Say even that [Lena] Dunham had forgotten that there really was a prominent Oberlin conservative named Barry back then. Surely it was obviously possible that, if one makes up a first name, someone real, who matches the other easily Google-findable characteristics, might have that name. Given the gravity of the charge, how can one possibly rely on a statement on the copyright page as the only hint that this particular item in the memoir is inaccurate?One answer to these questions is that Dunham wanted to hurt the real man named Barry and chose to take the risk that she might at some point lose a lawsuit. The risk could have seemed worth it because:
1. Real Man Named Barry would first have to expose himself and connect his real name to the nasty statements and assert that they are intended to be about him. He might shut up and endure the abuse (or even relax and enjoy it (Lena noticed me!)).
2. The defense is likely/somewhat likely to work: She didn't use the man's full name and she changed some details (like adding a mustache).
3. Free speech! The sympathy will go her way if she's actually sued. Memoirists should not have to worry about using first names and making things up. The best people will probably cluster around her. Who wants more defamation lawsuits in this age of free expression? This is America, baby!
4. Fame, glorious fame! Say my name! Spell it right: L-E-N-A-D-U-N-H-A-M. No such thing as bad publicity. With a news hook, everyone will always talk about MEEEEEEEEEE!
पोस्ट्स
१११ टिप्पण्या:
Or, alternatively, she has used a phony rape claim as a sympathy ploy in the past and she felt she had to include it in her "memewahs"(sic) for it to be consistant.
How many magazine articles, how many Ann Landers columns would cite a name, and then in a footnote or parenthetical aside, add, "Name changed"?
What an unforced error!
Think?
Most likely is that for years she's harbored fantasies about being taken -- strongly taken -- by a real man, and created this fictional man of her dreams as follows:
Cowboy
Mustache
Republican (not one of those sensitive liberal twits)
and
Barry, as in Goldwater.
I think Dunham wanted to harass the one conservative she remembered from Oberlin, in a sneaky, deniable way.
or alternately: She's a sloppy, careless, narcissistic twit, who doesn't care, and her publishers are stupid and/or turned the account over to somebody 2 years out of Vassar, who is also sloppy, careless etc...
Or: Intentionally give enough details to enable people to identify the specific man, make his life hell while she says nothing from the sidelines (until the book publisher's lawyers get involved) and she gets even for an unsatisfactory sexual encounter that wasn't rape but can be made to sound so for the purposes of juicing up a memoir.
I am Laslo.
In the future everyone will have been raped for fifteen minutes.
5. That it would be fun to f*** with a Republican. (Not literally, of course, though she might be surprised....)
All the Cool Grrrls these days have been raped.
If she made up the story about being raped, does that mean that she also made up the story about molesting her little sister?
That would sort of even out, no?
OK, not really.
"One answer to these questions is that Dunham wanted to hurt the real man named Barry and chose to take the risk that she might at some point lose a lawsuit."
She didn't self-publish the book. Her publisher also decided to share the risk.
some folks invent things in their past to be accepted by a desired group.
Is it possible the Rolling Stone rape story "inspired" Lena to include a supposed rape in her book?
Dude! that rape article is two years old.
All your rapes are belong to us.
"What an unforced error!"
It's not an error in the theory I've stated in my post. It's a deliberate, mischievous/evil choice.
Sorry if I sound Cavalier about rape... the rapes are making me thirsty.
I looked up Cavalier in light of prince William and LeBron... and whatever.
I also think it takes an awful lot of gall for the publisher to suggest they donate Barry's gofundme money to a rape charity.
If I were Barry, I would donate to a charity for men who have been falsely accused on campus in Lena's name. (although, if I were Barry I would also hold out for a lot more money).
I just thought of a post myself.
"I think Dunham wanted to harass the one conservative she remembered from Oberlin, in a sneaky, deniable way."
Yes, that is the theory expressed in the post.
It's not an error. It's intentional.
Volokh's question "how could that happen" is most easily flipped: The problem should/could so easily have been avoided. That's not, in my view, perplexing. That's an occasion to step back and explore the theory that it was no accident.
Two possibilities seem most likely to me.
1. She made it all up and it's a coincidence that there really was a man named Barry.
2. She's deliberately destroying Barry's life by lying about something that didn't happen (which seems to be the case since the details don't bear scrutiny).
