My challenges in writing about The Wichita Horror
On December 14, 2000, two men, each armed with a gun, invaded the home of Jason Befort, Brad Heyka, and Aaron Sander. Two women were there at the time, Heather Muller and a woman who has become known to the public only by the initials H. G. The invaders raped both women and forced them to perform sex acts with each other. The male victims were forced to have sexual intercourse with the female victims. That last fact immediately raises eyebrows. While researching the story for the article that currently appears online at Court TV’s Crime Library, I mentioned that the men victims had been forced to engage in intercourse with the women victims to a man who asked, “How could they get erections with a gun pointed at them?†Answer: They didn’t. At one point, a male victim was ordered to get an erection and beaten when he was unable to do so.
The men victims who were ordered to engage in intercourse did so by shoving their flaccid penises into the women victims’ vaginas and going through the motions of sexual relations.
This leads in turn to one of the major challenges I faced in writing “The Wichita Horror.†The victims of this peculiar and brutal sex crime were both male and female. I thought it was important to make it clear that the men were just as victimized as the women but feared this point might not come through in the finished product.
In some accounts I had read about the incident, writers stated that the male victims had been “forced to rape†the female victims. This seemed like an unfortunate word choice to me. Jason Befort, Brad Heyka, and Aaron Sander were in no sense rapists. They were raped. It was an unusual form of rape to be sure but it was indisputably rape.
The other challenge I faced in writing about this case concerned race and racism. When I first read of the crime, it was on the websites of “white power/separatist/supremacist†groups. I had to use special care in my sources for this story.
However, it was not only bigoted fringe groups who complained about the way “The Wichita Horror†was being treated by the media and the way it was being legally prosecuted. There were accusations by more mainstream commentators that authorities would have assumed this was a “bias crime†if the races of the perpetrators and victims had been reversed. I was not convinced that this was true but found it possible – and troubling.
My story on “The Wichita Horror†is online at http://www.crimelibrary.com/notorious_murders/classics/carr_brothers. There is an update by another writer. A second update, that I wrote, will go up in the near future.
However, I am very interested in how people think I handled the difficult issues of gender and race raised by the case – and how they believe I might have done better.
Readers?
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Stumble It!
June 2nd, 2007 at 10:15 pm
I guess how a writer choses to approach difficult subjects is a marker of their particular form of ‘art’, Denise. It is relatively easy to report facts and leave it at that, but of course the reader is left to make their own ‘art’.
The invitation to comment is open but few would be artistically qualified to add anything pertinent. I am not. Nevertheless…..
You are the central issue in your question, Denise. You are the artist, the writer. I like you. I like to hear your take on things. Not that I always agree with them but they are a window to your innards.
What do you NEED to do to handle the difficult issues of gender and race raised by the case? What do you NEED to do to express who you, the writer, are? That’s where the art is. In you.
I would suggest that you need to be honest and intelligent. Don’t let go of the myriad nuances until you have explored them in detail so that YOU come through as well as the incident. You show this effort, honesty and intelligence in the short explorations you show us above. They are kind and compassionate, well balanced, even when dealing with terrible things. They show deeper understanding than a first-view would give.
They need more detailed elaboration, perhaps, and perhaps also some ideographic data and anecdote to illustrate complex synergies. Showing a close and personal understanding from one’s own life-experience – which you are remarkably good at, even when it makes you vulnerable – even as side-glance views, would allow your special gifts as a writer to show through.
A writer’s job is not only to let another see an issue but to explore herself. It is in a body of work that a person not only expresses who they are (know thyself) but allows her to see what there is missing.
I said I like you Denise. There is great promise in you as a writer, but that apart (I am not a writing critic) there are aspects of your soul that are fascinating. That is not because of what is there only, but what isn’t. I discern a hole in there. That hole goes a long way to define you. (You have alluded to aspects of that hole in other writings).
You have (here’s a bit of analysis coming up) a similarity to many men I know. Theoretically there is a hole in every man’s soul. The Male Wound. There is a pretty good exploration of this concept in the works of Professor Liam Hudson. Might be worth a read if only to help you understand yourself.
Denise, how do YOU guage when you have ‘done better’? I would suggest, respectfully and in kindness to someone I like, that it is when you have shown yourself something about yourself which astonishes you.
