Hello,

There was just a news story on the radio about a mistrial being declared in the case of three Orange County teenagers accused of gangraping a highschool acquaintance. The three boys had videotaped an incident in which they had sex with an allegedly unconscious girl and violated her with foreign objects including a lit cigarette and a juice can. The defense claimed that the girl was a willing participant and only pretended to be unconscious because she desired to make a pornographic video with the boys. At one point during the video she urinates on herself as she lies motionless and seemingly unconscious on the pool table.

The jury in this case viewed the videotape repeatedly and was unable to reach a verdict so a mistrial has been declared. During the trial the defense attacked the character of the victim by presenting former friends of the victim who described her promiscuous behavior and drug use, and testified to the fact that she was "acting" in the video and only later decided to press charges against the boys because she was embarrassed by the video.

The alleged attack and trial occurred in Orange County, California. The father of one of the boys is an Assistant Orange County Sheriff.

Of course I was not present during the alleged attack, I haven't seen the video, and I wasn't in court during the trial but I find it really difficult to believe that a young woman would pretend to be unconscious, allow herself to be defiled with painful objects, and urinate on herself while three young men cavorted around and laughed, as they were seen doing on the tape. It really defies all credulity. Perhaps I'm overextending myself since I'm not involved in this case at all, but it really just seems to smack of a situation where a young woman is being vilified for having been very sexually active in the past. Sickeningly, I know that there are people who would say that if she was promiscuous then she "deserved" this treatment from these boys.

This upsets me so much. So often women are condemned for their sexual behavior when they probably have hurt no one but themselves. They are labelled "sluts" and "tramps" which are two words that shouldn't really be in use, at least with the negative connotation that they have now. Women are not "bad" if they explore their sexuality. Furthermore, it is my personal observation, having known hundreds of women, that many who are very sexually active from a young age are often exhibiting pathological, self-destructive behavior that is a result of sexual abuse.

Am I a psychologist? No, but 'll express my opinions anyways because I've observed so much female sexual behavior and I have grown deeply disgusted by the self-righteous fucking assholes who castigate and demean women who may stray from what is considered "normal" sexual behavior. In my opinion there is no "normal" sexual behavior because every person should be free to explore their sexuality with other consenting adults without being condemned.

On many occasions I've been derided, and I've seen many other women being derided, for being comfortable with displaying our bodies and expressing our sexuality. It makes me mad because I've seen and experienced it so often.

As long as no one is getting hurt every person should be entitled to enjoy his or her carnal nature and that should be so painfully self-evident.

Angrily yours,

Tanya