Letters to the Editor

Posted by: East Coast Doug, October 17, 2007 8:43 PM

I thought the author did a nice job with the article.

However, I take issue with the cover. The headline reads, "Asking for It." That is offensive, disgusting, chauvinistic, and downright stupid. You are talking about rape here. No one asks for it. Ever.

If you were trying incite some sort of reaction with that obviously offensive headline (which I am sure you will defend as a "clever play on words,"), well then, that is even more pathetic. It shows zero integrity, and you have reduced a well-reported and important story to some baiting, salacious, circus-y piece designed to calculate reader responses and use as a basis to create ad revenue. Does that make you proud? Can you live with that?

Secondly, the image is a horrible, cartoonish, racist stereotype of a rapist. It shows you know nothing about the subject at hand and, even worse, are willing to reduce it to a lame stereotype to incite readers.

Good luck with your continued success in reducing an alt-weekly to a salacious porn rag.

Posted by: Cindy, October 18, 2007 11:46 AM

I concur that the cover image and headline were in poor taste. "Asking for It" is a highly charged phrase for women and does not ring funny or clever even when used as a rhetorical device. CP should give its readers more credit. Sensationalized covers like this one appeal to tabloid consumers, not people who care about important social issues.

Still, we should not get so wrapped up in a bad cover that we forget about the importance of the story itself. This should generate serious political discussion. Why are Minneapolis rapes going up when national rapes are going down? Why is St. Paul having so much more success with the same state funding? Are our elected officials paying attention to this story? This is the only place I've seen it covered. We should all send a copy, sans cover, to our City Council members with a letter requesting action.

Posted by: Ellie, October 18, 2007 11:03 PM