04/17/2006

Alleged Rape by Duke Lacrosse Players -- More to it than 'Male Sports Culture'
says Morality in Media President Robert Peters

NEW YORK, April 17 -- Morality in Media president Robert Peters has written an article, "There is much more to the alleged rape of a female 'dancer' by Duke lacrosse players than 'male sports culture.’" The 1500 word article (published at www.moralityinmedia.org, CURRENT ISSUES page) states in part:

.... In trying to explain why the alleged incident occurred, more than one news article pointed a long finger at the “male sports culture.” Having experienced the “male sports culture” first hand in high school and at an all-male college (Dartmouth, 1967-1971), I can somewhat understand why. But I also think it is a mistake to blame “male sports culture” as such for the many sexual assaults involving athletes, because to a significant extent “male sports culture” simply reflects the values and lifestyles of “popular culture.”

For example, “popular culture” (TV, films, music videos, video/computer games, etc.) has helped make stripping more visible and even “acceptable” in some circles. How else do we explain the spectacle of a young female college student agreeing to strip for a group of male college athletes so that they can get sexually aroused and she can pay her bills?

.... But contrary to the “harmless fun” that stripping appears to be, when seen through the distorted “lens” of popular culture, stripping in real life is not so pleasant...In upholding a New York alcohol beverage control law that banned nudity in bars, the Supreme Court in NYS Liquor Authority v. Bellanca observed: “Common sense indicates that any form of nudity coupled with alcohol in a public place begets undesirable behavior.”

.... It is not my purpose to absolve “male athletic culture” or athletes of responsibility for misconduct; but if the underlying problem is “male athletic culture” as such, then widespread sexual misconduct should have been occurring all along, including in the 1960s when I played high school and college football....

I therefore think there is a larger problem here – namely, a pervasive popular culture that eroticizes, glamorizes, and celebrates sexual immorality of all kinds, including unlawful sexual behaviors...When young men on school athletic teams, or on spring break, or in Battle Creek, or on Wall Street pay to have young women in public or private places engage in indecent and lewd behaviors for their sexual pleasure, we shouldn’t be surprised when the results are boorishness, promiscuity, indecent exposure, prostitution, sexual harassment, and even sexual assaults. ....

MORALITY IN MEDIA is a nonprofit national organization, headquartered in New York City, which works through law to curb traffic in obscenity and uphold standards of decency in media.