Maybe I wouldn't care enough to talk about this.

     This is a touchy subject and I'm sure there might be some people who read this and get angry.  Let me start by saying, I don't support rape, I'm not here to defend or justify the actions of people who commit such a crime.  I am only stating that I believe this case in Steubenville, Ohio, has more to it than evil boys raped and innocent girl.  

     This really isn't normaly something I feel I need to say anything about.  This case was highly publicized due to the social media involved with it.  Which goes to show that the stupidity of the actions of the parties involved was paramount. Right now the website I choose to frequent www.Imgur.com is all a buzz about how the media is showing that we live in a rape cultured society.  Like it or not, since evolution made man larger and stronger than women, there is going to be rape.  I'm not saying that I condone this behavior, I'm stating there are going to be men out there that use their superior size and strength to take advantage of women, and men in cases.  Rape was not invented yesterday.  I'm sure it has been around for a long time.  The way we handle these cases however is coming under much scrutiny.  I agree the system needs to be changed to reflect the severity of rape.  You see there are degrees of murder, because we all agree there are different levels of it. The same can pretty much be said for all criminal acts.  Rape, has the possibility to be very cut and dry.  Man invades a home, sees a woman, attacks that woman and rapes her.  That is easy.  Now same situation, Man invades a home, sees a woman, attacks that woman, woman stops the man and asks, would he wear a condom before he does this?  Man stops his actions and puts on a condom.  Now did she consent to sex by asking for him to use contraception?  Maybe not, it is still forced sexual contact, but since the woman was able to apply some terms to the act, it wasn't as simple as Rape. 

      It is difficult to litigate such a perspective driven crime.  Some times, men are accused of rape when what they thought they were doing was consensual.  There is suddenly two groups, people that believe the man was not aware he was committing and act of rape, and people that think he is lying and believe he attack the woman. With no witnesses in some cases, it comes down to her word against his.  Some times physical evidence can prove sexual contact, but not forced sexual contact.  Other times it is clear the woman was forced. Some times the accusation is completely unfounded.  I recount a case in which my ex-wife's uncle was in the military.  He hand been turning down the advances of a subordinate female, after turning her down for the last time.  He was called into his CO's office and told that he hand been accused of raping the woman he had turned down.  He knew this was untrue, and said to his CO's "That woman is lying, because I'm gay."   The CO believed him, because at the time being gay in the military was worse than rape.  Sorry to admit something like that, but it was.  The perspective of the people involved, and the factors in the situation surrounding the act are very important.

     In this case, in Steubenville, two teenage boys have been convicted of raping an unconscious drunk girl.  Which is quite disturbing, and wrong, and very sick of them to do that.  I agree that it was rape. Although, I believe that it is not just the boys that can be at fault here.  This is the point a view that I am taking that caused quite and uproar from the Imgur community.  This group of teenagers were supplied alcohol by whom I don't know. I can't seem to find that detail in the case. There were several girls and boys drinking this party.  The victim, as per testimony of her friend said that she had the reputation for getting too drunk.  After the girl had had more than enough to drink and was lying on the floor laughing,  Her friend left her at that party.  Suddenly a girl who was known to be a black out drunk was ditched by her friend.  Blame can be placed upon her friend for knowing she was in danger yet leaving her there anyway.  Blame can be given to the adults that provided this alcohol to these teenagers. Where were the parents for these kids?  I asked that to the Imgur community, and was told that parents can't hover over kids to protect them.  True, but their parents could tell their sons, don't touch a girl that is unconscious. Because it is called rape and rape is a very bad thing.  It may seem kind of condescending but at least they have they now knowledge that what is going on is wrong.  The girl's parents, did they ask the kinds of questions that really should be asked.  

"Where is this party?" "Who is going to be at this part?" "Is there going to be alcohol at this party?" "You call when you get there, and when you are leaving." 

These are the things all parents should be saying and asking their children.  

     Blame can be given to the victim.  This is what really sets people off.  I get "yelled" at by the Imgur community: 

"VICTIM BLAMER YOUR PIECE OF SHIT RAPIST! YOU ARE JUST AS BAD A THEM! VICTIM BLAMER!" "It is no one's job not go get raped." 

    

     This last statement I agree with.  Although putting yourself in a high probability situation and being shocked when it happens isn't smart either.  It is not anyone's job not to get hit by a drunk driver.  It happens though. You can take precautions to avoid it.  Not driving late at night, or during holidays. There is always the risk, and it happens. You can take precautions to avoid being raped.  She did not, no one forced this girl to get drunk; she had known previously that she had become black out drunk before.  She might have felt safe and comfortable with her friends there.  Though I don't think what she did was very wise, in fact what she did was down right stupid.  Rape is not her punishment, thought, it should never be. She should feel remorse for the actions she to that put here in that situation.  I used this analogy on the Imgur website which people misread into all up and down.  Of course I only have 140 characters per post to try and get my point across, so it is difficult to have some read your entire point before making a snap judgement.  

     The analogy is this:  This girl got black out drunk, in a room full of drunk teenage boys.  That is like walking into a cage full of hungry tigers and pushing a syringe full of morphine into your veins.  My point being that it is just an incredibly stupid situation to put yourself in.  Of course I get yelled at that, men aren't tigers, not all men are rape machines.  Yes that is true.  These are not men though they are teenage boys.  Horny as hell, drunk, teenage boys. They've already got hormones running rampant through their bodies.  Then they throw in alcohol, horny, impaired judgment, lack of inhibitions, teenage boys.  I don't know what you want to call their mental state at this point, but it isn't a grown man's.  Science has proven that the teenage brain is yet fully developed and their judgment is still impaired.  They might as well be hungry tigers.  Their baser drives is what was controlling their actions.  I doubt any teenager when drunk thinks rationally, or even about right and wrong.  Hell some adults have that difficulty.  What they did was not right, it was a horrible thing to do.  Weather they knew it at the time cannot be absolutely confirmed.  Their actions after the fact, proved that they didn't think what they did was horrible.  Bragging about it on the internet, posting tweets and pictures and even video of the act.  Just proves what idiotic mind frame these kids were in.  No doubt that what happened to this girl was awful.  It should never happen to anyone. 

      Though the situation I find troubling is the conviction itself.  These boys deserved to be punished, that is clear, severely punished.  Though, there should be a degree of rape taken into this case.  Drunk teens, in a group, would provide a mob mentality, the urge to appease the group you are in will influence your actions.  What these boys did was stupid and wrong, but I don't believe they understood what they did.  Their actions might have appeared dream like and unreal.  Their bragging and euphoria after the act prove that what they thought they did was thrilling did not understand that what they did was criminal. They should be charged as rapists, but given the alcohol, and age of them, I think there should be some stipulations place on this.  Rather that marking them for the rest of their lives with this act,  I think there should be some kind of probation that allows this to be set aside after enough time, by determination of a judge of course. The things you do as a teenager in this day in age, when they are given far to many privileges in my opinion, could really not be the person they are in 10 years or 15 years.  Living with the label of a sex offender for 15 years is awful, given that time to reflect and understand what they did could be enough.  After that time, it is left up to a judge to review their behavior over that time to see if they have changed their ways, and determine to extend it to another 15 years. After that time, the review of a judge can either remove the label, or set it pertinently.  That is just my opinion.  I felt the need to express it.  Thank you for reading.