Bobby Bones: Austin DJ, Victim Blamer, Rape Apologist

Cross-posted at Speaker’s Corner.

______________________

[TW for sexual assault, rape apology, victim blaming]

On Tuesday, CBS News reported that their reporter, Lara Logan, had been brutally sexually assaulted and beaten in Tahrir square in Cairo in the immediate aftermath of the announcement that President Mubarak had stepped down.  There were a lot of responses that floated across the interwebs and throughout the media that were deplorable and disgusting.  Salon gives a rundown and then suggests this approach to talking about Logan’s assault:

Here’s what you do say when something like this happens. Like countless women around the world, Lara Logan was attacked in the line of duty. She was assaulted doing her job. It was a crime of unspeakable violence. And your opinion of how she does that job, the religion her assailants share with a few million other people, or the color of her hair has nothing to do with it.

But yesterday, here in my hometown of Austin, Texas, on a morning commute, Austin drivers who were lucky enough to be tuned into 96.7 (and 96.9 (Amarillo, TX), 102.5 (Lubbock, TX), 963 (HD radio in Wichita, KS), or Y102.3 (Augusta, GA) – according to the Bobby Bones homepage) got to hear one of their own go into full-on victim blaming, rape apology, paternalistic mode.

Bobby Bones is a DJ at 96.7, a recent guest-host on Regis and Kelly, and a repeat guest on HLN.  According to Clear Channel:

A favorite in the Austin market, Bobby Bones has won “Austin Radio Personality of the Year” for the past three years. The radio program is nationally syndicated currently airing in five markets and is heard locally on 96.7 KISS FM on weekdays from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m.

Yesterday, Mr. Bones decided to not just report what happened to Lara Logan but to comment on it.  Here is the link to the audio of it (it is the first thing they talk about on this clip).  Here is what he said (full transcript at bottom of post):

Listen, nobody deserves to be sexually assaulted ever but, man, you gotta know, that’s why you don’t go into that crap.  You don’t go into Egypt… […]

You put yourself in bad places, bad things are going to happen to you. […]

Listen, Mr. Bones.  Nobody deserves to be sexually assaulted and then blamed for that sexual assault.  NOBODY.  The fact that your statement has a “but” after it is disgusting.  What you think about both sexual assault victims and women is condescending and unfair.  And your words, they are triggering for those who have survived such an incident.

This may have been a one-off, three-minute news banter segment for you and your co-hosts but for any woman or man listening who had been sexually assaulted, what you said to your listeners was that they were to blame for being somewhere that they could be assaulted, that some decision they made led to them being sexually assaulted, that Logan and all other sexual assault victims should have known better.

Let me tell you – if you think that you are simply addressing only the Logan story then you are incredibly naive and ignorant about the trauma and triggering that occurs for people who have been assaulted.  Yet again, this time on their daily commute to work, they have to listen to another man in the media tell them that they should have done something to prevent the terrible crime that happened to them, that they could have done something to prevent it (unless, of course, you are seriously suggesting that all women stay home and lock their doors).  When survivors hear you talking about Logan, they hear you talking about them and their ordeal.

Because while Egypt or, “that crap” as you called the protesters in Tahrir square, may seem like an easy target of, “well, it’s bad there and if you go there as a lady reporter, you should know that you will probably be assaulted,” the truth is that sexual assault happens all the time, even when ladies aren’t in large groups of men in foreign countries.

In fact, it happens all the time just here in little ‘ole Austin, TX:

  • Police looking for sexual assault suspect (2/11/2011 – Austin-American Statesman)
  • Fort Hood soldier charged with sexual assault (1/31/2011 – AAS)
  • Man charged in 2009 downtown sexual assault (12/30/2010 – AAS)
  • From the AAS’s “Austin Legal” blog, a list of the news stories about child sexual assault in the Austin area, the latest from February 8.
  • Statistics from Safeplace.org (a local Austin organization that helps victims of domestic violence and sexual assault):
    • Every day two people are raped or sexually assaulted in Austin.
    • 90% of Travis County rape and sexual assault survivors knew the person who assaulted them.
    • One in eight adult women in Texas has been raped sometime in her life.
    • Every 5.7 minutes someone is raped in the United States.
    • 11.7 million women and 2.1 million men have been forced to have sex during their lifetime.
    • Only 20% of rape survivors actually report the rape or sexual assault. This means if 100 rapes are reported to police, another 400 women, children or men did not report the crime.

