Men commit it in patterns: mostly against women who are close by and vulnerable, just below them on some social hierarchy: their assistant, their date, their friend, their daughter, their student, their kid’s babysitter.
asserted
who → commit → assistant
Men rape for opportunity – because they can – and for status – because it makes them feel good.
asserted
them → rape → status
They rape to impress other men, documenting it on phones for one another’s benefit.
asserted
They → rape → benefit
Men rape and do not always seem to register much of a difference between the sex they’ve had that was rape and the sex that they’ve had that wasn’t.
asserted
that → rape → that
They rape, often, without seeming to think about it, registering their victims’ unwillingness with vague contempt, if at all.
asserted
They → rape → contempt
Institutions don’t seem very interested, either.
asserted
Institutions → seem → ?
When a woman comes forward, she is often told in hushed, awed, and thoroughly patronizing tones that she is so brave – by the very same people, be they cops or prosecutors or Title IX coordinators, who will then set about explaining to her why she had no right to say no; why the man or men who violated her were within their rights to do so; why inaction and indifference on the part of the people she turned to for help are the only rational response, and the best that she can hope for.
asserted
she → come → that
Some version of this happens over and over and over again.
asserted
version → happen → this
It happens every day.
asserted
It → happen → ?
Once in a while, an instance will rise to public consciousness.
asserted
instance → rise → consciousness
Brilliant and livid women describe the pattern with insight, intelligence, and often a kind of bitter wit.
asserted
women → describe → wit
People with real power call for action, investigations, even a new law.
asserted
People → call → action
Then, the moment fades.
asserted
moment → fade → ?
Attention ebbs.
asserted
Attention → ebb → ?
Change doesn’t come.
asserted
Change → come → ?
Soon after, a woman wakes up bruised.
asserted
woman → wake → ?
She steels herself to report.
asserted
She → steel → herself
A person on the other side of a table will smile at her with a patronizing treachery, tell her something nonspecific, and set the cycle of impunity in motion again.
asserted
person → smile → motion
This pattern is repeating itself, now, at Cornell.
asserted
pattern → repeat → Cornell
A civil suit filed by a former undergraduate against the university and seven male students has attracted public attention and instigated feminist agitation around rape to a degree not seen in years.
asserted
suit → file → years
The unnamed plaintiff alleges that in October 2024, she was raped and sexually assaulted over a period of some seven hours at Cornell’s Chi Phi fraternity house by seven men, named as Matthew Ingalls, Johnathan Newell, Winston Lee, Gillio Lopes, Diego Sarabia, Scott Norris, and Scott Kretzschmar.
asserted
she → allege → Ingalls
(Lopes denied wrongdoing in statements to the press, as did Norris and Kretzchmar, the Scotts.)
asserted
Norris → deny → press
It was Ingalls who had allegedly invited her to the house; she thought he was her friend.
uncertain
he → invite → house
The woman’s lawsuit alleges that the men plied her with alcohol and pressured her to snort ketamine, and proceeded to assault and rape her when she was severely intoxicated and unable to resist.
asserted
she → allege → her
Her complaint includes screenshots from the fraternity’s group chat, in which one of the men, Jonathan Newell, advertised “free pussy” on the night of the attack – seemingly inviting other men to join in the alleged gang rape.
asserted
one → include → rape
According to screenshots included in the complaint, some of the men in the fraternity who received the message responded with encouragement or delight.
uncertain
who → accord → encouragement
None of the more than 50 men included in the group chat objected or reported the ongoing incident.
asserted
None → include → incident
Unlike many women, the victim reported her assault.
asserted
victim → report → assault
But she claims that the results were disappointing.
uncertain
results → claim → ?
Only two of the men involved were expelled from Cornell.
asserted
two → involve → Cornell
All of the other five soon returned to classes; some were briefly suspended, or required to attend a workshop.
asserted
some → return → workshop
According to the student run-Cornell Daily Sun, which broke the story of the lawsuit, the accused were asked, as part of their punishment, to write an essay.
uncertain
accused → accord → essay
I would like to read those essays.
asserted
I → like → essays
Their alleged victim dropped out; according to her attorney, she has not returned to college.
uncertain
she → drop → college
For his part, the local district attorney in Cornell’s Tompkins county, Matthew Van Houten, declined to pursue charges – claiming, nonsensically, that the woman who came to the police to report a rape did not assert that the encounter was nonconsensual or that she was drugged against her will.
asserted
she → decline → will
Van Houten says that allegations from this month’s civil lawsuit are “dramatically different” from Jane Doe’s statement two years ago.
asserted
allegations → say → statement
In her interview with police at that time, Doe said: “I can say with 100% confidence I was raped.”
asserted
I → say → confidence
When asked about this by CBS News, Van Houten replied: “I’m going to follow up on this because this is news to me.”
asserted
this → ask → me
None of the men were ever arrested; it’s not clear that they were interviewed by police at all.
asserted
they → arrest → police
Van Houten has now reversed that decision and reopened the case following a public outcry, and subsequently gone on something of a press tour defending his initial decision not to investigate.
asserted
Houten → reverse → decision
…and 27 more, not listed.
The Aporia
