We’re Bound by Rape Culture. It’s Time to Shift the LensI was a freshman in coll
We’re Bound by Rape Culture. It’s Time to Shift the LensI was a freshman in college when I finally stopped listening to R. Kelly’s music. Though I had heard about his marriage to 15-year-old singer Aaliyah when I was younger, I wasn’t convinced or compelled to change my behaviors in any real way.That was until I saw a blurry video of the singer allegedly sexually assaulting and urinating on a teen girl. The video was dated sometime between 1998 and 2000. According to the prosecutors in the child pornography case against R. Kelly in 2008, where the video footage was played for a jury, the young girl in the footage was assumed to be about 13 or 14 years old at the time of the alleged assault. I would have been the same age as her at the time the video was filmed. Kelly was acquitted in that trial. Meanwhile, the stories, gossip, and opinions of others were indelibly etched in public culture.Since the six-hour-long Lifetime docuseries Surviving R.Kelly aired, in early January, greater attention has been drawn to the performer’s long history of sexual assault allegations and lawsuits. But we haven’t talked much about the culture that surrounds men like Kelly and the ways we are conditioned to participate in it. This is especially important when considering that Kelly’s accusers are all young Black women and girls.Continue reading: Getty Images -- source link
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