@firefly,
Quote:Concepts such as "due process" and "innocent until proven guilty" apply only to our legal system and the status of a defendant in a legal proceeding--they are not things either the media or the general public must apply in forming opinions
And this is part of the problem with false accusations of rape. A person's reputation is ruined. What the media does is fan the flames of incrimination, but it handles this very differently depending on whether the accused is male or female. And that's because we as a culture are more willing to believe that men are capable of doing wrong then women are. Yes people are entitled to form their own opinions, but the media is biased. And the media is more concerned with making money through sensationalist reporting than it is with presenting a fair picture of the facts. Then you wind up with this lynch mob mentality in the public.
Do you remember the Marv Albert case? Marv Albert was one of the greatest sportscasters ever. The public was whipped up into a frenzy by the media, thinking him to be a rapist based on unsubstantiated claims by a woman. Albert's career was ruined. He lost his job and never really worked again. Turns out that Albert was innocent. The woman who claimed he bit her had a history of making false allegations. But the damage was already done, and a great man's career was ruined.
Just look at the case with "Jackie". Look what people did to the University of Virginia based solely on the unsubstantiated claims of a woman.
And this sort of behavior is nothing new for humanity. That's why way back in the day, all it took was a white woman saying that a black man had raped her. That black man was then publicly lynched without any kind of due process.
And in regards to the vandalism above, I hope the university holds "Jackie" financially responsible for it.
Quote:I think the number of women making independent accusations of sexual assault/rape against Cosby is now up to 24. I am now perfectly willing to believe the man is a sexual predator, based on a clear pattern of such behavior, and the sheer number of women describing it.
It's funny, because this same kind of thing happened with Bill Clinton. After one woman accused him, women started coming out of the woodwork. But the media handled both of these cases very differently.
But first, let's look at the phenomenon of multiple accusations in both cases, then we'll go back to the media coverage. What I would point out is that in both these cases, what you had was women who were interested (at least in some degree) to either a pay out of some sort from a rich man, or 15 mins of fame. Many of these women were attention seekers, and they didn't care how they got that attention. Look at someone like Janice Dickinson. When was the last time she was in the spotlight? Women like attention, it's part of female nature. And this is especially true of women who already have had some experience in the public eye that might be waning or gone altogether.
But you see, what happens is when one woman comes out and claims abuse, it's becomes easier for another to do so, and so on. Strength in numbers, as you've admitted makes it more believable to you. That's the mentality. Perhaps some of these women have legitimate claims, and others are attention whores. Can you at least concede that that could be conceivable? Can you see where being viewed as one part of a collective could allow someone with a false allegation a place to hide in the open and still be taken seriously?
But let's look at how the media treated Bill Clinton vs. how they're treating Bill Cosby.
How many criticisms did you hear from feminists about Clinton during his scandal? Feminists didn't make a peep! Is it a coincidence that during Clinton's presidency, he openly supported feminist ideology and feminist organizations such as NOW (The National Organization For Women)? The media does, and always has kowtowed to feminism. You can call me names all you want and claim I'm just being an MRA by saying that, but it's true. How many mainstream media pieces have you ever seen that were critical of feminism? Any wonder then that the media punched Clinton with kid gloves during his scandals?
Cosby, however, is an openly conservative black male in an industry that's excessively liberal. Cosby gives public speeches about the importance of family and self reliance. This is in stark opposition to the victim narrative of marxists/feminists. Maybe Cosby pissed off the wrong people? Hollywood after all, is a place where in order to maintain a career, one needs to maintain good standing with certain groups of people. It's all about who you know, and who you keep happy.
Quote:and then bizarrely mention 2 women, Casey Anthony and Jodie Arias,
The reason I brought them up is because Anthony was acquitted. She literally got away with murder. Arias was convicted, but the sentencing was mistrialed because of arguments that death was "too harsh" a sentence for her. For a woman who stabbed and shot her boyfriend multiple times and slit his throat!!!!
Both these cases are hallmark examples of how the justice system is more lenient on women than it is on men. If it had been a man who killed his daughter in the manner that Anthony did, you had better bet he would've been convicted. If it had been a man who stabbed and shot, and slit the throat of his girlfriend and had the
audacity to claim self defense, you had better bet there would've been no mistrial and he would've gotten the death penalty!
In the UK now, there are even feminist lawyers who are trying to abolish prison altogether for women convicted of
any crimes on the premise that prison is "too harsh" for women to deal with.
But back on subject. My personal feeling is that there should be a higher burden of proof demanded by the courts for any person, male or female who goes to the media before going to the police with an allegation. And perhaps even a higher burden of proof should be expected from women in general in an attempt to close the sentencing gap. And anyone who makes a false allegation should be held criminally and financially responsible for
any harm/damage that happens because of it. And these instances of false allegations should treated much more seriously then are being currently treated. The people who make these fraudulent allegations should be dragged through the mud publicly just like the people's lives who they've ruined.
But that's the problem. The media is only interested in the big names that sell "news". For instance like in the Albert case, the public wasn't made much aware of what a liar his accuser was. And that kind of thing is a tragedy...
