Part one of a probably-eternal series where Rob and Stephanie each share their thoughts on a topical, annoying issue.
[Content note: discussion of assault and non-consent]
Rob says:
Oh for god’s sake rugby union. You just don’t get it do you? It’s not sex that’s the issue – even airport toilet sex – it’s misusing power and ignoring non-consent.
If anything this business with Aaron Smith shows you haven’t learned a thing. Regardless of how Jersey Shore consensual sex in an airport toilet is, it’s consensual.
And disciplining a consenting adult for having sex with another consenting adult is ridiculous.
Honestly, mistaking feminist (actually humanist) concern for abuse of power (ie what happened with the Chiefs) for some kind of Victorian prudishness only shows how dangerously out of touch and unqualified to provide role models to young men like my son, you are.
Maybe you should take a deep breath and have a cup of tea:
Stephanie says:
I started off yesterday, hearing about the Aaron Smith incident, rolling my eyes. Of course NZ Rugby was going to respond far more immediately and drastically to a dude having consensual sex in a public bathroom than they ever would to a group of players being accused of outright assault against a stripper.
But, you know. “Obviously it was silly of him to do that, what was he thinking?”
By the end of the day? I was saying “you have all the bathroom sex you like, mate.”
Because the headlines – WHAT THE WITNESS SAW! SMITH’S PARTNER ASKS FOR PRIVACY, HERE’S A PHOTO OF HER ON OUR FRONT PAGE! OUR CAMERAS INVESTIGATE THE TOILET IN QUESTION! HAVE YOU HEARD FAMOUS PEOPLE HAVING SEX? CONTACT OUR NEWSDESK – were so prurient and predatory that I felt like I’d been transported directly into the pages of the defunct News of the World.
Yes, it’s incredibly shit to misuse accommodations provided for people with disabilities. And if Smith were cheating on his partner at the time, it’s awful for her to have this played out in the media.
But you know what? As a nation, we’ve completely lost the right to cast aspersions on anyone else’s lack of judgement.
Stephanie Rodgers 