As the entire nation is justifiably outraged about the disgusting invasion of a young man’s privacy at Rutger’s University, a young woman who compiled a list concerning anatomical details and sexual proclivities of the dozen or so men she slept with during her senior year at Duke is being offered book and movie deals for her efforts. Karen F. Owen, Duke 2010 (pictured above), created a powerpoint “fuck list” that ranked her conquests by anatomy, attractiveness, athleticism, etc.
Ms. Owen slept with a good many of the college’s athletes, particularly those on the lacrosse and baseball teams.
The website Jezebel has reproduced her work online, and while Jezebel chides her for not asking for the guys’ consent, it is apparently not such a big deal, because “Duke’s lacrosse team … has come under scrutiny in the past,” and “frats do it all the time.” I guess it’s OK, then…
Jezebel also thinks the presentation is “hilarious,” and has value for demonstrating women’s sexual aggression (i.e. predation). Given Jezebel’s openly feminist stance, I don’t think anything could reveal the site’s hypocrisy much more than their decision to run the list’s contents. It’s also pretty disgusting to use the misfortune of the Duke lacrosse players who were falsely accused of rape, arrested and charged before finally being exonerated, as a justification for doing so. You’d think that might make normal people a bit more sensitive toward these boys, but I guess we’re not dealing with normal people here.
There used to be a time when women who would kiss and tell were looked down upon, but we’ve gone way, way past that point, and now they are actually lavished with praise for sharing intimate details. This has been some time in the making, and is probably at least partially a result of how women are encouraged to trash their husbands to obtain concessions and a favorable divorce settlement. Dumping on and/or objectifying men is one of American women’s favorite past-times at this low point in our nation’s history.
It’s important to see the absolute contrast in the horrified reaction to Tyler Clementi’s humiliation and ultimate suicide and the remarkably callous attitude toward the boys who were put under a microscope by this young, promiscuous woman at Duke. She betrayed their confidence, no matter what the atmosphere is in colleges today. I suspect that the two dimwits who surreptitiously filmed Clementi also didn’t think it was such a big deal, because “everybody’s doing it.” Of course, they’ll find out otherwise, but in the meanwhile Jezebel lauds Karen Owen for being sexually liberated, and Harper Collins is “intrigued” by the potential for a book deal.
What’s the difference here?
Well, quite frankly, it’s the assumption that straight men have no vulnerabilities, are legitimate targets for shame and humiliation even in the most intimate of matters, and are no more sensitive than animals. One thing I can say with some certainty is that gay men do not share this attitude, but it is extraordinarily common amongst women. And why not? Every woman is indoctrinated in school to view men as inhuman oppressors, members of some überclass that have been molded from birth into unthinking, unfeeling minions of the patriarchy. It is little different from the wartime propaganda Americans were exposed to during the two World Wars of the 20th century, but the enemy this time is half the people within our society.
If there is ever to be any redemption for women, rewarding them for this behavior will have to cease. Not only that, but they have to learn that they will face consequences as well. If the fallout from the Duke “fuck list” is any indication, we’ve still got a ways to go.
