Harvey Weinstein
February is about Harvey Weinstein, the icon, maybe the satanic icon, but nonetheless the icon for rape and sexual assault. His life as a producer set precedents so it’s logical that his trial did also. One precedent was the testimony of an imperfect witnesses mainly in the person of Jessica Mann. She had probably known the risks when she met Weinstein – maybe not all of them but she must have heard the rumors and known what was expected of her. She may have hoped to get away with a flirtation. The way to stardom is problematical. Prior to the Weinstein trial, prosecutors and police had been notorious for wanting a victim who is virginal, logical, and consistent in her testimony. Jessica Mann broke this mold. But listening to her testimony showed us that an imperfect victim could be heartbreaking and believable. What is great is that the Judge and jury listened and believed her. Those who followed the trial believed her.
There are some curious asides. I think we imagine the typical rapist to be a testosterone-laden stud. But that’s not true. According to Jessica Mann, Weinstein had odd genitals and used injections to help himself achieve an erection. Jeffrey Epstein also possessed unusual genitals. Could this explain Weinstein’s preoccupation with sex and using force? Did he feel he needed to prove his manhood? Both men had power and Weinstein must have truly liked using force.
The women accusing Weinstein were Jessica Mann and Miriam Haley who testified that Weinstein forced oral sex on her in 2006 in his home. Annabella Sciorra from The Sopranos was the third witness. She testified to predatory assault, a more serious charge. Although her assault was occurred too long ago to prosecute (1993), a special hearing was held that permitted her to testify.
Three other women were Molineux witnesses. A Molineux hearing “is a New York State pre-trial hearing on the admissibility of evidence of prior uncharged crimes by the defendant in a criminal trial. In most cases, evidence of prior uncharged crimes is not admissible because of its potential prejudicial effect.” Molineux evidence is similar to the Doctrine of Chances used in the Cosby case. The three Molineux witnesses, also known as prior “bad act” witnesses, were Dawn Dunning, Tarale Wulff and Lauren Young. Their testimony served to demonstrate a predatory pattern of behavior.
It gives me hope that this case won a conviction against Weinstein. In trials prior to the #metoo movement, Miss Mann would not have been considered a believable witness by the police or the prosecution. Her case would not have made it past the first hurdle. It’s still difficult to prove rape and statistics show that few rapists go to jail but the Weinstein trial clearly demonstrates a change. The news is getting out and people have changed the way they think. Both the judge and the jury in this case had been educated and no longer viewed rape as entirely the woman’s fault. The verdict is a cause for celebration. After all there was no forensic evidence. It was a he said versus she said trial. There were six she saids and that helped. If there had been more Molineux witnesses they might have won the predatory charge also. After all, Wikipedia lists 94 women who accuse him of sexual improprieties including rape.
There was debris. Jill Messick’s suicide is certainly unfortunate and unintended debris, some of the unrecognized collateral damage that almost always accompanies violence. I don’t think she was guilty of anything more than what has always been done in the past – supporting the boss and spinning the story. She was shamed to death. It’s the aftermath – the shame that hurts most.
Weinstein wanted to be the big chief, the most macho of the macho. Women came to him wanting something only he could supply and he took advantage of their ambition. A nod from him meant future success. For some women, it worked. For others, it flattened their souls. Some of them thought having sex with Weinstein was the only road to success. They held their noses and acquiesced. Maybe that’s what the women thought. I’ve often heard men criticize women for a come-on manner. It’s not fair, they say. The men react, become excited and get angry because they reacted.
I can see a woman offering herself to Harvey. After all, 15 minutes with him could possibly mean a good part in a movie that would propel her from a want-a-be to a star. From there lay success, money, and fame. So, woman after woman went to Harvey. Some were helped. Some were just used and thrown away.
And for some of them, it was worth it. But Harvey became spoiled and lost his macho, the raging hormones of his youth. What troubles me is he didn’t want to stop the behavior. Jessica Mann reported that he used a penile injection so that he could have an erection. He needed medication in order to rape. Some men accept lower hormone levels. Not too many. The market is awash in medications and contraptions to aid a man in achieving an erection. Did you notice that word? We say achieve an erection – not get one or have one. It’s achieved. The man must achieve – win the game – be tougher than the other guy. He needed that feeling of superiority, that feeling some men get when they take a woman who doesn’t want them. It’s probably especially satisfying to be in command of another person. He used his penis as a weapon. He pierced a woman, one of those bratty self-indulgent beauties who thought her looks, her talent and her drive would be honored by the world. Humans, both females and males, learn early that being nice will get them what they want but Harvey didn’t have to be nice. He just had to pretend he was nice and he didn’t think he’d ever be called out on it.
But this is a new age and women have evolved. They aren’t like their mothers, the pathetic women who populated the series, Mad Men. They are growing backbones. Where did that come from? If Harvey’s career had been 30 or 40 years earlier, this would not have happened. The transition from the Mad Men world of yesteryear to today’s world where we are discussing sexual equality, is difficult and society is bound to have problems.
Megan Twohey
Megan Twohey is an American Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist with The New York Times and Donna Rotunno was Harvey Weinstein’s Pitbull female lawyer. After the trial Twohey asked Donna Rotunno an all important question – had she ever been sexually assaulted? How would Rotunno answer?
“I have not,” she said, pausing for a few palpable seconds, “because I would never put myself in that position.”
Comment: Ha, ha, ha.
Later in the conversation she offered this tired old trope.
“Sure, I think men also need to be very clear about their intentions,” she said. “And if I was a man in today’s world, before I was engaging in sexual behavior with any woman today, I would ask for them to sign a consent form.”