Or how about those other cities you broadcast in?

Amarillo and Lubbock, TX:

Wichita, KS:

I couldn’t find anything about August, GA, but I think an important thing about all of these stories and numbers and statistics is that they are based on both what is reported (numbers and statistics) and what the media finds interesting (stories).  Clearly, even though I can’t find an internet link to sexual assault in Augusta, it happens there, too.  And it happens more often than is reported.

How about the state of Texas at large?:

And for those sexual assault victims in Texas who do come forward and consent to having a rape kit done almost immediately after having been assaulted, the state has told them that they are not a priority (even though Texas is supposed to have some of the toughest laws against sexual assault in the country).

At the same time, I want to highlight the fact that women on college campuses have a 1 in 5 chance of being sexually assaulted while in school.  20%.  So, Mr. Bones, when you say that if you go to bad places, bad things happen to you, are you talking about college?  Are you saying that women should not go to college?  I’m sure you’ll laugh at what sounds like a ridiculous idea and say that you weren’t talking about that at all.  But, see, here in Austin, where over 50,000 students go to school at UT and another 40,000 attend ACC, a lot of women are going to be sexually assaulted. And at least some of them are going to be listening to your program (which clearly gears itself to a younger audience).  How about those other cities you broadcast in?  How many college students there?

And that list is partial for every city.  But let’s crunch the numbers I have.

If you add up all six schools and divide in half (even though often most schools have more female than male students), you get roughly 75000 female college students in the Bobby Bones listening area.  If 20% of those women are sexually assaulted while in college, we are talking about 15,000 victims and survivors.

If only 1% of those were listening yesterday, you told 1500 survivors of sexual assault that bad things happen when you choose to go to bad places.  If only .5% of those people were listening, you told 750 survivors of sexual assault that they were to blame for going “into that crap.”  And that is only the people listening who go to college right now.  That doesn’t include the people who have gone.  That number is bigger.  And it makes me sad to think of all those people having to listen to you say those terrible things about Logan and her role in her sexual assault.

My point, Mr. Bones, is that while for you it was a stupid comment that should have had WAY more thought and sensitivity put into it – for those possibly hundreds of sexual assault victims listening to you, it was someone reminding them that no matter what, they will be blamed for what happened to them.  Because you know who you never blamed in this segment?  The people who assaulted her.  Somehow they escape the scrutiny and spotlight that you are thrusting on Logan.  You also never talked about the culture that creates such a space, gives men some idea that they have a right to a woman’s body.  What you say when you say that bad things happen in bad places (things = sexual assault) is these victims, by simply existing somewhere, implicitly gave their assaulters some kind of consent over their body.  Do you honestly feel like Logan did that by simply being there?  If you do, what does that say about what you think about women and their place in our society?

In truth, lots and lots of places are bad places in this county and around world if we are determining what counts as “bad” by possibility that a woman in that place could possibly be sexually assaulted.

For instance:

Where are women supposed to go that isn’t “bad”?  What at all are accomplishing by saying such a thing?

So, please, the next time that you decide to do a 3-minute segment about sexual assault and feel the need to talk about the victim, don’t blame them.  It’s not that hard.  Think about the hundreds of listeners that you are shaming in the process, most of them probably female, some of them not only feeling guilt at hearing your words but are actually triggered, being forced to remember both their assault and the aftermath.  As Amanda Marcotte eloquently stated today:

As feminists have forever said, sexual violence is a crime of power, committed to control and intimidate women. When people react to sexual assault and rape by suggesting women brought it on themselves, they finish the job the attacker started. It’s sad to say that the assault on Lara Logan didn’t end when she was rescued in Egypt, and to note that it’s now being expanded as an assault on all women who have ambitions, or who are willing to be out in public while looking attractive. This response to Logan’s attack should make it clear that the US and Egypt differ on the issue of sexual violence perhaps only in degree but not in kind.