The fact that the details are all wrong for the real Barry makes me think that she made it all up and wasn't targeting a real person.
Either way she's a liar. Either way we should never trust anything she says again.
OH! I just saw this part, so I guess that makes my point moot, as this came from Barry's gofundme site.
Any proceeds not used on legal related costs will be donated to not-for-profit organizations that assist victims of rape and sexual assault, to be selected at a later date.
Disclosure would have been so simple.
"The name has been changed in order to smear the innocent."
It's fantasy memory.
Women have it.
If it's mischief/evil, probably a poor choice of target. Guy who's an out and proud conservative in a place like Oberlin is probably accustomed to being slandered. Probably also practiced in delivering an effective response. His approach to date suggests so.
Dunham has a featured interview in the alumni magazine that I didn't read but it's online for you.
Oberlin is entirely left wing moonbat, as far as I can tell.
This campus rape crap is really insane. What is going on?
"Barry" reminds me of Barry Obama, which was the name Obama preferred until he turned 20 and discovered he was black. Maureen Dowd almost always refers to the president as "Barry," I guess because she thinks snarkiness becomes her.
The third possibility, that she is telling the truth about what happened but she changed the name of the man who did it to her, makes me ask, "Why change the name? Why change details to make him harder to identify?"
Why protect him? If he really did it, then she is justified in ruining his life. Be honest about it! Being sneaky and underhanded in taking revenge isn't admirable, nor is lying in a memoir in such a way that the story can never be confirmed.
Again, she's lying.
Wondering if some here still think she's a genius.
This could end up hurting the publishing company, whose name is also attracting mud. This in turn hurts other young authors with worthwhile things to say.
What is it about Lena Dunham that some love but others revile? I'm not sure I'd like to put my finger on it.
In a libel suit, the truth is a defense. If you can't meet that standard then don't say anything at all.
I also think it takes an awful lot of gall for the publisher to suggest they donate Barry's gofundme money to a rape charity.
I'm glad you found that on the gofundme page, because I was irritated by the same thing. Now I'm bothered the stories reporting the statement by the publisher don't mention that it was *his* idea.
I agree she wanted to hurt the one Republican.
I also agree with those who surmise being "raped" is the new cool thing.
Too cute theory that gives too much credit the coddled, Xanax addled minds of Dunham et al. Rape fantasy is a popular meme (so far) free from repercussion or consequence. When you're making shit up for the cause why not use that Republican guy from college? What could go wrong?
This campus rape crap is really insane. What is going on?
The War on Men
Dunham speaks for her generation. She doesn't have time for petty revenge against little people from college that rejected her.
The Emily Yost article at Slate someone pointed me to yesterday is mind-blowing.
Why are young women being encouraged to see themselves as victims of rape? And why is Lena Dunham playing her part?
"The risk could have seemed worth it because" it promotes the right cause: smearing men, Republican men especially, advances the feminist-Progressive agenda. If the victim cowers, you win; if the victim fights back, you may lose some money but you still win fame (as AA notes) and support (because campus Progs will rally under the fake-but-accurate banner).
In advance, the lie might not have seemed to carry much risk to the author anyway. How many false accusers, particularly women in on-campus "rapes" or other hoaxes, have paid any price for their smears? (The publisher's calculation must have been a bit different. Perhaps they actually believed her?)
Its not mischievous/evil. Its an unqualified good. Its not like she just slandered some random guy. She clearly stated that he was the enemy of all good, decent, right-thinking people.
Taken in conjunction with the whole pebbles thing, one gets the impression that Dunham isn't the healthiest puppy in the pet store.
Perhaps every little thought, every little memory, that swirls through her brain passes through layer upon layer of fantasy. The facts become distorted and the distortions become twisted all in the direction of what she perceives as a good story. Just like the UVa rape tale too many check marks are clicked off to make the tale unlikely.
It's not an error in the theory I've stated in my post. It's a deliberate, mischievous/evil choice.
@Althouse, I think you need to leave a smidgen of space for Dunham living a fantasy life, as I indicated above.
But I suspect that you have the right of it. The question is how to make her and her publisher pay so heavily that no one ever thinks to try this crap again. I hope Minc is the kind of lawyer who makes people want to settle for way more than they would like to settle.
