Friday, November 29, 2013
In America, college football stars like Jameis Winston can do no wrong | Diane Roberts - TheGuardian.com - (Excerpts) Just because an athlete performs miracles on the field doesn't mean he's a saint off of it. The story of Jameis Winston is yet another example of how quickly a town – and frankly an entire nation – want desperately to side with a football star. --- In any case, the young woman, also a student at Florida State (or she was until she left campus earlier this year) is getting trashed all over the place: on sports sites, in newspaper comment sections, in bars where fans hang out. She's being called a "ho", a "liar", a "groupie". FSU is on the cusp of greatness, an undefeated season. What if this chick goes and ruins everything? --- As many point out, he hasn't yet been charged, much less found guilty of anything. But neither has the woman who says she was raped. Winston's getting the love; she's being called a slut. In this culture, playing top-tier football confers a layer of privilege not accorded ordinary guys, especially ordinary young African American guys.
Jameis Winston: The sexual assault allegations against the Florida State quarterback fit a familiar, disturbing pattern. - Slate.com - Emily Bazelon - The sexual assault allegations against Florida State’s Jameis Winston fit a familiar, disturbing pattern.
Jameis Winston, and the Overlapping of Football Culture and Rape Culture - RHRealityCheck.org - Jennifer Luther - In the end, whether or not Jameis Winston is guilty, we know he is deeply invested in a football culture that is incredibly problematic, especially where it intersects with rape culture. Football culture clouds our ability to see him as anything other than a famous kid with a nice-guy persona and amazing athletic skills. Rape culture demands that we mistrust the victim, question her credibility, and try to poke holes in her story. It creates this familiar narrative in which people who have invested their own hopes and dreams in Winston claim his innocence immediately and refuse to hear anything else. No matter what happens in the Winston case, I do know this: Money will continue to flow, and games will be won. Football will march on and over whatever bodies it must. And many will cheer it on as it does.
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