Remember Lara Logan, the CBS reporter who was separated from her crew while covering the revolution in Egypt and brutally raped by a mob of men? When she spoke publicly about her attack, she bravely broke a longstanding silence on the part of female reporters assaulted on the job.
But Dan Rottenberg, editor of the online arts magazine Broad Street Review, doesn't have any sympathy for Logan or outrage on her behalf. Instead, Rottenberg says Lara Logan is to blame for her gang rape because she once showed cleavage at a US award show.
Rottenberg's editor's letter, published on June 6th, is titled 'Male Sexual Abuse and Female Naivete,' six words that from the get-go suggest if women were to act more responsibly, men wouldn't commit "sex abuse," i.e rape. The letter is accompanied by a photo of Logan (above) on the red carpet, wearing a v-line neck dress and smiling for the cameras. The caption under the photo reads, "What message was the TV journalist Lara Logan sending here?"
Rottenberg goes on, "Earth to liberated women: when you display legs, thighs, or cleavage, some liberated men will see it as a sign you feel good about yourself and your sexuality. But most men will see it as a sign you want to get laid. Forewarned is forearmed."
Rape is not "getting laid" and no one ever, ever does or wears anything that "asks" to be raped. To suggest that Lara Logan's choice to wear a dress perfectly appropriate for a US awards show sent a message to Egyptian men that she wanted to be raped while doing her job as a foreign correspondent takes rape apologism to new heights.
Rottenberg ends his column by blaming a neighbor for her attempted rape and the molestation of her daughter because she cleaned her house in a halter top and shorts.
There is nothing redeemable about anything Rottenberg said; he makes excuses and blames the victim multiple times in multiple situations. He has far overstepped the bounds of an editor of a culture magazine and appointed himself arbiter of which rapes are a victim's fault and which are not. This is unacceptable.
We call on the Publisher and Board of Directors of Broad Street Review to take Mr. Rottenberg's offensive piece off the site and remove him from his position as editor.
Remove Rape Apologist Dan Rottenberg as Editor of Broad Street Review
Greetings,
I am writing to ask the leadership of Broad Street Review to remove Dan Rottenberg as editor of the publication because of an inexcusable editor's letter he wrote in which he blamed journalist Lara Logan for her rape.
Mr. Rottenberg overstepped the bounds of an editor of a culture magazine to blame Logan, and other women, for being sexually assaulted and in doing so has lost the trust and respect of Broad Street Review's readership. 1 in 4 American women (and 1 in 6 American men) will be the victims of sexual assault. Attitudes like Mr. Rottenberg's make victims less likely to come forward because they feel the rape is somehow their fault and protect rapists by giving them cover for their crimes.
Readers turn to Broad Street Review for local arts and entertainment news, not to be blamed for being raped. Please take action immediately to remove Mr. Rottenberg as editor of the site.
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