Don’t be the jerk who finishes the job the attacker(s) started.

I think you should apologize and set the record straight on where blame lies and why it is NEVER okay to blame the victim of sexual assault.  NEVER.  Others have already lost their jobs for doing such a thing publicly.  You know why?  Because it is NOT okay.

Sincerely, someone who will never listen to your show again and will certainly suggest others do the same – scatx

___________________

To contact Mr. Bones and let him know that his comments were not okay:

___________________

Transcript:

Bones: I guess, I was watching the news this morning and, let’s see, Lara Logan, the CBS reporter, was attacked and sexually assaulted in the middle of Egypt.

Unknown: Yeah.

Bones: And, listen, nobody deserves to be sexually assaulted ever but, man, you gotta know, that’s why you don’t go into that crap.  You don’t go into Egypt when every other…  I know she was with people but you know what happened?  She got separated from those people.  And all of a sudden they surround her and they, like, rape her and they beat the crap out of her.  Luckily some women and soldiers pull her out of there.

Lunchbox (co-host): All right now.  Did they just grope her?  Or did they actually…

Bones: I don’t know.  They say, sex…  I’ll read you the story.

Amy (co-host): It didn’t go into details, just “sexual.”  Yeah.

Lunchbox: They said “sexually assault” so I don’t if they actually…

Bones: I’m not gonna be there.  I… She loves going into these war zones. Loves it.  It’s her thing.

Amy: Yeah, that’s what I was gonna say.  She…she had just gotten back from Egypt and I was reading that she was doing an interview saying that she…she was, like, a few days ago she in was in the States and that she was itching to get back there and it was when she went, it was like the next day she went back and…

Bones: Man.  You put yourself in bad places, bad things are going to happen to you. [Then reading a report] CBS news reporter, Lara Logan, was sexually assaulted after being surrounded by a crazed mob in Tahrir square on Friday just moments after the president there officially stepped down.  According to CBS, Logan and her crew were covering a story for 60 Minutes when they were surrounded by a mob of more than 200 people.  [Back to commentary]  So, she was still with her security when the mob surrounded her.

Unknown: Yes.

Bones: They broke them up because of the mob around her.  That shows you.  That security wasn’t strong enough to fight off what was happening there.  [Back to reading the report] She was separated.  She sustained a brutal and sustained sexual assault and beating before being saved by a group of women and an estimated 20 Egyptian soldiers. She reconnected with the CBS team, returned to her hotel and returned to the United States on the first flight the next morning.  [Back to commentary] I wonder if she is still going to go cover war zones.

Lunchbox: It’s amazing.

Amy: I’m sure… Her hotel was bombed.

Bones: You know what?  This wasn’t even the worst thing that could have happened to her.  They could have shot and killed her.

Lunchbox:  Right.  And you know it’s crazy.  Her security team couldn’t keep her safe but a group of women were able to grab her out.

Amy: Well, those soldiers were with them, too.  I mean, there was, like, Egypt soldiers and women.  And, also, she was in.  Oh, man.  Where was it?  Iran.  I don’t know.  She was somewhere when, like, terrorists bombed a hotel and, uhm, she happened to live and she totally will go back.  Like, if that happened to me, I would be, like, okay, I’m done with the news.

Bones: She’s like an adrenaline junky.  She just loves it.  And she’ll go…she’ll go back.  She’ll go back.

Amy: Well, sexual assault is, like, way different, though, than a lot of that stuff.  Especially for a woman, I think.  You are like psychologically.  Who knows where she will go from here.

[End of discussion, topic changes]

Disclaimer: This post was written by a Feministing Community user and does not necessarily reflect the views of any Feministing columnist, editor, or executive director.

Join the Conversation