It was just after 2 a.m. on a pitch-black Friday morning when Bernadette Greene-Placentia’s life changed. The Democratic candidate for Congressional District 8 strolled across a parking lot to repair a damaged campaign sign. It was a routine she’d followed all summer. This time, she only made it a few yards.
An attacker smashed her over the head. She blacked out. She woke up to find a strange man on top of her.
Greene-Placentia struggled to open her eyes. She felt a sharp pain below her waist. The attacker was pulling his penis out of her.
She heard him mumble something like, “-ic bitch, not a very good fuck,” which her mind filled in as “Democratic bitch,” she recalled. She wasn’t sure that was exactly what he said.
One leg was out of her jean capris. She wore brand-new tennis shoes and a campaign t-shirt. Another man came over. Greene-Placentia felt his weight nudging her left leg further apart. She began swinging her foot at him. “Not even worth it,” she heard the man say as he moved away. He wore black boots and had small feet, she recalled.
The two men left Greene-Placentia face down in the parking lot. The hatch of her silver Jeep Grand Cherokee was still open. The car was still running. She heard music.
She doesn’t remember pulling up her pants or picking herself off the asphalt parking lot. She doesn’t remember closing her Jeep’s hatch and putting her foot on the gas. She doesn’t remember pulling her car into the driveway and collapsing into her bed.
“It’s just these little tiny flashes of things that I do remember,” Greene-Placentia said in an interview with Phoenix New Times. “As much as I don’t want to remember, I’ve tried very, very hard to remember more stuff. But that’s where I’m at.”
I’m sick and tired of men telling me that rape culture doesn’t exist, that rape victims should have done something different, they should have worn something different, they should have not gone out alone, I’m fucking sick of all of it.
We have a problem with misogyny and rape in this country. It doesn’t exist in a vacuum on its own.
Trump is merely a symptom of the rot.
I was listening to an excerpt of Jimmy Carr interview a few days ago in which he was arguing that one of best ways to combat toxic masculinity was to encourage young men to go down to the pub with the lads. That men in groups will keep checks on others within the group.
I respect Carr and his crusade against toxic masculinity, but I am a guy and a lifelong feminist (thanks mom) that grew up in an extremely misogynistic culture. Sure, my friends would have kept me in check, but that’s because we were always a mixed gender and sexuality group. Most “lads” crews I knew, once drunk and rowdy, were more likely to gang rape a girl than not if she told them off. Sorry Jimmy, humans are still way to close to close to chimp to be left unchecked.
I don’t know how feminist I’d consider him. As I recall, he and Stephen Fry both drifted right in their politics over the past decade or so:
“the problem with American communism, which is woke, is better described as American Marxism. And what it is is instead of trying to redistribute wealth, which is a perfectly reasonable thing to want to do, they want to redistribute status. And that is a recipe for fucking madness” -Jimmy Carr
Stephen Fry ended up praising Jordan Peterson or some such, Carr started talking anti-woke politics on podcasts after being “cancelled” by a heckler.
From a student news website:
“Jimmy Carr has built his career on his deliberately offensive style of comedy – nothing is off limits and nobody is safe. His new special, aptly-titled His Dark Material, is supposed to epitomise this ethos, as Carr spends an hour bombarding his audience with endless quips about hipsters, vegans, gingers, women (including his own girlfriend, who sounds like a very lucky lady), victims of sexual abuse, little people, and anybody else he feels hasn’t been at the receiving end of enough grief lately. His pièce de resistance comes in the form of a section at the end of the special filled with jokes Carr brazenly calls his “career enders”, in which he says that few people know about the fact that an estimated half a million Roma people were murdered during the Holocaust because nobody wants to “talk about the positives”. One man’s suffering is another man’s slapstick.”
https://thestudentnews.co.uk/2022/03/03/the-charge-of-the-woke-brigade-the-case-against-jimmy-carr/
He tried to defend the Holocaust joke by saying it brings attention to non-jewish victims of the Holocaust which earned him every comedians highest achievement when going anti-woke - being defended by Jeremy Clarkson.
I only know him for his, as of late, takes on toxic masculinity. Some are good, and some (like the one I highlighted) are dreadful.
I think it’s much more prevalent than people want to admit.
Otherwise, spontaneous gang rapes wouldn’t occur with such frequency. Why are there always so many men that are up for it randomly? What are the odds, yeah? Seriously, that wouldn’t be possible if it was a rarity.
They’ll rape animals and men, too, because they’re rapists. Women and children are smaller, so they are preyed on much more, but if all women disappeared tomorrow, they’d still rape whomever/whatever else they could.
Sure, this could be a political ploy in this case, I know nothing. But the reason such a ploy is believable is because it’s so common.
