As you guys know I generally avoid delving too deep into the current political issues. It isn't because I don't have opinions about what's going on, I just never felt that was the point of this blog. Sure I'll share my interpretations of the stickers but you're really not here for my opinions in life. When I was looking through my collection though tonight I felt that there really wouldn't be a more topical time for me to share this sticker. With everything that's been hitting the news circuits lately from Roy Moore, Matt Lauer, Al Franken, and well whoever happens to be the next big scandal, I can't think of a more pertinent find in my collection. Alright technically if I want to be truly topical I should look at something dealing with Net Neutrality but I don't think I've found a sticker that really deals with that particular issue yet. Although that is one of the many things that makes stickers and graffiti such a great subject. They are such an easy way to express your opinions about the issues in the world, allowing you to create an outlet for your anger and to provoke discussions. And since stickers can be so versatile they can be everywhere, be updated to reflect the current issues out there, or just serve as a reminder that these issues haven't changed as much as people like to think they have.
Tonight's sticker certainly serves as brief reminder that while sexual harassment seems to be appearing more in the news, it isn't a new issue by any means. For those that may not quite see what the sticker is doing, it's the word "rapist" in the shape of the number 7. This is a clear reference to the Steelers' quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and his sexual assault accusations from 2009 and 2010. When I originally found this sticker, I'll admit that I only vaguely recalled what it was even dealing with. So as a brief recap for all of you in 2009 Roethlisberger was accused of sexual assault in a civil lawsuit by a woman in Lake Tahoe and in 2010 it was revealed that the police in Milledgeville, GA were investigating him for an assault in a local nightclub. Now the 2009 civil suit had affidavits from associates of the woman saying that she was bragging about the encounter, it never really got much motion in the press, and eventually settled out of court in 2011. The 2010 accusation did make a bigger scene, getting him a 6 game suspension and causing him to lose some of his endorsements. But this also eventually fell from the public eye when the police said that even without the woman involved wishing to remain anonymous they didn't have enough physical evidence to pursue investigation. Full disclosure about my sources on this one, I was using the Wikipedia article on Roethlisberger and a Vice article about the accusations so my presentation should be taken with a grain of salt. Now I'll be upfront about my position on the issue surrounding this particular sticker, I have no real stakes in it either way. While I may be a pseudo Steelers fan, I don't have a true affinity for the team. Actually I have no idea how they're even doing so far this season, but I can say that about any sport. I'm also not saying that he hasn't been a decent person, his foundation has done a lot with police forces and their K-9 programs as well as work with Make a Wish. But judging by the reactions in the Post-Gazette from the 2010 revelations, I have to say that it is quite the divisive issue for fans. Although it is the same general arguments you hear in any piece covering sexual harassment or assault. You have some people saying that they still support him and that these allegations are being blown out of proportion by the media. While others argue that they are ashamed of how things were handled by the team, NFL, the man himself with the general claim that he should have been punished more severely. And let's face it, these accusations really were barely a blip in his career since he was the 11th highest paid athlete in 2015 according to Forbes. Which is generally the issue with most of the harassment cases that get brought up. Sure more people are getting dismissed from their positions when these cases come to light but it's always treated as this big shock by the media, like it's a one time event. Pundits claim to be shocked by the actions of someone in power and drag those half-hearted apologies out of the accused, repeating these actions in a week when another is revealed. Once they've gone through the accepted motions, these stories are then pushed fairly quickly to the side and generally just become the occasional side note on that individual. While there is no reason to continue to dwell on the bad decisions made by people, we also need to stop acting like these are blips in their careers and completely out of character for them. I'll admit that there really isn't a "good" way to address the wide variety of harassment cases out there and I have no desire to force people back into the shadows, but the current treatment of these cases in the media isn't helping either.
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Maggie Ondrey
An amateur photographer and writer capturing a small portion of the city. Archives
August 2017
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