Cosby, ritual of rape denial virtually written in stone in much of public opinion, Huffington post [View all]

[Beringia]

FULL ARTICLE
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/earl-ofari-hutchinson/we-love-you-bill-cosby_b_6204616.html


Earl Ofari Hutchinson
Author and political analyst



The scorecard on Bill Cosby reads like this: A dozen or more women have said with only a slight variation in the time, place and circumstance that Cosby seduced them, propositioned them, promised them favors, put them up, even paid them, then drugged or plied them with alcohol and sexually abused them. One Bill Cosby publicly says the charges are a lie. One man denies the charge. The dozen plus women stick to their stories. Yet a seemingly disgraced but unfazed Cosby took to the stage at King Center for the Performing Arts in Melbourne, Florida for 90 minutes to the wild cheers of a sold-out crowd that bombarded him with shouts of "We love you, Bill Cosby!"

The Cosby audience love fest was not simply an aberration of groupie fan mania. Legions passionately believe Cosby is being wrongly crucified on the cross of raw public opinion by a pack of greedy, publicity-seeking, career-wrecking liars and schemers.

It happens to be Cosby. But the ritual of rape denial is virtually written in stone in much of public opinion and far too many police stations and courts. Days before the alleged Cosby rape victims paraded forth to retell their sordid stories, literally a sea and an ocean apart, two shocking reports came out that cast yet another brutal and ugly glare on the still rampant rape culture. An Amnesty International commissioned report in Britain found that one-third of Britons said a woman rape victim was as much if not more to blame for the rape. This wasn't all. The overwhelming majority of respondents was absolutely clueless on how widespread rape was in the country, and in nearly all cases sharply downplayed the number of rapes.

(I think this article is right on the mark, re, why Cosby has his supporters as well as detractors)