Double Standards

Howdy! 👋🏿

Guess what day it is?! It’s just a regular day that I decided to share some old content from college (sorry, nothing special going on now).

Trigger Warning: This piece of work mentions sexual assault and contains strong language.

“Double Standards” is a short script I wrote about how a young man tries to go to the police after getting raped. He doesn’t get the response he was hoping for, and the entire play is a back and forth conversation between the young man and the police officer. I wrote this for my playwriting class in the spring of 2017.

For some reason, I was choosing to write about a lot of serious topics for my writing classes that semester. I wrote another short play for that class about a girl refusing to let her father send her schizophrenic mother to a psychiatric ward, despite her worsening symptoms. For my fiction writing workshop, I wrote a short story about an overachieving high school girl who was getting sexually and physically assaulted by her dad at home. I promise my childhood wasn’t that awful!

Anyway, here’s “Double Standards” with the necessary edits.

Setting: Police station. Officer Clark is sitting at his desk. Kevin is standing across from the desk.

OFFICER CLARK: (snickering) Wait, say that again?

KEVIN: Why are you laughing? This isn’t funny.

OFFICER CLARK: You mean to tell me that you got raped by a woman? As big as you are, you let a little woman rape you?

KEVIN: I didn’t let this happen! It just happened. Now, are you gonna do something about it?

OFFICER CLARK: What do you want me to do, son?

KEVIN: I want you to do your damn job and go after the woman who violated me!

OFFICER CLARK: I’m sure she didn’t hold you down.

KEVIN: What the hell is that supposed to mean?

OFFICER CLARK: Why didn’t you just push her off you?

KEVIN: I can tell you several reasons why I didn’t use force.

OFFICER CLARK: Okay, I’m listening.

KEVIN: First, I was drunk and not at full strength.

OFFICER CLARK: How much did you have to drink?

KEVIN: That’s not the point. I was in a state where I couldn’t consent.

OFFICER CLARK: Were both of you drunk?

KEVIN: I’m sure she was.

OFFICER CLARK: So, if she was drunk, then she was also in a state where she couldn’t consent.

KEVIN: Okay, and?

OFFICER CLARK: How do I know you’re not the one who drunkenly raped her?

KEVIN: Are you fucking serious?

OFFICER CLARK: Yes, I’m serious. For all I know, you could’ve been so drunk that you don’t remember raping her.

KEVIN: I would never do such a thing!

OFFICER CLARK: You were drunk. You weren’t in your right mind.

KEVIN: You know, you’re a terrible officer.

OFFICER CLARK: What makes me so terrible, huh?

KEVIN: Well, a stranger took advantage of me while I was vulnerable, yet I’m the one being blamed for what happened.

OFFICER CLARK: Did you find this woman attractive?

KEVIN: Seriously, man? You’ve gotta be kidding me.

OFFICER CLARK: Obviously, you had to find her attractive. How were you able to keep an erection?

KEVIN: As someone who actually has a dick, I would think you’d understand that they have a mind of their own.

OFFICER CLARK: Excuse me?

KEVIN: Boners aren’t something a guy can control. They can happen at the drop of a hat.

OFFICER CLARK: Okay, son. Finish explaining what happened and why you couldn’t defend yourself.

KEVIN: I think it’s crazy and unprofessional for you to ask a victim why they didn’t overpower their attacker.

OFFICER CLARK: Why do you say that?

KEVIN: The attacker makes you feel useless. All of your physical strength doesn’t mean shit at that point.

OFFICER CLARK: I’m sorry, but I can’t see how someone as big as yourself couldn’t just force her off you.

KEVIN: Now, if I had fought back, how would I explain her injuries? Yes, I am a big guy and could’ve easily taken her down. Trying to explain that she was forcing me to have sex with her isn’t the best excuse for me, now is it?

OFFICER CLARK: Listen…

KEVIN: No, you listen! I came to you for support and help, but you’re treating the whole situation like a damn joke.

OFFICER CLARK: I’m asking you questions about what happened. I’m only doing my job.

KEVIN: But if I were a girl, and I told you that a guy raped me, you’d react differently.

OFFICER CLARK: I take all my cases seriously.

KEVIN: Then get your lazy ass out of that chair, and go after the woman who sexually assaulted me.

OFFICER CLARK: I need you to not speak to me like that, son.

KEVIN: Please get off your lazy ass and go after the woman who sexually assaulted me.

OFFICER CLARK: Why are you so hostile?

KEVIN: You know what? I’m wasting my time here.

OFFICER CLARK: Look…

KEVIN: All I’m asking is that you take this seriously, man.

OFFICER CLARK: And I’m not taking your case seriously?

KEVIN: No, you’re not! I didn’t even want to report this because it’s so embarrassing. I play football, and I was taken advantage of by a 100-pound female.

OFFICER CLARK: I’m still trying to understand how this happened.

KEVIN: Yet, I’m being accused of this crime because I’m a big, strong, tough guy. Men can’t get raped, right?

OFFICER CLARK: I’m sorry?

KEVIN: All men want sex, so we rape women. We obviously can’t get raped because we love sex so much.

OFFICER CLARK: Where are you going with this?

KEVIN: Men aren’t capable of being scared and helpless because we’re strong and can defend ourselves.

OFFICER CLARK: Now, I didn’t say that.

KEVIN: I shouldn’t have come here. I knew you weren’t gonna understand.

OFFICER CLARK: Look…

KEVIN: Just drop the case. It doesn’t matter anymore.

OFFICER CLARK: Are you sure?

KEVIN: I have a question for you.

OFFICER CLARK: What is it?

KEVIN: Do you have a son?

OFFICER CLARK: Yes, why is that any of your concern?

KEVIN: Imagine if what happened to me were to happen to him. How would that make you feel?

*End of play*

Until next time. Thanks so much for reading!

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