It’s way more prevalent than most men want to admit, that’s for sure.
Women have either been victims themselves or know someone who has been a victim. The rate is close to 1 in 3 women have been raped.
It’s 1 in 5, but it is still a lot and way too high.
It depends if you’re looking worldwide or at the US. It also depends if you’re looking at reported cases vs unreported.
But yes, it’s still way too high.
What the fucking shit… This makes me gag! God fucking damnit, I hate men… and I’m saying that as a man!
Republican women are some of the most vocal rape deniers. It’s not about hating genders, it’s about the people that promote a culture where these behaviors flourish.
It’s still men doing most of the rape and sexual assault, which is what P1nkman was referring with their outrage.
I hate this game we all have to play - avoiding saying which gender it is that perpetrates rape and sexual assault the most.
It’s men. Men do it the most. Not all men rape, but overwhelmingly it’s men who rape others - women, children, and other men.
Understood.
“men” is not a fixable problem.
Republican culture is
Those men have been “fortunate” in their lives perhaps.
If a man has been homeless or in prison for any length of time, he knows you’re right, and perhaps even a little too optimistic.
I’d say half of men are predatory given the opportunity, easily, at least.
Yeah, or how they should not have been convicted of a crime they may or may not have committed and sentenced to the most concentrated and well documented rape culture in modern history, male prisons. Obviously rape cultures exist. I agree with you.
False rape allegations happen, but they’re much more rare than actual rape.
The amount of support prison rape has in society is a real part of our rape culture. When rape is celebrated as a valid punishment, it helps support the same rape culture that supports questioning victims’ stories. That they must have done something to deserve it.
It’s all tied together.
I was not refering to false rape allegations.
how they should not have been convicted of a crime they may or may not have committed and sentenced
Then you should be more clear.
Or you shouldn’t make assumptions.
You’re welcome to clarify your statement.
Which part do you need help understanding?
Every time rape culture comes into the limelight, I remember a party in college where a friend, well call her blue, was so drunk she was pants-off propositioning several people. All of us were like “Blue if you’re down tomorrow, that’s cool. But like, go to bed.”
Not Nick. Name not redacted. I went into their room and cock blocked. Straight to Nick “brother you’re way more cogent than her. This is rape, and everyone here knows it.”
Or, sorry to both sides here, but the time Jenna, name not redacted, came downstairs with a suggestive giggle and grin after we had all just helped our friend James (not his name) to bed, in his own home at his house for a graduation party. Jenna, that was rape. And I said it out loud to you in front of everyone. And you giggled like it was cute.
There’s a small percentage of humans among us that don’t respect others autonomy. They need to be outed. They need to be held accountable. We need them away from the rest of us.
Fuck you Nick. Fuck you Jenna.
Thanks for being the type of person to call that shit out in the moment.
I saved a friend of mine from a similar situation. I was living in a house with 5 people. She was shit faced. I came home and found her in the shower. Clothed. Passed out.
I got her changed (we were pretty close friends). And put her to bed.
Like a bit later I get up to check on her. Cause people can die from alcohol poisoning. I See her door is open. Go in and a fucking guy is in her bed.
Can you believe that !?
Some shit stain that was there for the party, from one of the other housemates was throwing.
I flipped out on him and cussed him out. He called me a bitch. Told me to mind my own fucking business. She was into it. …
He really wasn’t going to leave. I am pretty sure I threatened him with violence. (This was like 20 years ago).
Man, I was so angry. I’m still angry when I think about it.
I remember it was actually really hard to get him to leave. He didn’t think I had any right to tell him he couldn’t rape my friend. I do recall there being a lot of yelling.
I did finally get him to leave. And I told the housemate about it but she honestly didn’t care.
Next day I told my friend some shitty guy was in her bed but I chased him off. I tried to recall what he looked like. So she could figure out who he was. But I don’t think we figured it out for sure.
And cautioned her about Ashley’s “friends”.
She said she got in the shower because she realized how drunk she was and thought it would sober her up. And didn’t remember much after that.
Thank God I got off work in time.
A woman underestimates her alcohol consumption one fucking time and the vultures swoop in. In her own place.
Not safe anywhere.
The fucking nerve to argue over the right to keep raping someone blackout drunk!
Right?!
And he genuinely thought calling me a bitch and telling me to fuck off was going to work.
I wonder if such a tactic had worked for him in the past.
You know I was thinking about how back then we called it “taking advantage”. Not rape.
Like they just took an opportunity that presented itself. An opportunity that the victim created.
Morally gray. But not the same as rape. Which is only defined as when a sober woman is physically attacked and held down with force by a man. the term wasn’t really applied to many other scenarios.
No one used the word “rape” to describe assaulting an intoxicated person.
It was always “someone took advantage of them”.
