Nice editorial in the Kaimin

[EverettGriz]

Many people in Missoula love Griz football. Most of these same people also think sexual assault is disgusting, terrifying, and confusing. Before last week, being a Griz fan against sexual assault wasn’t controversial. Now, it seems like party lines have been drawn between the two, and anyone straddling the line has to pick a side.

Less than a week after Jordan Johnson’s trial ended, Missoula shook as the divide between those who are pro-Griz and those who are anti-sexual assault began to tear wide open. In a matter of hours following the not guilty verdict, a Facebook group called “We are ALL Jane Doe” gathered several hundred fans. Soon after, a Jordan Johnson fan page went viral, gaining more than 1,500 “likes” in 36 hours, with one of the moderators of the page posting, “Thanks for all the support. We are all Jordan Johnson.”




What if, instead of allowing rape to divide us as a city, we took action together? How profound would it have been if the Griz football team had made a unified presence at the 1,000 Flowers event last week to honor their mothers, sisters and girlfriends? How noble would it have been if the event organizers had embraced them?

The truth is, one-in-five women will be sexually assaulted. One-in-five. Twenty percent. This is a pandemic and it affects everyone because these women are our friends, family, and community leaders. They are Griz players and fans, too. If an astronomical 20 percent of women in our country were unemployed, politicians would be passing bills left and right to lower it. If 20 percent of women were murdered in this country, there would be rallies in the streets to stop the violence. But for sexual assault, we have very strange reactions. We often call these women liars, sluts, jersey-chasers, bitter women scorned by the men they wanted. If they had a drink, we say they asked to be raped by putting themselves in dangerous situations. If they weren’t virgins before the rape, then they led their assailant on and were just promiscuous whores.

Rape is not something we discuss over our dinner table at night, so it takes a very long time for the science behind rape to permeate our culture. As citizens, we need to educate ourselves about rape and rape victims. It should be common knowledge that rape victims sometimes act in contradictory ways, most know their assailant quite well, and most (88 percent) never see their assailant convicted.

We should understand that the pain of rape is rarely resolved in a courtroom, and rather must be soothed in a unified community.

As a city, we need to say that we will not tolerate violence against women from anyone, anytime. Taking a stand doesn’t have to mean choosing a side. We need to stop shaming accusers and condemning the accused before we even know their stories.

We love Griz football, and we will never turn a blind eye to sexual assault.

http://www.montanakaimin.com/opinion/editorial/article_f79d18f4-8ada-11e2-95b0-0019bb30f31a.html#.UT-sGPRBYlM.twitter" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


Missoulian? Ya' out there? Why can't any of you write a piece like this?

 

[grizfan95]

Many people in Missoula love Griz football. Most of these same people also think sexual assault is disgusting, terrifying, and confusing. Before last week, being a Griz fan against sexual assault wasn’t controversial. Now, it seems like party lines have been drawn between the two, and anyone straddling the line has to pick a side.

Less than a week after Jordan Johnson’s trial ended, Missoula shook as the divide between those who are pro-Griz and those who are anti-sexual assault began to tear wide open. In a matter of hours following the not guilty verdict, a Facebook group called “We are ALL Jane Doe” gathered several hundred fans. Soon after, a Jordan Johnson fan page went viral, gaining more than 1,500 “likes” in 36 hours, with one of the moderators of the page posting, “Thanks for all the support. We are all Jordan Johnson.”




What if, instead of allowing rape to divide us as a city, we took action together? How profound would it have been if the Griz football team had made a unified presence at the 1,000 Flowers event last week to honor their mothers, sisters and girlfriends? How noble would it have been if the event organizers had embraced them?

The truth is, one-in-five women will be sexually assaulted. One-in-five. Twenty percent. This is a pandemic and it affects everyone because these women are our friends, family, and community leaders. They are Griz players and fans, too. If an astronomical 20 percent of women in our country were unemployed, politicians would be passing bills left and right to lower it. If 20 percent of women were murdered in this country, there would be rallies in the streets to stop the violence. But for sexual assault, we have very strange reactions. We often call these women liars, sluts, jersey-chasers, bitter women scorned by the men they wanted. If they had a drink, we say they asked to be raped by putting themselves in dangerous situations. If they weren’t virgins before the rape, then they led their assailant on and were just promiscuous whores.

Rape is not something we discuss over our dinner table at night, so it takes a very long time for the science behind rape to permeate our culture. As citizens, we need to educate ourselves about rape and rape victims. It should be common knowledge that rape victims sometimes act in contradictory ways, most know their assailant quite well, and most (88 percent) never see their assailant convicted.

We should understand that the pain of rape is rarely resolved in a courtroom, and rather must be soothed in a unified community.

As a city, we need to say that we will not tolerate violence against women from anyone, anytime. Taking a stand doesn’t have to mean choosing a side. We need to stop shaming accusers and condemning the accused before we even know their stories.

We love Griz football, and we will never turn a blind eye to sexual assault.

http://www.montanakaimin.com/opinion/editorial/article_f79d18f4-8ada-11e2-95b0-0019bb30f31a.html#.UT-sGPRBYlM.twitter" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


Missoulian? Ya' out there? Why can't any of you write a piece like this?

Because it's good.

 

[BWahlberg]

Great piece and it probably represents 99% of Griz Nation.

 

[grizbrokebacker1]

Missoulian? Ya' out there? Why can't any of you write a piece like this?

because they know that 99% of Griz Nation would find fault with the article and assume that Gwen just had a hidden agenda. Why waste their time?

Great piece and it probably represents 99% of Griz Nation.

