Apparently some are troubled by my use of “Ben Rapistberger”
The argument seems to go something like this: “He was punished by the NFL and he wasn’t even convicted. He wasn’t even prosecuted. Look at how he’s changed. He feels real bad, and besides, we don’t know for sure what actually happened. But he wasn’t even prosecuted, damn it! Also, I am a Steelers fan and we are in the Super Bowl, so STFU.”
To which I respond:
- We live in a world where all too often victims of rape and sexual assault are prosecuted in the media for the crime of being raped.
- We do a terrible job of convicting actual rapists, but do a great job of slut-shaming and punishing rape victims.
- This is ten times worse when the perpetrator is a professional athlete. It is a hundred times worse when the perpetrator is a star athlete. It is a thousand times worse when the perpetrator is a championship-winning star athlete for a storied sports franchise. (Kobe, I’m looking at you too, you sick, entitled fuck.)
- The above three points are some sick bullshit.
Ben Roethlisberger should not be celebrated. He should not be lauded. He should not be given credit for “changing his life.” He hardly suffered at all. Four games off and some frowny-faced scolding? What a bunch of crap. Some off-duty cop played wingman while “Big Ben” assaulted a young woman and then stiffed the prosecution long enough for the slut-shaming to do its dirty work. Then Roger “Sanctimonious Douche” Goodell came up with a plan to salvage the career of champion Steeler Ben without the NFL taking too much of a PR hit.
As the father of a daughter I would like to end with this: stop making excuses for Ben Roethlisberger (and Kobe Bryant, and the legion of star abusers and rapists). Stop.
Stop.
1 year ago