Our Guys: the Glen Ridge Rape and the Secret Life of the Perfect Suburb, an outstanding novel based on the Glen Ridge rape case by Bernard Lefkowitz, explains in the great detail about the rape between the victim and the suspects. Lefkowitzs goes into great detail about the Glen Ridge rape by explaining the social problems of the town, how the community heavily influenced a social role for young men and women. The all-star jocks in Glen Ridge picked Leslie Faber to be their victim of rape because of her disability. Labeling Leslie’s disability gave indication to the cliques in Glen Ridge’s high school that she is an “outsider”. To the jocks, they establish that because of her disability and her unpopularity, Leslie would be unlikely to tell
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At a young age, Leslie was diagnosed as mentally retarded. Regardless of Leslie’s situation, Leslie still strived to be normal such as joining school sports such as softball and basketball. Striving to be normal, Leslie just wanted attention and because she wanted attention the jocks gave her attention but the attention she was wanting. Leslie was set up and was convinced to go on a date. The Bureau of Justice Statistics highlights that 51% of rape and sexual assaults occur outside of the home while doing leisure activity. Additionally, Rainn, reliable source of statistic, explains that every three out of four rapes are committed by someone known to the victim. Unfortunately, Leslie fitted the mold for both of these statistics. The main issue about Leslie’s rape is her disability. As a victim, Leslie might not have been entirely aware of what was happening to her. After the fact, Leslie still looked up to these jocks, which violated her body and space. Authors, Robert Agnew and Timothy Brezina, of Juvenile Delinquency: Cause and Control, express that roughly 50% of crimes are report to the police, which are collected from victimization surveys. Leslie didn’t report the incident but instead a teacher overheard a few of the jocks discussing. If it hadn’t been for the teacher to report the incident, would’ve Leslie brought it up to anyone? Once the story …show more content…
Lefkowitz goes into further detail that any sexual assaults that happened on campus were rarely punished. In our society, it is apparent that any law enforcement often shame on the community outweighs the value of the prosecuting the accused. Many influential people in the town of Glen Ridge often blamed Leslie, the victim; in willingness and hopes to hide away the town’s filthy case. This is a community that is privileged and celebrates achievements and the traditional norms of masculinity. In a traditional town, many will find it hard to understand why such great boys could ever do something terrible like this. Living in a high suburb area, sexual assault and rape are not limited to any economic class. It is apparent that many families and people weren’t focusing on the victim but rather the accused. According to Lefkowitz (p. 489) , “When popular boys from good families made her life miserable as a child, it was easier for adults to look the other way than to confront the boys and the parents”. Author, Elliot Regenstein, of These Are the People in Your Neighborhood, states (1966), “Ultimately, the town of Glen Ridge should be judged on what it did to create the conditions in which the rape took place, and then how it internalized the need to change after discovering what really happened. On those counts, the town seems to be sorely lacking”. The town of Glen Ridge defended themselves for looking the
At a young age, Leslie was diagnosed as mentally retarded. Regardless of Leslie’s situation, Leslie still strived to be normal such as joining school sports such as softball and basketball. Striving to be normal, Leslie just wanted attention and because she wanted attention the jocks gave her attention but the attention she was wanting. Leslie was set up and was convinced to go on a date. The Bureau of Justice Statistics highlights that 51% of rape and sexual assaults occur outside of the home while doing leisure activity. Additionally, Rainn, reliable source of statistic, explains that every three out of four rapes are committed by someone known to the victim. Unfortunately, Leslie fitted the mold for both of these statistics. The main issue about Leslie’s rape is her disability. As a victim, Leslie might not have been entirely aware of what was happening to her. After the fact, Leslie still looked up to these jocks, which violated her body and space. Authors, Robert Agnew and Timothy Brezina, of Juvenile Delinquency: Cause and Control, express that roughly 50% of crimes are report to the police, which are collected from victimization surveys. Leslie didn’t report the incident but instead a teacher overheard a few of the jocks discussing. If it hadn’t been for the teacher to report the incident, would’ve Leslie brought it up to anyone? Once the story …show more content…
Lefkowitz goes into further detail that any sexual assaults that happened on campus were rarely punished. In our society, it is apparent that any law enforcement often shame on the community outweighs the value of the prosecuting the accused. Many influential people in the town of Glen Ridge often blamed Leslie, the victim; in willingness and hopes to hide away the town’s filthy case. This is a community that is privileged and celebrates achievements and the traditional norms of masculinity. In a traditional town, many will find it hard to understand why such great boys could ever do something terrible like this. Living in a high suburb area, sexual assault and rape are not limited to any economic class. It is apparent that many families and people weren’t focusing on the victim but rather the accused. According to Lefkowitz (p. 489) , “When popular boys from good families made her life miserable as a child, it was easier for adults to look the other way than to confront the boys and the parents”. Author, Elliot Regenstein, of These Are the People in Your Neighborhood, states (1966), “Ultimately, the town of Glen Ridge should be judged on what it did to create the conditions in which the rape took place, and then how it internalized the need to change after discovering what really happened. On those counts, the town seems to be sorely lacking”. The town of Glen Ridge defended themselves for looking the