Via Pandagon, one of the best bits of news I’ve heard in a long time. And I mean it, because I actually having a side hobby of wishing Joe Francis would spontaneously explode. He’s one of the few people that make me want to believe in Hell, just so he can go there.
Anyway, Congrats to students and faculty at Indiana University for kicking aforementioned famed sex offender Joe Francis and the “Girls Gone Wild” film crew off campus.
More significant is that the students proved they can be successful activists beyond stereotypical (and often unsuccessful) forms of protest. Instead of rallies and performance-art pageantry, they handled the situation sensibly and effectively: creating a MySpace group to highlight the numerous acts of exploitation on the part of Girls Gone Wild (in fact, this same week Francis, who I would like to again reference in this article about how he tried to rape the very woman interviewing him, Jesus Christ what a fucking monster, was sentenced to fines and community service after pleading guilty to filming minors performing sexual acts), and directly letting the owner of the bar where the next video would be filmed know that they’d be holding him accountable for any illegal activity (given the numerous instances of “participants” in Francis’ videos claiming coercion under the influence, exploitation of minors, and in some cases rape, cutting ties with Rapists, Inc. seems like a wise business decision, wouldn’t you agree?)
Kudos as well to women’s groups at IU for dispelling in advance the typical lazy responses from Francis’ supporters:
Carol McCord, assistant dean for the Office for Women’s Affairs, said the tactics used by the workers of “Girls Gone Wild” were of the most concern.
“It’s not that we are against women having the right to choose what they want to do with their bodies,” McCord said. “If a woman chooses to go into the bus or about making pornography that’s different to me than her being coerced when drunk and someone getting rich off of it. As an advocate for women, I want to make sure they have the right information about these people and their tactics.”
Francis and his company have found themselves in legal trouble regarding several allegations against them, including using girls who were under the age 18 in their videos.
Extra points for not only refuting the notion that they’re opposed to pornography, but highlighting that it wouldn’t be a problem if GGW actually was porno: participants in pornographic films actually get paid as opposed to being handed a t-shirt after drunkenly signing consent forms.
It’s unfortunate that often in these situations, purveyors of sexual exploitation (and according to some of the video series “stars,” possible rapists) are defended in the form of baseless accusations that feminists and campus activists are simply “opposed to sex.” It’s even more disgusting that some would reach to claim getting drunk and being coerced into sexual acts is acceptable.
For some reason the victims of Francis’ camera crew are always chastised to “take responsibility for their actions.” Well this time the students of IU did. Now if only someone can make Francis.
(Side note: interesting on its own that Google seems to read between the lines, as every TextAd on the page links to resources about protecting your children and national sex offender registries.)
