Review of
Instaread Summary of Missoula Rape and the Justice System in a College Town, by Jon
Krakauer
Five out of five stars
If the Penn
State scandal regarding the sexual abuse of boys by a coach and the lengthy cover-up
tells us anything it is that there are people that will tolerate anything in
order to have a winning sports team. Even with eyewitness reports regarding
children that cannot possibly give their consent to sexual acts, people still
refused to accept institutional punishment for the culture of denial and protection
of the Penn State football program. This culture was also present at the
University of Montana in Missoula, Montana and is described in the book being
summarized.
The events in
the book deal with many rapes that took place on the University of Montana
campus and how most of them were covered up, dismissed after limited investigation
or simply ignored. The summary is fascinating in the descriptions of how the
women were treated, especially when they accused a member of the football team
of rape.
The reader of
this summary is given strong incentive to read the complete book when they
encounter the descriptions of some of the events. They are troubling to read,
for the women were victimized by the rapist and an often unsympathetic or even intolerant
system of reporting and justice.
Yet, there is
also the mention of some of the ambiguities that can exist in sexual
situations. One that is darkly amusing that occurs in the summary is the issue
of the woman moaning. While there was no dispute that the victim moaned, the
point of contention was whether they were moans of pleasure or moans of pain or
discomfort. Obviously the rapist would interpret them as those of pleasure.
Despite all
that has been done to make the world women live in more free of the dangers of
sexual assault, it is still more common than generally thought. The system of
protection and recovery is still extremely porous and ineffective. Reading this
summary will snap your mind to attention about a problem that is far more
serious than you may think, sometimes in the places where we believe human
rights are taken the most seriously, college campuses.
This book was made available for free for review
purposes.
No comments:
Post a Comment