June 4th, 2007 at 2:08 am
Well I obviously worry about the flaccid penis part for reasons having to do with female offender sex assault. This case suggests males cannot be forced to get an erection which is not at all true, not even a tiny bit true. It is true that males cannot be told to get an erection as the erectile system is under its’ own autonomous control, not under conscious control.
Thus, are you writing about a real case? If so, then I rather doubt the flaccid penis part as stated, it would not at all match up with the science. Simply referencing the lack of direct action would solve the scientific problem. If this is a fictional case, then make a change as the science is really quite clear on this matter.
June 4th, 2007 at 2:17 am
Oh, one other thing. No male can put a fully flaccid penis into a vagina. The first vaginal ring is too strong for mere skin to penetrate. The best which could be done is to get the glans in between the vaginal labia, which is outside the vagina itself. Of course, the glans would fall out if it were not held there by hand (the labia are exclusionary and push out things which are not held by the vaginal ring muscles).
Thus, the whole thing doesn’t smell right. No expert in rape would except it as written for these reasons.
June 4th, 2007 at 3:08 am
jw said,
Well I obviously worry about the flaccid penis part for reasons having to do with female offender sex assault. This case suggests males cannot be forced to get an erection which is not at all true, not even a tiny bit true. It is true that males cannot be told to get an erection as the erectile system is under its’ own autonomous control, not under conscious control.
Thus, are you writing about a real case? If so, then I rather doubt the flaccid penis part as stated, it would not at all match up with the science. Simply referencing the lack of direct action would solve the scientific problem. If this is a fictional case, then make a change as the science is really quite clear on this matter.
(Denise) It is indeed a real case. You can find my article at http://www.crimelibrary.com/notorious_murders/classics/carr_brothers. The male victims were unable to get erections. One was beaten for his failure to do so. However, a grotesque sexual orgy did take place with the men victims having flaccid penises. The testimony of H.G. and reports I cited all indicate that they pushed soft penises into the women and went through the motions of sexual intercourse. I don’t know for sure how long the penises actually stayed inside the women’s vaginas. They might have come out with the men still going through the motions of intercourse.
June 4th, 2007 at 4:01 am
They would have had to come out. A flaccid penis simply does not have anything for the first vaginal ring muscle to grab onto and also cannot provide enough force to expand the ring muscle.
All males have times when we simply cannot maintain an erection (without force) and we are thus quite familiar with simply falling out of her. A male would be unlikely to make the mistake which your writing seems to make. That is, stating that a flaccid penis entered the vagina.
A flaccid penis cannot enter a vagina: There’s simply no way to get past the first vaginal ring muscle without something relatively hard and a bit of pressure: The ring muscle is simply too strong.
Two postings of today (on rape of males) will provide you with some information background on the problem in your wording:
http://www.feministcritics.org/blog/2007/06/03/scare-quoting-denial/#comments
http://toysoldier.wordpress.com/2007/06/04/scare-quoting-denial/#more-179
Thus, you really do need to reword.
June 4th, 2007 at 4:17 am
jw says: “All males have times when we simply cannot maintain an erection …..”
We do?
June 4th, 2007 at 4:34 am
I have to disagree. It suggests that the methods used by the offenders were ineffective. Beatings and threats are unlikely to successfully cause an erection in most cases.
Which is presumably why their attempt to do so failed to satisfy the offenders.
Since the case does not suggest that it is impossible to force a man to achieve and erection and the offenders were dissatisfied with the male victims attempts to feign sexual intercourse, I think what you’re smelling is your socks.
June 4th, 2007 at 4:38 am
1) It is not at all unknown for men to get erections as a fear response, though they rarely get any sexual enjoyment from it.
2) When one discusses “flaccid” and “erect” one implies that there is no transitory state between the two, where penetration is indeed possible.
June 4th, 2007 at 4:52 am
The Gonzman said,
1) It is not at all unknown for men to get erections as a fear response, though they rarely get any sexual enjoyment from it.
(Denise) Yes. I have read that something like 15% of men may get erections during combat but that doesn’t mean they enjoy having bullets whizzing around them or the possibility of getting injured or killed. However, an attacker can hardly count on a victim being among the group who might get erections as a fear response.
Did you read my story on The Wichita Horror, Gonzman? All of the sources I had indicated that the men victims were unable to get erections during this ordeal.
June 4th, 2007 at 4:53 am
amfortas said,
jw says: “All males have times when we simply cannot maintain an erection …..”
We do?
(Denise) I know that was meant to be funny, amfortas, but this is really a serious matter. Men don’t walk around with constant erections.
