By Daniel Scotto
Growing up, it is
instilled in us to dream big and put every ounce of concentration and effort
into achieving those dreams, whatever they may be. Only a select few Americans
have the coveted opportunity to represent their country on the Olympic stage. The
amount of talent and dedication it takes to be on that high caliber of a team
is nearly impossible to accomplish. With that being said, when these sorts of
accolades are taken away from someone or tarnished, there is no possible way to
make up for this loss. This is what happened to around 350 women that fell
victim to Larry Nassar.
Larry Nassar
joined the USA Olympic gymnastic program as an athletic trainer in
1986. The women on the multiple gymnastic teams during his tenure could
have never expected the horrifying events that were to come. Joining the
esteemed ranks of being an Olympic athlete puts you on a pedestal. As an
Olympic athlete, you expect to be treated as such. Nassar used his occupation
to fuel his predatory nature. Nassar created a culture of fear around the
gymnastics program by taking advantage of young females who simply put, did not
know any better.
Later on in his
career, Nassar was hired by Michigan State University as their head athletic
trainer, and went on to commit even more acts of sexual assault. During his
time at both USA gymnastics program and Michigan State, multiple victims of
Nassar’s predatory assaults reached out to executives of the programs and were
silenced. Both organizations took what they were told, chose to ignore them and
covered it up instead of protecting these women's rights.
The Larry Nassar
case was widely talked about on social media platforms, as people were voicing
their hate and opinion towards Nassar, and their continued love and
support for all the victims. The more women that have come out against him
and stood up for themselves, the more we realize how big of an issue this is.
Widespread media attention lead to more awareness for sexual assault and a
demand of harsher punishment for those who commit such an offense. A quote from
the Women's Student International Forum reads, "While a daily struggle in
the lives of some and an ongoing professional consideration for many, the issue
is often brought to wider public attention through various media, including
newspapers, television, films and, increasingly, online and social media."
(Holland, 2014, P.104) On television and on social media we were
introduced to what seems like a few new victims everyday. By the end of the
case there were around 350 victims that had come out with allegations
against Nassar. One of the more popular clips, linked below, is one of a father
of three daughters, all assaulted by Nassar, trying to attack him in court.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HjnwaagBigA
The result of the
Nassar case was a $500 million settlement from Michigan State, and a prison
sentence lasting over 175 years for Nassar. At the end of the day, even
after the cash settlements for the victims and the prison sentence for Nassar,
nothing can erase what this horrific man did to these gymnasts. All we can do
as Americans is to continue our efforts in raising awareness for issues
regarding sexual abuse, in order to prevent future incidents. Change has begun
and change
Easteal, P., Holland, K., & Judd, K. (2015). Enduring themes and silences in media portrayals of violence against women. Womens Studies International Forum,48, 103-113. doi:10.1016/j.wsif.2014.10.015
Dator, J. (2018, October 18). A comprehensive timeline of the Larry Nassar case. Retrieved from https://www.sbnation.com/2018/1/19/16900674/larry-nassar-abuse-timeline-usa-gymnastics-michigan-state
Word Count: 554
Word Count: 554
Daniel,
ReplyDeleteI think this post was very well put together and you do a fantastic job of talking about such a critical issue in our world today. You're organization and mechanics seem to be pretty good, I would just make sure that you check back up with Purdue Owl in case of a few citation issues. You have some great information and it is a great blog post. Nice job!
Overall this is a fine post, Daniel.
ReplyDeleteYour writing is clear and engaging. What's more, this topic is timely.
However, its relevance here is a bit strained. Only late in the essay do you discuss the role (social) media played in all of this. Best to make a media connection early and often in these posts.
For instance, note two media-related dimensions in this case: first, media silence on allegations dating back decades; second, Nassar's demonization in the media with relatively little follow up coverage of the structural issues that allowed this predator to keep his position, despite mounting evidence that he had been abusing players for years.
In other words, Daniel, a tighter focus on media's place in the ensuing spectacle over Nassar's behavior would make for a more compelling and relevant post. A more thorough engagement with your academic source is essential here.
Finally, as Graham notes, there are several problems with your use of APA citation style. The academic source has three authors, but your in-text citation only mentions one. And the dates for your in-text citation and in your reference list are inconsistent.
What's more, the popular press source, sbnation.com isn't included in the body of your essay.
Here again, you (and your collaborators) must do a better job proof reading your work. Multiple errors in such a short piece of writing demonstrates a lack of quality control and that will influence, for good or bad, your efforts in other courses.
26 pts.
Daniel,
ReplyDeleteI appreciate that you chose to write about this issue and, particularly, Larry Nassar’s case. Your post is well organized and you did a good job summarizing the story. However, I think you could have done a better job in highlighting the role media played in this case, especially because the whole case was a result of an article published in IndyStar in September 2016. This proves how media had a huge role in this case since the beginning. Another thing you briefly mention but could have explored more is the important role social media played in the case considering that some very prominent gymnasts used their social media platform to come forward about the abuse.
All in all, your post is engaging, well organized and brings light to an important issue. Good job!
Daniel,
ReplyDeleteI think this post has a lot of potential and I'm glad you decided to highlight the situation that I'd say played a huge role in the success of the Me Too movement. Similar to what Pia said, I think having a more clear discussion on what role the media played in the case of Larry Nassar would have been a smart move. You talk about the media presence generally, but focusing on a specific network or journalist and talking about how their specific coverage shaped public opinion towards the situation would be beneficial in allowing us to understand exactly what the media coverage did.