By Craig P. Dixon, southcoast247.com correspondent Social Commentary 72
August 23, 2006
Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to this week’s edition of Craig Cares. I’m
Craig Dixon.
A couple weeks ago, I spoke of my utter dismay at Rolling Stone magazine’s
referring to Pink Floyd’s Syd Barrett as a genius.
I also spoke of why I like Rolling Stone. Usually, the articles swing a bit
to the left and are extremely edgy. I get information about politics and the
country that I’m not apt to get elsewhere. And that’s why my lone magazine
subscription is to Rolling Stone.
But one article, going back a few months in the June 15, 2006 issue of the
Stone, brought a single thing to mind: Waste of space.
The article was entitled, “The Duke Lacrosse Scandal: Sex, Rape and the Myth
of the Post-Feminist Hookup,” by one Janet Reitman. The title alone is
elitist and glorifies the coming article, sounding more like someone’s
graduate thesis than an article worthy of the Stone.
The cover, however, isn’t so uppity. It describes the article thusly: “SEX
AT DUKE: Raging Parties, Random Hookups & the Girls Who Say the Lacrosse
Players Aren’t Guilty.”
Now, I’m of the camp that believes the whole Duke Lacrosse thing got blown
way out of proportion by the media. These kids were immediately judged by
the media as guilty, though there’s nothing in the way of evidence to prove
guilt.
But the subject grabbed the public’s attention like nothing else. “Just what
the fuck,” they must’ve thought, “is going on at Duke?”
Let me tell you: Nothing that wasn’t going on when I was in High School.
After wasting about 10 minutes of my life reading Reitman’s article, I came
to some stunning conclusions. 1) That chicks sometimes hookup with guys just
because they’re on a sports team. Or they’re frat boys. Or, they’re
extremely rich. 2) Life at Duke is extremely clique-y. Girls want to sleep
with who they think is at the top of the social ladder. 3) College students
party nearly every night. They drink. They take bong rips. And they fuck!
Golly! 4) Hookups are often one night drunken deals that may or may not be
regretted in the morning. 5) The idea of the Post-Feminist Hookup is a myth.
All that stuff that women went through in gaining the diaphragm, pill, and
widespread condom use to earn so-called “Sexual Freedom” has achieved them
nothing along the lines of sexual power. Now it’s only easier for a guy to
get what he wants and move on to the next one, without directing so much as
an ounce of energy to that little idea known as respect.
Not exactly groundbreaking stuff. Definitely not what I expected from the
Stone.
This article was a complete, entire throwaway. Truthfully, I could have
written this shameful thing about my tenure at New Bedford High School.
Though we try to toss a tag of innocence on underage kids, they’re as bad,
if not worse, than their older counterparts, and the whole random hookup,
drunken partying thing was taking place rampantly at NBHS.
In 1997.
So, the question is: Why publish this shitpiece about a Division 1 college
in 2006? This stupid article belonged in some Feminist journal, where ladies
could read it and be shocked at the actions of their sisters. This waste of
paper and typeprint did absolutely nothing to educate the public and did not
belong in the Stone. The magazine let me down on this one.
A couple weeks ago, I spoke of my utter dismay at Rolling Stone magazine’s
referring to Pink Floyd’s Syd Barrett as a genius.