Her attitude belies something very wrong in our society. I wonder how much sex would be had if men required a consent form. On the other hand, how would it be if women required a promise form? This would be a form where the man promises to do his best to give the woman an orgasm, a form that says he understands that all women do not orgasm when a man pumps heartily away, a form that further promises that he will honor her wishes in whether she prefers gentle or rough sex. Maybe a form that promises not to strangle her, not to bruise her and to stop doing whatever she asks when she asks would be in order.
What if women on date sites had an app impenetrable to male hackers that rated men from one to five stars on their love-making ability? What if those with a rating of below three were required to go to love school where they would learn the art of kissing and touch – the art of pleasing a woman? From my admittedly limited experience men need this kind of school.
I’m old-fashioned. I believe in kissing first, then touch, then body reveal with penetration last. It allows the partners to evaluate each other. I’ve often made fun of sex scenes in movies of today. They are often a variation on two people with their pheromones off the charts. The woman runs across the room, jumps and encircles the waiting man with her legs, grabbing him around the neck with her arms. The man supports her, and from this position they somehow undress and have sex usually against a wall where the woman almost dies of a concussion from the banging. Really? Our overweight, out-of-shape society is not doing this. And please, no videos showing me I am wrong. I decidedly do not want to see them.
So what’s my point? My point is that men and women need to learn to be gentle with one another, in other words respect one another. Sex should be an activity for both sexes.
This is an aside but I need to vent right now. I just don’t understand what men get out of unconscious or sleeping women. If men just want a receptacle, there are plenty of receptacle type devices out there they can use. I recommend saving up for a Real Doll. You can have them made to order and, so says the website, when the honeymoon is over, you can get a remake. Could anything be more perfect? I find the desire to have sex with unconscious women, silly and ridiculous. I don’t see what men get from it. It’s an enigma. Is it just laziness? It was Bill Cosby’s favorite method. This is depressing.
Russell Simmons
Russell Simmons.
According to The Hollywood Reporter and Billboard, the Weinstein verdict provoked three prominent women of color to report to police their rapes by music mogul, Russell Simmons. It was too late to prosecute Simmons. The statute of limitations had run out but a documentary is in the works. The three women are Drew Dixon, who worked for Simmons, Sil Lai Abrams, who knew him as a friend, and Alexia Norton Jones, who dated him. All three women are notable in their own right. Oprah Winfrey, who was initially connected to the documentary, stated that “I want it to be known that I unequivocally believe and support the women.” Thank you, Oprah.
I think a lot of us will relate to Drew Dixon’s reaction to the Weinstein trial. Dixon said,
”I did not even know I was emotionally invested in the Weinstein verdict other than that obviously the bravery of the Weinstein silence breakers is the watershed moment that made it possible for me to come forward,”
Dixon added “that news that the verdict was imminent caused her to start shaking. Once it was announced that Weinstein was found guilty, she screamed and when he was handcuffed and remanded, Dixon said she began weeping.
The moment of handcuffing was momentous for me too so I understand intuitively why she reacted so strongly. It’s because up until the Weinstein guilty verdict, WHITE MEN DIDN’T GO TO JAIL FOR RAPE. They especially didn’t go to jail for the rape of a woman of color. The law is patently racist and protects white men. Black men go to jail. White men get probation if anything at all. Weinstein’s guilty verdict is an important precedent and progress in this area has been a long time coming. I was shocked but pleased with the verdict. We may be finally getting somewhere.
To put it more simply, OMG, he’s actually going to jail. Yay! Hurrah! Break out the band!
Peter Nygard
Trigger warning. On a scale of 10 this is a 10 so either hold your nose or don’t read this section.
Peter Nygard, 2016
Peter Nygard is another wealthy celebrity who enjoys abusing young underaged girls a la Jeffrey Epstein. A fashion icon, he nourishes a Hugh Hefner image and travels with a paid bevy of beauties at his beck and call. He reportedly has a stripper pole on his private airplane. He threw “pamper parties” in his Bahama mansion employing booze, drugs and force to persuade a slew of disadvantaged teens as young as 14 and 15 to satisfy his sick sexual fetishes.
According to this New York Post article,
”The victims include a then-15-year-old girl who was brought to Nygard’s luxurious Lyford Cay estate where the fashion executive tried to anally sodomize her, successfully raped her and then asked her to defecate in his mouth before offering her money, the suit alleges.”
The practice is known as Coprophilia, sexual arousal and pleasure from feces also known as scatophilia or scat.
I thought I was becoming inured to gross stories of sexual abuse and rape but this class action suit in Manhattan truly sickens me. I guess I’m not as strong as I thought.
Well that’s the rich and famous for this month. Here’s a very brief look at other news.
Sarah Lawrence College
There’s a fascinating story about a cult at Sarah Lawrence College, one of the most expensive schools in the nation. It involves Larry Ray, an insidiously charming con man who lived with and eventually took over a group of young students. It all started when he got out of jail and “crashed” in the group home of his daughter, Isabella. He started “therapy” with some of the students and became sort of a father figure for all of them. He controlled and extorted money from them. He also has ties to the FBI, the mafia, and other criminal organizations. Cults don’t often appear at colleges like Sarah Lawrence.
Award Caps in Ohio
Rape victims sometimes turn to lawsuits to obtain some semblance of justice. But in Ohio caps have been placed on the awards. In one case a jury awarded $3.6 million to a woman raped as a child by her pastor. The judge reduced the award to $385,000 in accordance with the cap laws passed in 2005 on tort reform. In a separate case a $20 million award was reduced to $250,000. Ohio legislators are now reconsidering the caps but it is unclear what the chances are in a Republican controlled legislature.