Since Jeffrey Epstein’s arrest on sex trafficking charges on Saturday, TV news anchors and radio hosts have repeatedly trotted out a telling oxymoron: “underage women.” The phrase on its own is contradictory—a woman is an adult, while an underage person is a minor—but it’s especially so in context. Consider the CNN reporter who recently said on-air, “Epstein [allegedly] lured underage women, some as young as 14 to massage him and engage in sexual acts.” A 14 year old is not an “underage woman.” No “woman” is underage.
against him alleges that “victims were initially recruited to provide ‘massages’... which would be performed nude or partially nude, would become increasingly sexual in nature, and would typically include one or more sex acts.”Since his arrest over the weekend, there have been over 90 radio and TV mentions of “underage women” alongside Epstein’s name, according to the searchable database TVEyes. This includes instances on local TV news, as well as MSNBC and CNN.
“Underage women” implies that Epstein’s alleged victims performed a sneaky sleight of hand by looking like women while being underage. It suggests that they are girl-woman hybrids, edge cases.The “underage women” phrase hints that the girls’ purported womanliness trumps their being underage—as though their minor status is a heavily air-quoted technicality.
Most devastatingly, the phrase “underage woman” points to an urge to empathize with Epstein over his alleged victims; to give a wincing shrug of the shoulders, all in the space of two not-so-simple words. It shows how the scales of public opinion are so often weighted—and it’s not toward underage girls.
México Últimas Noticias, México Titulares
Similar News:También puedes leer noticias similares a ésta que hemos recopilado de otras fuentes de noticias.
Jeffrey Epstein Swears He Didn’t Know Sex-Trafficking Ring Was UnderageNEW YORK—Defending himself against the charges he faces from federal prosecutors, billionaire financier Jeffrey Epstein repeatedly swore Monday that he didn’t know the sex-trafficking ring he ran was underage. “I admit they were young-looking, but I was completely unaware that the large network of girls I was sexually exploiting were all minors,” said Epstein, adding that he was pretty sure he asked each and every one of the teenagers to confirm that they were legal adults before luring them to his home and forcing them to perform sex acts on him and his friends. “They were probably wearing makeup that made them appear to be older 20-year-old sex slaves instead of the actual 13- and 14-year-olds I was molesting and raping. Had I known, I would have told them to go right back to wherever it was I smuggled them from and tricked some adult women into my horrific sex-trafficking ring. I guess in some ways, you could say that I’m the real victim here.” Epstein added that the nude photos of underage girls seized from his home were for an art project and not for pornographic purposes.
Leer más »
Nude photos of underage girls seized from billionaire Jeffrey Epstein’s home in trafficking caseInvestigators have seized hundreds of nude photos of young women from billionaire financier Jeffrey Epstein’s Manhattan home, amid a new investigation into allegations that he exploited minor…
Leer más »
For sex offender Jeffrey Epstein’s underage victims, the justice system may finally be working'We cannot forget that, at heart, this is a very high-end version of the same treatment that victims of sexual crimes — particularly young women — receive at the hands of the justice system all the time.' Columnist AbcarianLAT writes:
Leer más »
Another Woman Has Accused Jeffrey Epstein of Sexual MisconductJennifer Araoz, 32, has alleged that the billionaire financier forcibly raped her when she was 15
Leer más »
Woman Accuses Jeffrey Epstein of Raping Her When She Was 15Two days after billionaire financier Jeffrey Epstein was indicted on two counts of sex trafficking, a 32-year-old woman, who says she was recruited to give Epstein massages as a high school teenager, alleges that Epstein raped her when she was 15 years old.
Leer más »
Hundreds of Nude Images of ‘Young-Looking Women or Girls’ Found at Home of Jeffrey EpsteinThe “hundreds, and perhaps thousands” of sexually suggestive images were kept on compact discs in a locked safe in Epstein’s house
Leer más »