 

[EverettGriz]

Missoulian? Ya' out there? Why can't any of you write a piece like this?

because they know that 99% of Griz Nation would find fault with the article and assume that Gwen just had a hidden agenda. Why waste their time?

Great piece and it probably represents 99% of Griz Nation.

Holy hell you're dumb.

It's a column. Not an article.

 

[Copper Griz]

I swear we have lost all common sense as a society. The editorial content is good, but honestly I am amazed how the outliers of our society monopolize the media and conversation. The majority of the population gets it and those that don't make stereotyping might easy for the opposing viewpoint. The outliers on both sides just leave me shaking my head.

 

[Hoof Hearted]

The majority of our population is probably about where it always has been. The polarization is probably more intense nowadays just because of the preponderance of news outlets and the cranks just have more avenues open to spout off from their soapboxes. There was a three week trial that went over each and every detail of the case in exhaustive detail. Each side in this case was sustained by their respective agendas that vastly overshadowed the substance of the case. The Jordan Johnson "rape" trial was a big popcorn fart because there wasn't anything there, no matter how much each side wanted their agenda to prevail.

 

[BigSkyBears]

Missoulian? Ya' out there? Why can't any of you write a piece like this?

because they know that 99% of Griz Nation would find fault with the article and assume that Gwen just had a hidden agenda. Why waste their time?

Great piece and it probably represents 99% of Griz Nation.

Holy hell you're dumb.

It's a column. Not an article.

A column is an article

 

[EverettGriz]

Columns are written by columnists.

What differentiates a column from other forms of journalism is that it meets each of the following criteria:
It is a regular feature in a publication
It is personality-driven by the author
It explicitly contains an opinion or point of view

 

[Yukon]

I don't know. First two paragraphs okay, but then seemed to point to that jj did it, but was not convicted. It mentions the 88 percent thing. Sorry, but it struck me wrong.

 

[Washgrizfan1]

This sentence in the editorial struck me as a particularly ridiculous and naive. "How profound would it have been if the Griz football team had made a unified presence at the 1,000 Flowers event last week to honor their mothers, sisters and girlfriends?"

The football team has been unfairly maligned by the Missoulian over sexual assault in repeated articles, had one of their friends falsely accused, observed their friend suffer through being charged unfairly by the county attorney, and listened to some women in court refer to them as thugs--and the Kaimin thinks it would be "profound" if the team came to this event last week?

Now that is truly naive. In all likelihood, even the mothers, sisters and girlfriends of the team wouldn't go to that event.

 

[Dillon]

Just Curious - When does the Gang Rape trial begin?

 

[Grisly Fan]

This sentence in the editorial struck me as a particularly ridiculous and naive. "How profound would it have been if the Griz football team had made a unified presence at the 1,000 Flowers event last week to honor their mothers, sisters and girlfriends?"

The football team has been unfairly maligned by the Missoulian over sexual assault in repeated articles, had one of their friends falsely accused, observed their friend suffer through being charged unfairly by the county attorney, and listened to some women in court refer to them as thugs--and the Kaimin thinks it would be "profound" if the team came to this event last week?

Now that is truly naive. In all likelihood, even the mothers, sisters and girlfriends of the team wouldn't go to that event.

I second this. It seems a little early for "Kumbaya". Both side feel stung by the whole event -- rightly or wrongly. Everybody pretty much knew that there would be no winner regardless of the outcome. I think the dust needs to settle and perhaps this fall something can be done in support of the cause.

 

[grizbrokebacker1]

Missoulian? Ya' out there? Why can't any of you write a piece like this?

because they know that 99% of Griz Nation would find fault with the article and assume that Gwen just had a hidden agenda. Why waste their time?

Great piece and it probably represents 99% of Griz Nation.

Holy hell you're dumb.

It's a column. Not an article.

Wait...I thought it was an editorial (as indicated in the title)?

An editorial is the "official" position of the newspaper. A column is the voice of one person, not the newspaper.

 

[grizophile]

Missoulian? Ya' out there? Why can't any of you write a piece like this?

because they know that 99% of Griz Nation would find fault with the article and assume that Gwen just had a hidden agenda. Why waste their time?

Great piece and it probably represents 99% of Griz Nation.

Holy hell you're dumb.

It's a column. Not an article.

Wait...I thought it was an editorial (as indicated in the title)?

An editorial is the "official" position of the newspaper. A column is the voice of one person, not the newspaper.

Ya, but didn't Bobby Hauck hate the Kaiman??????

 

[Umista]

Thugs? Rapists? Griz Football players? Ok do gooders please name these bad guys! Remember this is good
old E-griz so you can name all the bad hombres and not be harmed. Name these no good bad guys. Pat Williams claims he is in the know but will not spit it out. How about one of you?

No I don't want the girls name that chased Jordy Johnson all the way to the finals. I want a list of all these purported BAD guys. Submit anytime:

 

[Silvertip]

Missoulian? Ya' out there? Why can't any of you write a piece like this?

because they know that 99% of Griz Nation would find fault with the article and assume that Gwen just had a hidden agenda. Why waste their time?

Great piece and it probably represents 99% of Griz Nation.

Holy hell you're dumb.

It's a column. Not an article.

A column is an article

:roll: Columns are found on the op-ed page; articles in the news section...Columns are opinion. News is supposedly news unless it's opinion disguised as news. (See The Missoulian for examples)

 

[JBS]

What is nice about this article? It is stupid and polyanaish. Why in the world would a Griz player go and throw flowers off of a bridge to support false accusations?

 

[Hoof Hearted]

What is nice about this article? It is stupid and polyanaish. Why in the world would a Griz player go and throw flowers off of a bridge to support false accusations?

I wish I had said that.