The male victims of The Wichita Horror were put through an ordeal before being brutally murdered.
June 4th, 2007 at 5:40 am
jw said:
A male would be unlikely to make the mistake which your writing seems to make. That is, stating that a flaccid penis entered the vagina.
A flaccid penis cannot enter a vagina: There’s simply no way to get past the first vaginal ring muscle without something relatively hard and a bit of pressure: The ring muscle is simply too strong.
(Denise) I have talked to another man who agrees with you. At least, he believes that a flaccid penis would not be able to STAY in a vagina even if it were shoved in for a moment. I plan to discuss re-wording my story to reflect this with my superiors at Crime Library. Thank you for your input.
June 4th, 2007 at 5:46 am
Tried to read through your story at crimelibrary but only made it about halfway. I think I am a bit too “horrored out” as just a short while ago I was immersed in the account of the “Knoxville Horror” which is, as you know, another shocking and mind bending atrocity. So please accept my apologies for not finishing the job, so to speak.
I would simply offer the thought that it is very tempting and all too easy for reporters and writers to follow the crowd regarding the issues of gender and race that you are understandably concerned with. Touchy subjects indeed in a climate of unrestrained political correctness. There is that dark side of humanity that people do not want to know about and this often involves elements of race and gender.
So, I guess my humble contribution here would be to encourage you to maintain a faithfulness to the facts of this or any case and to resist the subtle and not so subtle pressures to conform to the expediency of certain expected norms in the manner in which you describe those facts.
There often seem to be no limits to the depths of human depravity.
June 4th, 2007 at 5:28 pm
Denise: However, an attacker can hardly count on a victim being among the group who might get erections as a fear response
While anxiety and fear may make difficult to make an erection, as long as there is a sufficient stimulus an erection is possible and likely occurs more often than one would suspect. Given the assumption that an erection equal/enjoyment, it would actually work against male victims to report that they got erections or ejaculated. That likely contributes to many of the misconceptions about the experiences of male rape victims.
As for your take on the case, I think it was fair. Understandably using the term ‘rape’ in conjunction with male victims and in an instance where they were forced to penetrate makes it difficult. But your wording and framing made it clear that they were harmed just as much as the women. You handled the issue of race fairly as well. Crimes like these are particularly tough because one is limited in how critical one can be of black criminals who assault white victims. But as a whole I think your coverage of the case was good.
June 4th, 2007 at 5:32 pm
The only real “challenge” I can perceive here is in convincing feminists and non-caucasian racists that white, middle-class men can be victims of either a sex crime or a hate crime.
I’ve seen no religious leaders, or self-proclaimed representatives of whites on national news calling for harsher penalties for these sorts of crimes. I haven’t heard of any congressional debate on the subject. Nobody has once suggested that white-middle class men who commit crimes should be let off easier because of the stress of growing up in a system that insists we bear the tax, childsupport, and guilt burden of an entire nation.
The killers are still alive. Their victims are not. Once again, the challenge failed. Evidently you had minimal effect. Better luck next time.
June 4th, 2007 at 5:47 pm
mrlazarus..white middle class men are the only class left that it’s accepteable, and fashioneable to discriminate against….
Thank the middle class white female, who anthropologists from china, eurpope, and around the world agree…
The most liberated group of people that the world has ever witnessed in terms of health, wealth, leasure time, and general life options is the middle class white female…..
they have done this by lurid victim demagoguery…
June 4th, 2007 at 7:35 pm
YES!!!!!!!!!!
Men can be raped in different ways too.
The unfortunate male murder victims of the Wichita Massacre of a couple of years ago were definitely RAPED at gunpoint as described in the article.
The 3 Duke lacrosse players were also RAPED by Crystal Gale Mangum when she falsely accused them of a sexual assault. And the corrupt D.A. Nifong was an accomplish to that rape. He enabled it to continue.
A false rape accusation against a man IS RAPE upon that man. And the female accuser is a RAPIST!
Rape is not a sexual act. It is a power assault against the victim by the victimizer.
Yes, men can be RAPED in many ways.
June 5th, 2007 at 1:51 am
Denise: Wording matters. Wording matters more in an area of knowledge, such as male rape, were the public meme is so very wrong. Add in that people’s knowledge of male physiology is insanely tiny in comparison to people’s knowledge of female physiology and we see that wording is crucial.
One of the hardest things about writing for publication is word choice.