PLATFORM : Sexist Myths Take a Beating

Does a woman retain the right to say no to a man if she willingly goes to his hotel bedroom in the early hours of the morning? If she says no after she arrives there, will her refusal to have sexual intercourse be believed against the denial of a celebrity?

The jury in the Mike Tyson rape trial answered yes to both of these important questions with their verdict that the former heavyweight champion was guilty of raping an 18-year-old beauty contestant.

The verdict was a relief to many of us in the women’s movement who were beginning to wonder, after the Hill/Thomas hearings, whether a woman in a one-on-one situation with a famous man, or with any man, would ever be believed.

Tyson’s attorney seemed to argue that if his accuser went to Tyson’s hotel room and sat on the corner of his bed early in the morning, she should have known what to expect, and that she was giving her implicit consent to sexual intercourse. Legally, however, jurors cannot presume a woman’s consent to sex; morally, they shouldn’t assume it, either.

Further, isn’t it a cynical, sexist and stereotypical affront to men if women are forced to assume that men are only interested in sex or that women should expect to be raped? Must women believe that men are nothing but wild animals, or that they are only the sum of their hormones? Must we buy into the myth that men are raging bulls, out of control once we enter the bedroom? It’s purely and simply insulting to men, and harmful to women, to be forced to expect a man to lose control of his sex drive once a woman enters his room. What time of day does his brain check out? Who does he leave it with when he temporarily abandons it?

The argument that the accuser gave some sort of implied consent to sex was also rebutted by her. She testified that she said “Stop, get off me.” Stop means no . Even my 2-year-old granddaughter understands that.

The message of this verdict is clear. A woman does not have to take a translator with her when she goes on a date or wear a sign that says, “No, and I really mean it.”

It didn’t matter if she went to his hotel room. It didn’t matter that it was in the early hours of the morning. It didn’t matter that she sat on the corner of his bed to watch television. She still had a right to say no or stop, and he had a duty to stop in his tracks once she said it.

He didn’t, and that’s why he’s guilty of rape.

Sexist theories that she was just a woman scorned had no effect with this jury. The sexist myth that she was just a gold-digger out to take advantage of a celebrity was also firmly rejected. She may have lost to him in the bedroom, but not in the courtroom.

Women everywhere should be encouraged by the verdict. The system has shown itself willing to believe rape survivors, at least some of the time, and even against the word of a powerful man.