And I think describing it that way was part of why it was pervasive. Acceptable. Common.
And even now it’s hard to get people prosecuted for rape when the victim is intoxicated.
Like somehow , them being incapable of escaping or resisting makes them willing and accepting by default.
I think in some ways , the rapist who physically attacks a sober woman is at least unashamedly acknowledging what they are doing.
Whereas the rapist who waits until his would-be victim is incapacitated and can’t fight back , and tells himself they wanted it, is a delusional sociopath. These are the types who go after children and teens too. The kind who groom. These predator types are more insidious.
I don’t remember it being called “taking advantage” except maybe when I was a kid and too young to really get it, but it’s really gross that people used to say that. Taking advantage of someone should mean overstaying your welcome or not picking up your fair share of the checks when you go out to eat, not raping someone too drunk to consent.
And I think you’ve got a great point there about the psychology of these people. I’m particularly aware of and concerned with sexual violence stemming from self delusion due to ways in which I’ve been victimized. These people seem to be the sort unable to handle a no or to do the flirtatious dance of figuring out that it’ll probably be a yes before they ask. So rather than finding someone who would say yes or becoming someone more people would say yes to, they find a person too drunk to consent, or someone too inexperienced to know better (especially minors), or they try to manipulate/pressure a no into a yes, or whatever other way that isn’t just straightforward finding someone who actually wants you.
Apparently plenty of people have no Idea that having sex with someone under influence of substances is rape. I’ve had this conversation with someone, who openly said the point of going to parties is to score with drunk girls.
We’re younger back then, I feel like he’s a better person now.
I’m sure the cops will definitely use the flock cameras to identify her attackers.
/s
Wouldnt you know it, it happened in a gap of camera coverage. This wouldnt have happened of the liberals hadnt been pro-rape and forced us to get rid of the cameras that would have caught this! We should get 30,000,000 dollars in new funding to expand AI cameras across the area!
/s
I feel so sorry for this poor woman having to endure this, It is a terrible violation and tragedy… but if it happened specifically because of her politics, then that opens a very very dark door for our future, and thats saying something considering rape is already a dark door in and of itself.
The same cops whose body cams conveniently malfunction every single time they’re accused of malfeasance or gross abuse of of excessive force? Color me not-even-mildly-shocked
why would the cops investigate themselves
“We investigated ourselves and determined we didn’t do anything wrong. Case closed.”
The police: “are you sure it wasn’t just some sort of misunderstanding?”
Completely insane that there are comments here assigning any degree of blame to her for this situation. The fact that it was 2 in the morning isn’t an invitation to rape or be otherwise assaulted.
Hell, I don’t care if someone were nude and fixing a sign that advertised their services as a prostitute. Still not “asking for it”.
I’ve been shocked and disgusted to learn the mundane activities that my wife considers too unsafe to risk. Not just being out alone at 2am, not just being out alone at night, but being out alone at all. I go for solitary hikes in the woods to restore myself but she won’t even walk her German shepherd in an area where she can’t see other people at all times.
I mention all this not to say “these are the rules - women should know to follow them.”
I mention all this with outrage that anyone anywhere should ever feel like they need to live this way. These are completely unreasonable limits for any human being. It truly breaks my heart that my loved one will never know the joy of sitting meditative at a mountain peak looking out over the valley where we live, or know the pleasure of walking her dog under the stars.
I understand the memory block the trauma of rape can cause. My ex drugged and raped me in my own home, in my own bedroom, during my own goddamn birthday party with family and friends just a shout away. Everyone thought I was just super fucking drunk, as I had turned 21 and was drinking heavily. I was drunk, but the drugs I was given in the last drinky ex gave me had me unable to stand within minutes. My ex told everyone he’d go tuck me in so I could rest and everyone thought the last of the alcohol I’d had hit me all at once. He essentially dragged me to my bed and tossed me onto it like a sack of potatoes. I didn’t pass out as quickly as I would have liked. The drugs paralyzed me and I was very much aware of the things my ex was doing, but I couldn’t do a damn thing about it. Thankfully I passed out before he started the penetrative part of the rape. I woke up naked and in awful pain all over, but especially down there. I often sleep nude or nearly nude because I get overheated easily, so I didn’t think anything of it and figured the pain was just a hangover.
I blocked out all memory for five years as a survival mechanism and my mental health tanked when the memories came back. It took another three years for me to seek therapy. All of the evidence is circumstantial, as he wore protection or was just unable to cum. There were no witnesses and no concrete evidence other than my memories that resurfaced, me waking up naked, and the pain.
The mental healing has been so rough. I can’t imagine what this woman is going through. Her experience sounds far more traumatic than mine was. I hope she can get the help she deserves and needs and that the bastards who hurt her get what’s coming to them. I will never get justice for what happened to me, but I hope every other victim can.
