Rape culture gone wild
If you haven't read this amazingly written--though terrifying--profile of Girls Gone Wild founder Joe Francis, go do it. Now.

Not only does Francis physically assault reporter Claire Hoffman...

Joe Francis, the founder of the "Girls Gone Wild" empire, is humiliating me. He has my face pressed against the hood of a car, my arms twisted hard behind my back. He's pushing himself against me, shouting: "This is what they did to me in Panama City!"
It's after 3 a.m. and we're in a parking lot on the outskirts of Chicago. Electronic music is buzzing from the nightclub across the street, mixing easily with the laughter of the guys who are watching this, this me-pinned-and-helpless thing.

Francis isn't laughing.

He has turned on me, and I don't know why. He's going on and on about Panama City Beach, the spring break spot in northern Florida where Bay County sheriff's deputies arrested him three years ago on charges of racketeering, drug trafficking and promoting the sexual performance of a child. As he yells, I wonder if this is a flashback, or if he's punishing me for being the only blond in sight who's not wearing a thong. This much is certain: He's got at least 80 pounds on me and I'm thinking he's about to break my left arm. My eyes start to stream tears.


...It also looks like he rapes a drunk 18 year old.

Eventually, Jannel Szyszka says, Francis told the cameraman to leave and pushed her back on the bed, undid his jeans and climbed on top of her. "I told him it hurt, and he kept doing it. And I keep telling him it hurts. I said, 'No' twice in the beginning, and during I started saying, 'Oh, my god, it hurts.' I kept telling him it hurt, but he kept going, and he said he was sorry but kissed me so I wouldn't keep talking." Then, she says, Joe Francis opened the door and told the cameraman to come back, saying, "She's not a virgin anymore."...She says she's haunted by that night".

In it, Hoffman bore witness to Francis' numerous alleged illegal activities, including habitual supply of alcohol to underage girls.

Hoffman reported Francis' alleged rape of an 18 year old virgin, Jannel Szyszka. Quoting Szyska, who was under the legal drinking age in the USA and had allegedly been supplied by alcohol by Francis and his entourage, Hoffman wrote, "Eventually, Szyszka says, Francis told the cameraman to leave and pushed her back on the bed, undid his jeans and climbed on top of her.
 

After the report was published, Francis denied that he engaged in sexual intercourse with Szyszka, while his lawyer claimed that intercourse had occurred consensually.




Charming, huh? And to think, this man is dictating what sexuality is to a generation of young men!

Both Pandagon and Feministe have up great analyses of the piece, and I don't know how much more I can add.

I will say this: Francis' behavior--his violence against women, his rage at Hoffman for daring to write an honest piece, and his belief that he’s doing all this in good fun--is the scariest combination of privilege, money and misogyny that I’ve ever seen. It's like male privilege on crack.

The only thing that's as disturbing as Francis' sense of entitlement to women's bodies (and anything else he wants) is the "boys will be boys" forgiveness poured on him by his friends, fans, coworkers, and even police.

And folks think there's no such thing as a rape culture?

TAKE ACTION: One of my favorite stations, Comedy Central, airs Girls Gone Wild commercials. This is bullshit. Here's the contact info for Comedy Partners, the company that owns Comedy Central. Let them know that they shouldn't support this asshole. (Now that I think of it, are they still showing army recruiting commercials?)
 


 


     


  • In an incident at Panama City Beach, Florida, during spring break 2003, Francis was arrested and initially charged with 71 separate counts which included racketeering, drug trafficking, and child pornography.
     
  • rape in Texas

  • In March 2004, a Texas college student accused Francis of raping her in his Miami hotel room. She told police that after she met Francis in a bar in South Beach, Florida, where they argued over the morality of "Girls Gone Wild" videos, she went to his room at the Ritz-Carlton for a drink and awoke the next morning in bed next to him with no memory of the previous evening after Francis had offered her a drink. Again, Francis reported that he had consensual sex with the woman.
     


     


  • In 2000, the property manager of Francis' Santa Monica apartment, Stephanie Van de Motter, obtained a restraining order requiring that he stay at least 100 yards away from her. She said that Francis, upset about the noise garbage collectors made in the mornings, had harassed and threatened her twice by climbing up to her bedroom window and pounding violently on the glass while screaming obscenities at her. He also appeared in her office several times asking for her by using the "c-word" and left messages with her co-worker saying, "Tell the bitch this is war."
     

  • In 2003, Darian Mathias-Patterson, who scouted locations and arranged for the rental of a space for a Halloween party Francis threw, filed a police report that he threatened to kill her when she told him she couldn't return his $25,000 deposit because the 2,000 guests had trashed the place. She told police he said, "I'm going to fucking get you, you fucking whore" and repeatedly used the "c-word". Two weeks later, Mathias-Patterson, who was pregnant, miscarried. She later sued Francis and his company in Los Angeles County Superior Court for emotional distress, and the case was settled for an undisclosed amount.
     

  • In 2002, Becky Lynn Gritzke discovered that she had been covertly filmed flashing her breasts at a Mardi Gras festival and that the image had been used without her permission on billboards advertising Girls' Gone Wild videos and even on the cover of a GGW video.

 

 

The Young Bitch squealed with joy

After the incident, Francis asked the cameraman to return and told him, “She’s not a virgin anymore.” Afterwards, Francis asked Szyszka to keep the incident between themselves. Several weeks later, Francis then threatened to ruin the LAT reporter for printing the story, referring her to his lawyer, Michael Kerry Burke, who responded with this email:

“Neither Mr. Francis nor any of the GGW staff in or around the bus recall Ms. Szyszka making any complaint or comment about Mr. Francis. In fact, Ms. Szyszka was in good spirits after the encounter, and numerous witnesses have stated that she danced with her friends outside the bus for nearly two hours afterward … Though Mr. Francis cannot speak to Ms. Szyszka’s discomfort during the encounter, other news stories have commented that Mr. Francis is reputedly well-endowed.”

Welcome to the legal profession, folks. Make millions of dollars for high-profile clients by dismissing rape allegations by claiming that your client is well-endowed. Because, you know, penis size is absolutely relevant to question of consent. In fact, it’s the next trend in legal defense: Forget about the Twinkie defense, folks. From here on out, expect to hear a lot about the large-member defense. Are you taking notes, David Kelly?