avoid future argument" card. It walks hand in hand with the term "white privilege" which is used less as a way of making a point about society, and more as a way to deprive your opponent of the chance to disagree with you. I was surprised at the shoddy logic behind that piece. I think it had a lot of fancy words and the sentences didn't have any major grammatical mistakes, and this fooled a lot of people who should have known better into thinking it actually made sense. At its very root, however, it is absolutely incoherent.
9
How about presuming nothing absent any evidence? Can we just go about our lives and continue to think what we've thought about Woody Allen up to now, or is that sexist too?
10
A 7 year olds memory can certainly be shaped by the anger of a spurned lover, in this case, Mia Farrow.
There are one hell of a lot cases of false memory too, or even implanted memories.
There was that great documentary some years back "Capturing The Freidmans" which explores memory and childhood.
I too take exception to Aaron Brady's arguments here.

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