Thank you for sharing your story. I’m sorry you had to endure it and I’m sending warm healing thoughts your way <3
Well, even if this was politically motivated, she’s not a conservative and doesn’t have the name Charlie Kirk, so Republicans won’t give a flying fuck.
I fucking hate rapists with every fiber of my being. I’d skin god alive if it meant I could torture every single rapists that has ever walked this forsaken planet. The soulless, mindless, evil you have to have in you to force yourself on someone .
My partner is a survivor, and I swear on any god that is listening if I ever get the chance, god have mercy on my soul the things I would do to them.
Fucking sick motherfuckers.
Holy goddamned fuck. That’s awful and also terrifying that someone would be so bold as to do this to someone running for congress. I sincerely hope the cops actually give a shit about sexual violence for once in this case.
ETA: I want to add in that while I hate calling every crime terrorism, this sure feels like an act of terrorism intended to scare women away from running for office as democrats.
This is a terrible thing to have happened, but it’s far too early to bring any political aspect to it when all she said was “which her mind filled in as “Democratic bitch,” she recalled. She wasn’t sure that was exactly what he said.” We need more information before we come to these conclusions.
Another horrible crime, and makes me question how people become abusive and controlling criminals, and research points to the theory of “cycle of shitty people”, punching down on others, taking their turn, and this is normalized as macho, but it’s toxic. The abuse in homes, military, sports, frats, politics, it’s all related. Yes, not all turn out abusive and help to break the dysfunctional cycle is needed. Some people will read this and let their egos flare up and insist the healthy ways are “woke”. They’ll vote for the violent types again, and their female loved ones are worse off for all this toxic pollution. This is not an excuse, but hurt people need therapy, healthy community and healthcare to recover.
When someone becomes controlling or abusive, the clearest drivers are childhood maltreatment and witnessing violence between caregivers. Research using ACE (Adverse Childhood Experiences) scores shows a dose-response pattern: people with higher ACE counts face dramatically elevated odds of perpetrating violence later in life. These experiences normalize coercion, damage emotional regulation, and create insecure attachment. The pathway is learned behavior and cumulative trauma.
We need better sex education in this country as well. We need to teach our youth what consent looks like and what lack of consent looks like. There’s so much that goes into this that is ignored for the status quo.
That would certainly help in some cases, but in this particular one there’s a 0% chance these guys were confused about consent. They simply didn’t care.
We need to be doing this moving forward to help reduce these situations.
We don’t disagree that consent education is super important. There are a lot of cases where it will help. This one, though, they knew. They were going to rape this woman regardless. From her account it sounds like the rape was the point.
I just think we can do both at the same time. Appropriate punishment for rapists and education for our youth.
I absolutely agree.
You’re missing the point. Some folks are just monsters. Whether you believe in a soul or not some folks are just missing that piece that makes them human. They are pure evil. There is no education to help with this. What we need is better security for women and people who can become victims.
Unfortunately I’m not sure if anything would have helped here, other than a bodyguard. They knocked her out from behind, before she even knew anyone was there. She had no opportunity to run or fight back. Scary shit.
You’re missing the point that we have a vibrant rape culture in this country and educating our youth will help reduce the amount of rape and sexual assault.
When people know more about consent, people respect it more.
We can do both. We can target current rapists and punish them appropriately and educate our youth to help reduce the amount of misogyny that’s encouraged in our society.
I agree we can and should. I’m saying there is folks who don’t give a damn. Some folks are just evil.
That is true, but I don’t want to discourage anyone. It is possible to create a better world for all of us.
I believe this is a case where rape was weaponized specifically against the victim, to teach the Democratic bitch a lesson for running for office; the second attacker just gave up cause the point was already made. I believe many women experienced the same due to their support of the suffrage movement 100 years ago.
Heinous and despicable act by fascist Republicans.
The US is chock full of rapist and sexual assaulters. Every women in my life has been SA and raped including my grandmother, mother, wife, and daughters.
Same. Every woman I know in my life has been assaulted or raped.
Find culprits like Luigi found!
I appreciate the vigilante energy, but maybe we could demand that our politicians and our police forces and our DAs actually do their fucking jobs.
Let’s process the enormous backlog of rape kits in this country.
Let’s believe victims when they say they’ve been raped.
Let’s give all of the evidence of a crime over to the people who will prosecute those crimes. And then fire them when they don’t fulfill their duties.
I agree. I mean Luigi found quick, use resources to find culprits same.
I hope the goddamn bastard dies a painful death.
The Republican party is a terrorist organization. We cannot have a civil society and the Republican party and its supporters at the same time. Its one or the other.
dead rapists can’t reoffend
