Why do male college and professional athletic teams get a bad rep for having ‘entitlement to sex’ and callous attitudes towards women they have sex with? More importantly, despite this reputation, why do young women line up to have sex with them?
Your questions unfortunately demonstrate the extent of rape culture.
… why do young women line up to have sex with them?
Young women do not indicate a desire to have sex with athletes simply by being in close proximity or even being attracted (romantically and/or sexually) to some of them. Certain young women may consent to and initiate sex with certain male athletes, but that does not mean as a group “young women line up to have sex with” male athletes in general.
Romantic and sexual attraction are not consent to sex. They’re an indication of desire and interest. I’m not saying you’re victim blaming, but your position is coming dangerously close to that.
Women (and all individuals) have a right to dress how they want, flirt, dance, and even behave in a sexual fashion without wanting sex specifically. If this wasn’t the case, flirtatious women, women in bikinis, nudist women, women that twerk, and female exotic dancers could be sexually harassed, sexually assaulted, and raped with impunity.
Men can’t make the assumption that consent to sex has been given from these factors alone. People can only move to actual body and sexual contact when those they’re interested in have indicated they want exactly the same things. Consent to flirting, dancing, hugging, and even kissing is not consent to fondling, groping, fingering, or any other more involved sexual behavior. Even consent to certain kinds of sexual behavior is not consent to any and every kind of sexual behavior. Even female sex workers that agree to “full sex” with certain male clients don’t agree to all kinds of sex with every paying customer. And even they can withdraw consent if they change their minds. If clients violate the terms of agreement, they’re guilty of assault and/or rape. If you’re in any doubt, ask and respect the answer you’re given (verbally and non-verbally).
“The Accused” and “Irreversible” show men making these very assumptions in the most brutal fashion possible. I wouldn’t blame you if you don’t want to see these films, but they demonstrate this common rape culture fallacy your question is hinting at.
There is plenty of evidence, however, that demonstrates male sports teams, fraternities, and military-style environments are rife with misogyny, rape culture promotion, entitlement, and many forms of sexual harassment and assault. They don’t simply have bad reputations because of misinformation or misunderstandings. Their horrible reputations have been unfortunately well earned.
Edit: The second question was edited to read “More importantly, how are they able to have sex with so many women despite this reputation?” The edit is not so originally suggesting women that want athletes are shallow (looks obsessed and/or gold diggers looking for a payday). That is also part of misogyny: the idea that women might want men for a completely different set of “indecipherable” and “female-only” reasons than men want women. Are there game players and manipulators in the world? Sure there are. Those characteristics aren’t limited by gender. Some men (including athletic men), if they are ethical, manage to have sex with “so many women” (determining the lower limit of “so many” is a matter of opinion) because those women, for their own individual reasons, simply want to have sex with them. If the men in question aren’t ethical, they’re just sexually harassing, sexually assaulting, and raping women then claiming “sex” (like Brock Turner and his ilk).
The Accused Movie Review & Film Summary (1988) | Roger Ebert
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AAAtheist 