I am sorry but a little third base action with a girl who then consents to sex with you is not rape. She consented to the fingers when she consented for the hand to be near there.
Not using a condom against her will is pretty scummy, however. I don't think that is rape either. Unless he forced himself on her, which would be rape whether he wore a condom or not.
We used to have this system of female privilege based on the concept of chivalry. A concept that has been the object of ridicule by liberal writers since Cervantes. Now it has been destroyed, with a huge heave from Feminists, because it was not perfect.
They now want a perfect system of female privilege based on force of law, or not, even down to the point where the testimony of the man is disregarded before it is even heard.
Women don't need husbands anyway. They can have children without one and suckle at the tit of the state. This will maximize the happiness of women.
Spell it right: L-E-N-A-D-U-N-H-A-M. No such thing as bad publicity.
It's not an error. It's intentional.
I agree with you. I don't see any other reason she would be talking about the one conservative at oberlin. The only caveat would have been if it were him, and since RH has said it isn't, it looks like targeting.
Old Days of The Imaginary Rapist:
My Imaginary Rapist was a vague 'stranger' -- I can't really tie him to anybody I know, it was dark, I think he was wearing some kind of disguise, or a knit cap, that kind rapists seem to wear. He DID have a low voice, though: oh yes he did.
Modern Days of The Imaginary Rapist:
Wait: the details are coming to me, it is like trying to see something through a fog but I seem to remember a frat boy or a conservative type -- there was a sweater tied around his shoulders, I think, and I think I remember topsiders. I think he was in a class I was in -- I think it was a math or science class, I can't remember for sure, I dropped out of it after three weeks...
He had one of those WASPy names: 'Chip' or 'Barry' or 'Drew' or 'Mitt', something like that. Or he had a friend with a name like that, you could tell by how they looked at women that they were 'that' way: they stared at the pretty ones, and the 'real' girls just looked like meat to them...
I struggled hard, HARD, internally. I think I had scratches, but I've always been a fast healer, ask anybody, they'll say that about me. My Imaginary Rape Advisor told me she never got any scratches, either, none. He DID have a low voice, though: oh yes he did.
I am Laslo.
Not using a condom when she wants one is scummy. But then, not using the pill against his wishes is also scummy.
(and oh my word. The CNN anchor on my tv right now just stated the 1-in-5 statistic as something "we know". Another thing for the Althouse "things we just know" file)
Perhaps the false accusation is the feminist version of a hate fuck.
John Lynch: "Either way we should never trust anything she says again."
I suppose I've been ahead of the curve on this one. I never trusted her.
I have never had to change the channel to avoid her because she's never on any stations I watch. Is she really on TV or is this a big put-on?
About bad publicity. I was mocked on twitter by a national press figure and picked up a bunch of new followers despite the mockery of dozens upon dozens of his liberal sycophants.
I still don't like having any followers, but if getting followers were my goal, bad publicity works as well as good publicity.
(and oh my word. The CNN anchor on my tv right now just stated the 1-in-5 statistic as something "we know". Another thing for the Althouse "things we just know" file)
The problem isn't the things you know. It's the things you know that just ain't so!
Now I'm bothered the stories reporting the statement by the publisher don't mention that it was *his* idea.
Me too. Did they think it made the publisher look good? Did they think knowing the gofundme site had that notice made Barry look good? Why would they not include that detail!
The Emily Yost article at Slate someone pointed me to yesterday is mind-blowing.
It really is. I am so glad I went to college before all this bullshit really got rolling. All we had to deal with is idiot feminists protesting a tree.
Tim in Vermont said...We used to have this system of female privilege based on the concept of chivalry.
To be fair, Chivalry was a code that applied to both men and women and had obligations for both.
I agree that in a more violent period, it gave more protection to women...
In the interest of accuracy it's Emily Yoffe.
Every day the campus rape meme becomes more like the Salem Witch trials.
Erik Wemple in the WaPo has another go at the Rolling Stone story.
@phantummut has it correct all the cool girls have been raped. When will the feminists/gender studies folks ever learn? They have done more damage than good at this point.
Make rape on campus a CRIME and treat it as such.!
I forgot that I wanted to mention that Gallows Hill in Salem is still available!
