Letters

MAJOR DISCONNECT

Re: “The Rape Disconnect” [October 24–30]. After reading Alex Markels’ article regarding the Kobe Bryant case, I am saddened to learn certain opinions are more widespread than I thought. I find it disturbing when I hear statements such as “A lot of juries would say it’s too late to say no.” I am shocked at the number of women who believe this way. I find it appalling to listen to these women talk about this case as if this victim “had it coming to her” because she went to his room.

To be honest, my concern is not with whether she is lying or not but with the reaction to her accusations. I agree, it wasn’t a real smart move, but that doesn’t mean you give up your rights as a human being just for making a questionable decision. If a man has any integrity whatsoever, he will respect a woman’s wishes no matter what stage of the game he’s in.

—Pamela Marino Port Charlotte, Florida

If men are so incompetent when it comes to sex that they must be jailed for “date rape,” i.e., taking the traditional male role of being the initiator of sex, then here is the solution: Make it illegal for men to initiate sex. Forbid men from asking out women, forbid men from propositioning women, forbid men from romancing women, forbid men from proposing to women, forbid men from making any move toward women in bed or anywhere else. This will end once and for all the threat that men pose to women’s virtue.

The reality, of course, which anyone connected with the real world understands, is that initiating sex has been a traditional male role. There might be some equity here, then, if we were to criminalize women who played such traditional female games as flirting, teasing and playing hard to get.

Finally, it confuses me how so many people who otherwise consider themselves progressives will, when it comes to the subject of rape, suddenly become law-and-order advocates of the prison-industrial complex. I used to be an advocate of victims’ rights, but my experience with assorted survivors’ groups led me to conclude that too much of victimology was being motivated by a blind demand for revenge, regardless of such niceties as due process. I have been told by otherwise serious feminist legal scholars that “Heterosexual sex in patriarchal society is rape” and “If a woman says she was raped, she was raped.” Uh-huh. Perhaps with the help of feminists, we can raise the number of people in U.S. prisons to three million.

—J. Miranda National Coalition of Free Men Los Angeles

MAKE THAT “FAWNTASTIC”

Re: “The Fahntastic Transition” [October 24–30]. Buried deep in Bill Bradley’s fawning article on the new governor is this gem: “But [the transition team] is a group of mostly insiders, and a study of the roster shows it to skew heavily to the moderate conservative end of the spectrum, with corporate credentials predominating.” I’ve never understood Bradley’s inconsistent standards for Gray Davis and Arnold Schwarzenegger. He rails against corporate interests who ruled Davis, but gives Arnold a pass. In other parts of Bradley’s article, it becomes clear that if Davis had only called him every once in a while, Bradley might never have started his love affair with Arnold.

PAYBACK

I just finished wading through the slag of Marc Cooper’s “No Time for Suckers” [October 24–30], the latest whining about how those greedy, political Native Americans aren’t paying their fair share of taxes. Give me a friggin’ break! You know what? We were already “tough with the Indians.” We stole their friggin’ country! Regardless of what Indian gaming pulls in from now to eternity, they are the ones who will be at a deficit relative to what they lost.

Apparently Marc Cooper is clueless as to the status of “tribes” as sovereign governments within the United States. The tribes have that status due to the United States Constitution and federal law, and are not under any obligation to pay state taxes. I am disappointed that the Weekly publishes such discriminatory idiocy.

Kristine McKenna Talks Back

That Timothy Ford [Letters, November 7–13] refers to my recent profile of Doug Chrismas [“The Ace Is Wild,” October 10–16]as an “exposé” suggests that he didn’t read it very carefully. It was never my intention to diminish Chrismas’ significant contribution to L.A.’s cultural community, and I made every effort to give him full credit for all he has achieved. In fact, the very first sentence in the article points out that Chrismas has “provided a home for some of the world’s most demanding art since 1966.” The profile includes laudatory comments about Chrismas from Frank Gehry, Robert Graham and Peter Plagens, among others, and even the artists who’ve had problems with Chrismas comment on him in a way that’s fair and balanced.

Ford faults me for failing to quote any of the artists who’ve maintained long relationships with Chrismas, and mentions Tim Hawkinson, Mary Corse, David Amico and Charles Fine as being among them. I contacted all of those artists; however, Chrismas had ordered them not to cooperate with me. With the exception of Charles Fine, they all followed Chrismas’ instructions and refused to speak with me. The original draft of the profile included a quote from Fine, which unfortunately had to be cut in editing due to length restrictions (as were quotes from lawyer Jack Quinn, John Baldessari, Billy Al Bengston and Hal Glicksman).