About Me

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New York City, New York, United States
41 year old African-American Male. I like to think of myself as a jack of all trades and a master of none...I rely on reasoned common sense, rationality and what my gut tells me is right/wrong (combined with the well reasoned opinions of others!). I don't consider myself an expert on anything in particular, but I have lots of opinions.

Friday, July 1, 2011

Who Is Entitled To Their Body?

This is somewhat interesting, albeit on the salacious side regarding the credibility of the chamber maid who accused Dominque Strauss Kahn of rape.  I don't know if I believe one things has to do with the other---actually, I do know what I think...it does.  True, involvement in one aspect of possible shady dealings does raise questions about character, but I don't that its a irrefutable presumption that someone is a bad person.  Similarly, just because DSK is a well-heeled international financier does not mean that he didn't rape the victim.  It would be interesting to see what some leading feminist scholars and women's rights activist have to say about this---I see it as another way that the "system" is complicit in its brutalization and victimization of "certain" women, which is rooted in class, ethnic and racial ideologies and biases.  From what I recall about the evidence, its clear that a sexual encounter between the two parties occurred and its looks like it was forcible...So, is the prosecution saying that because the woman might have a shady past, she is not entitled to protection from a sexual predator?  In a society that pretty much monetizes everything under the sun, is she entitled to compensation from having sex forced on her (one of the allegations against the woman is that she had a jailhouse conversation with a "friend" about ways to secure compensation from the incident with DSK...the conversation was recorded).  I guess its not justice, but "just us" in securing protection of the laws.


Update:

Link to an article by Patricia Williams on DSK...Professor Williams is much more objective on this subject than I even pretended to be...She gave me some things to think about in my own analysis...

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