"(and oh my word. The CNN anchor on my tv right now just stated the 1-in-5 statistic as something "we know". Another thing for the Althouse "things we just know" file)"
I've been wondering where the 1-in-5 figure comes from. Last night I heard a claim that it was a self-reported online survey of two schools with a very loose definition of rape. Is this correct?
Probably the worst thing a bad woman can do to a good man (short of permanent physical injury) is accuse him of rape.
"It's not an error in the theory I've stated in my post. It's a deliberate, mischievous/evil choice."
Lady Prof sticking with the Smarter Lil Lena meme! Ladies gotta stick together! OK. Lena Dunham is an attention whore. Why wouldn't she and her NY publisher believe that they could libel a man with impunity? After all, Lena is the toast of the town.
As far as campus rape culture goes, Lena, like many folks, has to be a part of every story that comes along.
Lady Prof told me off a few months ago about the Hillary gaffe, "What difference at this point ...." Not a gaffe, she says, a brilliant deflection. Still say it was a gaffe she will regret, just like "businesses don't create jobs," and "we gotta empathize with our enemies." Smarter Hillary meme!
"This campus rape crap is really insane. What is going on?"
-- Apparently, a whole lot of rape that no one can do anything about except by giving the administrators who failed to stop it even more power.
Lady Prof sticking with the Smarter Lil Lena meme!
Interesting how deliberate, calculating and savvy closely resembles flaky, careless and stupid.
Why not a real victim with a real story? In Ferguson, at UVA, Lena Dunham - they all have in common that the whole story is unreal. Why is that?
Is it that the only "narrative" the bi-coasties can hear is one that is out of touch with reality? That they've watched too many movies?
And a person like Lena Dunham knows this and plays to it? And goes further because in art everything must be even more outrageous than before? And openly lies because that is outrageous? And so the conservatives can at last be the most outrageous by taking these lying women into court and their enablers also - Rolling Stone, Random House and the college president - and collecting a lot of money from both. "Ugh, money, so gross. It was just a joke, kind of. A bi-coastie joke about the stupids up the river in the heart of darkness in Ohio"
Anybody who had sex while drunk or high, even if their partner was drunk or high too, counts as having been raped whether they considered it raped or not.
That is just one part of the "one in five" statistic. Look at Lena Dunham's description or rape during consensual sex and you can see how the one in five stat is pretty low.
I am betting that more than one in five college going women has had sex while drunk or high.
Original Mike- it is explained well here
"That finding diverges wildly from the notion that one in five women college women will be sexually assaulted by the time they graduate. That’s the number most often used to suggest there is overwhelming sexual violence on America’s college campuses. It comes from a 2007 study funded by the National Institute of Justice, called the Campus Sexual Assault Study, or CSA. (I cited it last year in a story on campus drinking and sexual assault.) The study asked 5,466 female college students at two public universities, one in the Midwest and one in the South, to answer an online survey about their experiences with sexual assault. The survey defined sexual assault as everything from nonconsensual sexual intercourse to such unwanted activities as “forced kissing,” “fondling,” and “rubbing up against you in a sexual way, even if it is over your clothes.” "
"Barry" is just a composite character of all the men Lena fantasized about being raped by.
Thanks, MayBee. I was trying to remember where I read the details yesterday.
Basically, it's nonsense. The real numbers are much smaller. By their definitions, probably everyone I know has been raped!
Words are important. These idiot so-called feminists are dumbing down our language so much that they are doing real harm to what ought to be their cause. Sadly, i suspect their actual cause is self promotion, not helping real victims.
BTW, I might have missed it, but did UW Law extend finals and bring in grief counselors?
Breitbart is really slipping, but there handling of this situation is pitch perfect. They have always contested sincerely that they wanted to find Barry so that they could stop him from raping other women, not because they thought Dunham was lying.
Lena wanted to humiliate Barry by claiming he was so desperate for sex that he would choose her among all the other fluffy young availables.
Also serves to raise her up a notch because she is so sexy that the handsome young man chooses her over the pretty other girls.
In the interest of accuracy it's Emily Yoffe.
As the Sharyl Attkisson case exemplifies, sometimes it's good to misspell a name.
This campus rape crap is really insane. What is going on?
Unacknowledged anxiety about hookup culture is a big part of it.
