Pretty Much a Lose-Lose Situation in Know My Name

Know My Name, by Chanel Miller, is a victim’s detailed True Crime report about what happened to her, from the beginning of the evening in question through litigation resulting in legal reform. Joanne introduced the book, indicating that she was impressed with the author. Joanne said that the odds of a young woman successfully pressing charges and winning the trial after she was raped while unconscious were very small. Ken said that the court decided in favor of the woman because of the 2 young Swedes who caught the perpetrator in the act and captured him and got him into the hands of the police. Again, the author beat the odds there!

Marcia felt that the victim, though not legally at fault, was very wrong in her decisions during the evening: to go to a fairly random late-night party and especially to get so drunk there that she passed out more than once. Marcia said, “She didn’t need a trial; she needed Alcoholics Anonymous!”

Ken argued that although the author did some dumb things, she didn’t deserve to be assaulted.

There was some discussion about young women being careful of such dangerous situations as the author put herself in, young people drinking alcohol to the point of blacking out, and young men taking advantage of young women sexually. Youth was a theme, as were upbringing, character, sexual customs, sexual expectations, and economic levels as they applied to the situation in the book and also more broadly.

In the book and the trial, truths were brought out, and lies seemed to have been told. There was some “he said, she said.”

Marcia told us about an article we can find online, titled, “The Perils and Prudery of Victim Feminism,” by Amy Alkon. It is a sexually explicit article that explores the issue of consent. You can find it if you want to.

 

We had an active discussion! Here are a few perspicacious quotes:

Marcia: “...our mothers told us when we were young, ‘Nothing good happens after midnight!’”  

Claudia: “College kids grow up a lot during those 4 years.”

Joyce M: “There are no winners in this situation…There were two very different perspectives of what went on.”

Ken: “There were 6 people who testified that she was unconscious. He (the perpetrator) might as well get an inflatable Barbie.”

Carol: “She was unconscious! That’s the whole point.”

Joanne: “I think he was paid off.”

Cindy T. “One thing it’s teaching me; if you get raped, it’s a losing game to go to court.”

Flo: “With the Me Too movement, more is being done.”