That’s what is up in the air. The judge found the accusations false, but the DA is maintaining that the recant is false, which is why they refused to press charges. That could just be a face-saving maneuver for the DA, but who knows. Their case wasn’t helped by the girlfriend’s lack of credibility, which is key in domestic disputes.
No it was described as a false recantation but actually admitted in court (both times) as a false accusation.
It’s not that gender identification is more important to men than to women. (The opposite is probably true, if anything.) It’s that women are “women”, but men are “people”.
You ask a politician of any sort for their position on “women’s issues” and they can prattle for hours. Ask about “men’s issues” and you’ll get nothing at all. Men’s issues are issues that apply to people of both genders. Women’s issues are issues that apply to women specifically.
Part of the reason (not the entire reason) that women can identify with male characters more than men can identify with female characters is that male characters are not as gendered as female characters are.
[The other part of it is probably that women are more focused on relationships and other people and their feelings than men. So even if they don’t identify with the protagonist by imagining themselves in that role, they are interested in the character in the capacity of “other person of interest”.]
This post goes a way towards answering another question raised in this thread.
One reason false rape/abuse accusations are a bigger deal than other types of false accusations is that there is a segment of the population that is strongly predisposed to believe the accusations are true, and disbelieve any evidence of innocence no matter how strong. So once accused, that taint is going to stick, guilty or innocent.
I think the stigma of accusing someone of rape then having your entire sexual history, both real and theorized, thoroughly analyzed by the defense and the press is equally bad. That stigma is doubled if you cannot make your case and friends, and sometimes even family, look down on you. If you accuse someone who is popular/famous you might as well be a cheap whore in the public’s eye.
Even assuming that’s true, I don’t see the relevance here. If there’s a discussion about the stigma of accusing someone of rape, you can make your case. Or start your own discussion. But it’s a mistake to confuse the issues here.
A couple of reasons.
The first is so patently stated in your question. People complaining about the possibility of false rape accusations are “misogynistic morons.” In no other case to others dismiss false accusations son easily and matter-of-factly.
The second is that a false DUI o a false sanitary code violation doesn’t mark you for life. Even if the accusation is preposterous because you were on a coma in Singapur when the event supposedly happened in Tampa, there’s always the cloud looming over you. You’re never really cleared, there’s always a stain on you. Say, my wife recants a false domestic abuse accusation on the face of devastating evidence that it didn’t happen. I’m still a suspect in the court of public opinion “maybe it wasn’t exactly like that”, “maybe she was afraid.” Sexual assault and domestic abuse are scarlet letters, you’re always “the guy, maybe, who beat his wife.” A false DUI can be shown to be scientifically impossible, a sanitary code violation can be a simply mistake with the filling of a document, but not rape, even less with domestic abuse. The “always believe the woman” mentality has very good points because it make the difficult-to-report crime, easier to do so; however it shouldn’t be “the guy’s guilty.”
More whataboutsim?
No-just pointing out that there is possible stigma on both sides. If possible embarrassment is a reason to hold the accused in sympathy, it is only fair to point out that the same problem is laid on the back of the accuser.