Maybee said (12/9/14 at 8:30 AM)
...Why are young women being encouraged to see themselves as victims of rape? And why is Lena Dunham playing her part?
My guess: when you've been encouraged since birth in your dependent status, where college is prolonged adolescence and nothing is "real," the most logical and easy career track is Victim. Back-up career track (not mutually exclusive) is Victim Supporter. You've got an unlimited supply of narcissism and, in fact, the more you're criticized, the more victimized you feel. Great feedback loop, so long as the money holds out.
She's a liberal, therefore she knows there will be no consequences.
When a totally Fictional RapeLand Ride from a Feminist Disney World is the year's delusional Truth That Must Be Believed, somebody thinks we are all as stupid as the Gruber thinks we are.
Thanks for the link, MayBee. The "Numbers" section certainly paints a strikingly different picture than 1-in-5.
We are offering to pay the fees Mr. Minc has billed his client to date. Our offer will allow Mr. Minc and his client to donate all of the crowd-funding raised to not-for-profit organizations assisting survivors of rape and sexual assault.
Unbelievable.
"Oopsie! We libeled you. So sorry. Don't sue us. Here, we'll pay for your current investment in preparing a case. You should make a big donation to victims of the crime we falsely accused you of."
Take them to the mat.
Bill said...
Unacknowledged anxiety about hookup culture is a big part of it.
I thought that hookup culture was praised by prominent feminists? link
Freeman,
Though I would not be sending the loose change to that charity, I think the Publisher is duplicating the text that the lawyer placed on the crowd source web site.
Sounds like he'll get some cash from Random House. $250,000 sounds about right.
Dunham lies about rape. She's not a serious person and shouldn't be taken seriously.
Freeman Hunt said...
"We are offering to pay ... not-for-profit organizations assisting survivors of rape and sexual assault."
Unbelievable.
That's what I thought. But it was Barry's idea in the first place, which is even more lame:
Article: UPDATE: Note that the fundraising materials for the legal expenses fund started by the lawyer for Identifiable Conservative Barry say that,
"Any proceeds not used on legal related costs will be donated to not-for-profit organizations that assist victims of rape and sexual assault, to be selected at a later date."
Though I would not be sending the loose change to that charity, I think the Publisher is duplicating the text that the lawyer placed on the crowd source web site.
Ah, okay. That makes a difference.
If he's already offered to donate it to such a charity then the statement makes sense.
Ha! He couldn't defend himself from a false accusation without making a gesture that he wasn't against victims of rape. And he was right to think that if he hadn't made such a gesture, people would be writing articles critical of him, indicating that he was somehow unsupportive of rape victims.
We live in interesting times.
MayBee said...
This campus rape crap is really insane. What is going on?
The important issues are boring and complicated, hence the rape (and race) hysteria created mostly from whole cloth: they're simpler and far more entertaining than economics and such.
The hookup culture that has largely replaced dating on college campuses has been viewed, in many quarters, as socially corrosive and ultimately toxic to women, who seemingly have little choice but to participate. Actually, it is an engine of female progress—one being harnessed and driven by women themselves.
It really sucked for women in my day, when they ended up married to their college boyfriends, stuck with children, now grandchildren, when they could have spent their lives blowing random guys.
I thought that hookup culture was praised by prominent feminists?
That's right, Chickelit. Unacknowledged because unacknowlegdeable.
"Oopsie! We libeled you. So sorry. Don't sue us. Here, we'll pay for your current investment in preparing a case. You should make a big donation to victims of the crime we falsely accused you of."
Random House/Dunham didn't come up with the idea of donating to rape victim support: It came from the "GoFundMe" site accepting donations to support the "Barry" legal fund.
Real rape happens, and by all accounts it is devastating to the victims. The coed at UVa may very well have been raped, even if the actual event was totally different than what has been reported. The horror in the current rape-as-feminist-validation vicious circle is that it's hurting most people who really need support, social justice aside.
Dunhams fantasias are not harmless. Forget "Barry"; I have a feeling he can take care of himself. She and her fellow monologuers are squatting on women much less fortunate than themselves who have much more real needs.
Have you stopped raping women? Answer yes or no.
The war on women is not winnable by men until they quit caring what other people think about them. So poor Barry seeks a Neville Chamberlain peace deal.
