Hi Serene,
You make such valid points. And the reference to Tommy Gavin is on the head. He is a true pig. Not remembering the one girl's name that he had plenty of sex with while pretending to be so into her. He does treat Sheila like dirt and she is the widow of his cousin whom he supposedly practically worshipped and loved so much. Treats the man's wife like garbage. His relationship with his daughter isn't exactly grooming for proper womanhood, either. Our society does tolerate and condone beyond measure this behavior. Lately the FEMALE teachers repeatedly having sex with their male students is really disturbing to me. The truth of your words can be seen in every one of these cases, Serene. I don't think people really look at it as abuse when it's an older woman and young male, though. They think of it as a conquest or rite of passage for him and she's just HOT. Especially, the case in Florida with the beautiful blonde. People could not get past the fact that she was so beautiful and did not even process that she was a PEDOPHILE and had pyschologically damaged that child.
Our society loves to victimize the victims again especially when the perpetrators are famous, affluent, or potentially athletic gold as the cases you mentioned.
Confession time. The major reason I left Chicago at 19 and moved to a state I had never been to before is because I was sexually assaulted. Remember the Jodie Foster movie The Accused? I had recently seen it and I was more horrified by her second rape during the legal process than the initial gang rape. I felt at the time that no one would care or prosecute and I would be painted a @#%$ because I "knew" and worked with my attackers. By now I had already been pulled over and accused and harrassed by the police of being a prostitute because a co-worker who was Hispanic (separate job) was dropping me off in the projects. 17 year old virgin accused of being a prostitute and I told you all a female cop spat at him in disgust, "What's the matter, can't you afford white girls?" So I did not report it. I had seen people murdered in cold blood in Chicago in my neighborhood for years and nothing done about it because of their color. Why would they care about a black girl being raped? I had already had the incident with the cop dragging me to jail forced to sit on his lap and the humilitation of them making me get half naked in front of every cop in the building. I thought I had "healed" from this. It's cutting me to type right now. I was sexually assaulted as a kid as well.
Franco's quote is apropos. This made me think of Oprah as Sophia in the Color Purple. "A girl child just ain't safe in a world full of men." To this day, I have issues that stem from my experiences. Inner mental power struggles. I had a really dominating personality toward men in college. Innocent victim no more, I thought. Today, it's hard for me not to get mad at every male in sight when I have issues with my husband that happen in every marriage. I guess I hate the victim or powerless feeling. Every time I have an incident with some man looking at me obscenely I feel like trash over and over again. It's amazing I have not snapped by now. I had to leave two male doctors because they claimed I was too pretty to be depressed. One actually said it and they both hit on me. The first one's wife was his receptionist and sitting right outside the office. I guess a dying child can't depress you when you have such "a pretty face, honey". He made comments about my body. Just blatant.

I am so glad that they are evolving Franco's character. It was sometimes uncomfortable for me to see Daniel in that role. The only thing that allowed me to stick with it was the fact that of all the men I have ever met, he falls into that wee small percentage of men who treat people the way they should be treated. Regardless of the outside packaging. I probably won't be watching Tommy Gavin anymore. You guys can keep me posted on how Franco is coming along. The only healthy relationship is with the chief lovingly taking care of his sick wife. His pain breaks my heart. It's regretful that they created her with a mental condition so that she can't fully enjoy a healthy relationship with her husband and son who adore her.

Ladies, thank you for the therapy session. I am signing off because 1) I have been typing long enough and 2) my mind is flooded with memories of how hurtful and disrespectful men can be just because. I have a tendency to lump them together when one acts out of line. It's wrong and I'm working on it but I promise you that most of them have earned their reputations.
Shula
Serene, kudos on adding a limp to that swagger. And Maya, those were all really helpful tips. I will use them, thank you.

Edited by: Shulammite Maiden at: 4/28/06 5:18 am