dammit!

[mamajoan]

Headline on boston.com right now reads: "Survey: Half of N.H. women victims of sexual or physical assault"
The subheader reads: "The report added that one-fifth of New Hampshire's females admitted to having been raped. (AP)"

"Admitted"??? What is this, the nineteenth fucking century? Isn't that kind of language beyond the pale yet?? "Admitted" like there's something shameful that a woman has to confess? "Admitted" like she has committed a crime rather than been the victim thereof?

For shame, headline writers. Back to the back of the class. Word choice matters, and you picked the wrong one. You fail at objective journalism and you fail at basic human decency.

Comments

[sandykidd.livejournal.com]

You know that I agree with your principle...but. As a rape victim, I can tell you that I often resist admitting that I am. Especially when surveyed by a stranger. And I'm better about it than some. Admit is a very tricky word in this context. And I agree with the principle behind your statement.

Larger issue: WTF is going in in NH?

[mamajoan.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I realize that the word can have different connotations and in some senses can be painfully accurate. But that's my point exactly: because of the ambiguity, the headline should have used a more neutral word. "Report," for example.

Anyway, yeah. Note to self: don't move to NH.