To put it crudely, feminist progress right now largely depends on the existence of the hookup culture. And to a surprising degree, it is women—not men—who are perpetuating the culture, especially in school, cannily manipulating it to make space for their success, always keeping their own ends in mind. For college girls these days, an overly serious suitor fills the same role an accidental pregnancy did in the 19th century: a danger to be avoided at all costs, lest it get in the way of a promising future.
Well then. Isn't the odd rape just a small price to pay for empowerment? Why get bent out of shape about it?
"
It really sucked for women in my day, when they ended up married to their college boyfriends, stuck with children, now grandchildren, when they could have spent their lives blowing random guys."
I laughed.... hard. But not that kind of hard.
Conversation with My Imaginary Rape Advisor:
"So, you believe you have been a victim of rape?"
"I'm not sure..."
"Not being sure if rape has occurred is a strong indicator that a rape has occurred..."
"Then I think I was raped."
"Good, now we have something to work with. We'll start gently: was penetration involved?"
"Penetration? Isn't that what -- you know -- makes it rape?"
"That is the Patriarchal elision of rape, yes. But there are all kinds of rape. For instance: was this penetration-rape or kiss-rape?"
"Well, we kissed, but I was okay with that."
"Don't get ahead of yourself -- we still have to determine some things, here."
"But there was penetration, I think. I don't know, I was really kind of drunk..."
"The victim being drunk does not excuse the rapist. It is not uncommon for a victim to be so drunk that they question whether the rape actually happened: indeed, over one-in-three women have been raped if you count all the rapes that women don't even remember occurring."
"My goodness..."
"Some say that number may even be closer to one-in-one if you count the ones who insist a rape didn't happen..."
"It's like I never even had a chance, isn't it?"
"None of us females do in this Patriarchal World..."
"What did the penetration involve, as best you can remember..."
"Well, there were fingers..."
"Fingers are a form of rape, too: keep going..."
"And a tongue..."
"Oh, those are the WORST: forcing you to think of intimacy during your rape. The Evil that Men harbor can be truly overwhelming. So: do you remember the name of the man -- or men, we are not ruling anything out -- that raped you?"
"Uh, her name is Marta."
"His name is Marta. Interesting name for a rapist: don't think I've had a 'Marta' before. Are you sure it wasn't 'Martin'? There are a lot of 'Martins' on this campus -- in fact, I think I know of a Martin that fits this description...."
"It is a 'her'."
"I'm afraid I don't understand..."
"Marta is a 'her'. I know her from my Gender Studies class. She is a lesbian, and I've been curious..."
"Well, there is obviously a misunderstanding here: I though we were talking about rape."
"We are, I think. I mean, I agreed to kiss Marta, but only that, then I got drunk and I think I remember her fingering me, then I passed out and woke up with a cucumber in my ass."
"My sweet child: that is not 'rape', that is 'education.' In fact, I think if you talk to your Gender Studies Professor you may be able to get Extra Credit for the experience..."
"But I didn't consent to having a cucumber put up my ass, I am sure of it."
"Now: how can we not be sure that what really happened was that Marta and you engaged in a consensual kiss, after which you passed out drunk and Martin came into your room and raped you?"
"I don't know any Martins..."
"So you did not know your rapist. See, that is a category I can put you in."
"But what about Marta?"
"I'd be careful, there: how do you know that she doesn't think that YOU raped HER?"
"Oh God, this is getting so confusing..."
"Traumatic events can be very confusing, I understand. Now, did Martin bring his own cucumber, or was it already in your room?"
"Uh, I guess you can say Marta left it there..."
"So Martin found the cucumber already there. Yes, that definitely fits Martin's profile."
"Does Martin do this a lot?"
"According to my latest stats this 'Marti'n has raped one-in-five girls on this campus."
"That is awful!"
"That is why we take the pains to get this right. Now, tell me what you know about Martin."
"I seem to remember he wore a very flowery perfume.."
"That would be 'cologne'.
"Cologne, yes. I'm still confused..."
"Don't worry, we'll get the facts straight. Also: there has been a reporter enquiring about this 'Martin' -- would it be OK if I gave her your name to talk to?"
"I don't know..."
"You must be strong: we must stop Martin -- and all of the world's Martins -- whenever we can..."
"Okay, I'll talk to her. Can you help me with what to say? I think you remember my rape better than I do..."
