Media Alert: Editor perpetuates blatant stereotypes

In Issue 14 (February 2011) of the Diversity Exchange, we reported the sexual assault of Lara Logan, a renowned female journalist practicing in the US. Logan was beaten and sexually assaulted by a mob at Tahrir Square during the uprisings in Egypt. Two months ago, Logan began to speak about the assault to help end the stigma around rape.

However, on 6 June this year, Dan Rottenburg the editor of Broad Street Review in Philadelphia wrote a column titled “Male sexual abuse and female Naivete” in which he concluded that Logan asked ‘for it’. The article is accompanied by a photo of Logan wearing a white low cut dress which revealed her cleavage with the caption “What message was the TV journalist Lara Logan sending here?” He added that, “Earth to liberated women: When you display legs, thighs or cleavage, some liberated men will see it as a sign that you feel good about yourself and your sexuality. But most men will see it as a sign that you want to get laid. Forewarned is forearmed.”

His analysis has sparked outrage among citizens and organizations such as Women’s Media Centre. The organization has started a Change.org   campaign demanding the board of Broad Street Review to remove Rottenburg’s article from the internet and relieve him of his duties at the arts online mag.