"I am an Imaginary Rape Advisor: that is my job..."
I am Laslo.
Of course it was intentional. Of course it was the very Barry she now says is not the raping Barry. The real Barry is Barry.
She smirks. A smirker who got Barry good and got away with it.
There was a Barry who fucked the young Denham who later found out about his politics and realized then that the fucking she wanted, asked for, was now a rape.
It is a War on Men, and it is being waged by feminists nation wide. And, I suspect that it is going to get worse, before it gets better.
The reason for it getting worse before it gets better is that more and more males are doing what comes naturally when facing the adversity of feminism - dropping out. Playing video games, participating in extreme sports, getting stoned, etc. Colleges tend to have more females than males on campus these days, and the males there seem to be stoned more than the females. So, fewer males competing for more females. What could go wrong? Well, for one thing, the girls have to drink, often to excess, and often have sex, to get male attention. So, they do what it takes to get that male attention, and then regret what they did, which is where most of this rape culture stuff comes from. But every time the school disciplines the guy in what rationally looks like a mutual situation, more guys either drop out, get stoned, or just transfer to non-residential campuses, where they can meet women w/o dealing with the feminist-industrial complex in academia. Which puts more pressure on the women at those colleges to get more drunk, etc. Rinse and repeat.
Well then. Isn't the odd rape just a small price to pay for empowerment? Why get bent out of shape about it?
Because most really aren't "rapes" in the first place. Actual rape is quite rare these days on residential campuses - rarer than in the rest of society. What is termed campus rapes is most often either drunken behavior by both parties, or ambiguous situations where the complainant, or one of her friends, parents, etc., has later regrets.
This is the cause that has aroused the feminist-industrial complex on campuses. Many women no longer get all that excited about where in the third trimester they will have a harder time getting an abortion, or whether they have to spend $10 a month on birth control, or get it free. How to stay relevant, and increase their department sizes, and gain more power on campus? By yelling "rape" a lot.
Of course Random House's public settlement offer is way too low. It needs to include reimbursement for Barry's pain and suffering. I think $100M would cover it, don't you?
I've known five women who were raped. In several of the cases the details were horrendous. It changed the tenor and course of their lives. Rape is a huge crime, but there are degrees. I know one girl who met a coworker in the lobby of her building. She invited him up for coffee. She claims he raped her, and called the police. I knew both parties, and I'm sure she was telling the truth. This happened over thirty years ago. Justice was not done for her. The charges against the guy were dropped. On the other hand, it was not a terrifying experience, and, so far as I could tell, the crime did no overt psychic damage......I knew of another girl who was raped in a far more horrendous way. He boyfriend was dealing drugs out of his apartment. Some men broke into the apartment in order to rob him. While there, they raped her at gunpoint. At the boyfriend's request, she did not report the crime......The other three rapes were perpetrated by street thugs. The crimes were reported, but, so far as I know, the rapists were not caught.......Of the five rapes I know about, not one led to the arrest and conviction of the rapist. All these things happened years ago and maybe police work has gotten better. I think Lena Dunham is full of crap, but there is such a thing as rape and a lot of guys get away with it.
Well yeah William Nobody disagrees that rape is a horrendous crime. So horrendous that accusations of it should not be lightly made to score political points (it was a Republican) or to advance a career in writing for magazines posing as a journalist.
I really don't understand the publisher's or Dunham's motivations here, because (a) this is the sort of thing that can easily be found out, and (b) when exposed, the legal liability and professional credibility loss would far outweigh any attention that they would get from this.
And I know a lot would argue that Dunham has no professional credibility, but she does have fans, such as they are, and the publisher absolutely has a reputation to maintain. Plus, the attention grabbing could have just as easily been accomplished by telling the same story without using a real name or any way to identify the rapist.
My theory is that this is just stupidity on Dunham's and the publisher's part. So caught up in their attention-grabbing memoir that they overlooked the fact that they falsely accused an identifiable person of rape.
Way to go, Lena--how many rape accusers will be disbelieved in the future thanks to you? Call yourself something, but if you call yourself feminist you're destroying the term.
I think what we're starting to see here is a growing backlash against the Social Justice Warriors, after they've pushed too far with their identity politics, victim fetishizing and now campus rape codes. It was only a matter of time before the sensible folks finally questioned it all, and under the slightest pressure the SJW way of life is crumbling under the weight of its own crapulence.
@William, no one doubts that there really are rapes. What we doubt is whether most of what passes for rape on a modern campus really is a sex act coerced by violence or the threat of violence. Just yesterday I read about a case where a female undergraduate, with alcohol in her bloodstream but not drunk in any sense of the word, invited herself into a male acquaintance's bed, and had loud, passionate sex with him in the presence of his roommate. Her parents found out, so she retrospectively claims "rape." The guy's career is busted and it's all her fault.
We aren't going to get anywhere on real rape until we eliminate the "oops my parents (or boyfriend) will be pissed at my sluttiness unless I claim rape" and the "I'm so drunk won't someone please take advantage of me 'rape'" and the "OMG I can't believe I did it with him 'rape'."
Not to mention Lena Dunham's fantasies.
Any proceeds not used on legal related costs will be donated to not-for-profit organizations that assist victims of rape and sexual assault, to be selected at a later date.
The victims of rape and sexual assault is a category which includes those who are falsely accused or convicted of such crimes. It would be deliciously ironic if a Barry One foundation dedicated to defending the falsely accused was established with seed money garnished from Lena Dunham's royalty checks.
Dunham admits to being a child molester and she is to be taken seriously about an alleged rape? Something doesn't seem to compute.
then I passed out and woke up with a cucumber in my ass
Laslo, what an ambush! ROTFLOL!
Probably the worst thing a bad woman can do to a good man (short of permanent physical injury) is accuse him of rape
Unless it is to accuse him of molesting their children or of having molested her as a child.
- Krumhorn
...or just transfer to non-residential campuses, where they can meet women w/o dealing with the feminist-industrial complex in academia."
That's why it won't be very long — a couple of years at most — before college courts start hearing rape charges from townies.
Freeman Hunt wrote:
"We are offering to pay the fees Mr. Minc has billed his client to date. Our offer will allow Mr. Minc and his client to donate all of the crowd-funding raised to not-for-profit organizations assisting survivors of rape and sexual assault.
Unbelievable.
"Oopsie! We libeled you. So sorry. Don't sue us. Here, we'll pay for your current investment in preparing a case. You should make a big donation to victims of the crime we falsely accused you of."
Take them to the mat."
Do I think RH is trying to cover their ass, Yes.
Do I think RH is trying to take credit for the suggestion of the donation? No. I read it as ..."ALL of the crowd-funding...". By covering his legal fees, they allow him to donate ALL of the C-F to the charity of his choice.
I feel like we are in some comedian's idea of a parallel universe. The crap going on in this country is just stupefying.
Unless it is to accuse him of molesting their children or of having molested her as a child.
Krumhorn, you're right.
Just yesterday I read about a case where a female undergraduate, with alcohol in her bloodstream but not drunk in any sense of the word, invited herself into a male acquaintance's bed, and had loud, passionate sex with him in the presence of his roommate. Her parents found out, so she retrospectively claims "rape." The guy's career is busted and it's all her fault.
I read that article. It's infuriating.
Take them to the mat.
Take Random House's settlement offer, double it, and add a Zero to the end.
Make'em squeal.
I'm not sure it's appropriate to ask the question here, but I'm curious why Betamax3000 changed his ID to Laslo Spatula. I read this blog because Althouse has a way of framing her opinion in such a way that stirs an issue, and 90% of the contributions are insightful and valueable, but I will admit that once Laslo posts, it changes the landscape, I love to see just how far down the rabbit hole he can take it. He's in a class of his own.
Laslo is not Betamax. He met Betamax in a bar one time. That's about it.
"hydraulic ghiteda" captcha. Sounds like a sex position.
Laslo is in no way related to betamax. Not at all. Don't even think it.
Got it?
tim in vermont said...
Laslo is not Betamax. He met Betamax in a bar one time. That's about it.
To be accurate, I have to update and say that I have now seen him twice at that bar.
I saw him the second time two weeks ago, except now the same guy was saying he had no idea what a "betamax3000" or "Althouse" even was, and that I must've misunderstood him. By "misunderstood" I think he was insinuating that I was drunk.
Turned into an interesting conversation.
I am Laslo.
I understand.
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