The Gisèle Pelicot rape trial sent shockwaves through society, exposing the disturbing normalcy of gender-based violence. As the gruesome details unfolded in court, women everywhere found themselves grappling with unsettling questions about the world we inhabit. The ripple effects of this heinous crime have reverberated through generations, leaving a queasy feeling that is difficult to shake.
The Faces of Everyday Evil
Perhaps the most chilling aspect of the Pelicot trial was the utter ordinariness of the perpetrators. The image of the 50 defendants lining up to enter the courthouse, their faces averted from the cameras, is seared into the public consciousness. These were not monsters or deviants, but regular men aged 26 to 74, with occupations ranging from nurse to lorry driver to journalist. The only thread connecting them was a shared locale and a depraved fantasy of violating an unconscious woman.
We feel ripples after a crime like this, a rock falls in a lake and generations of people get seasick, or gasp, or drown.
Eva Wiseman
The Anonymity Afforded to Male Desire
In a sickening parallel, OnlyFans models setting “world records” for having sex with scores of men in a day have spotlighted the same unsettling dynamic. The women, like Bonnie Blue and Lily Phillips, have their every intention and childhood trauma dissected. Meanwhile, the interchangeable men in their queues, awkwardly awaiting their three minutes with the 20th or 60th man that day, are faceless and unquestioned. Their motivations are seemingly unworthy of scrutiny because, well, it’s normal for men to indulge their basest urges consequence-free.
When Subjects Become Objects
Unpacking the roles of subject and object after the Pelicot trial is a grammatical minefield with no winners. The queues of men, whether lining up to violate a drugged woman or to be the 15th sexual partner of the hour, represent a system that normalizes the commodification and brutalization of women’s bodies. Even self-proclaimed male feminists later outed as predators underscore how deep these toxic currents run.
- Clarity in the aftermath: The Pelicot trial is a rock thrown into a lake, the ripples forcing us to see uncomfortable truths.
- Abuse behind suicides: A growing recognition of domestic violence as a leading cause of women taking their own lives.
- Impunity for abusers: The case of Kiena Dawes highlights how even men directly implicated in a woman’s suicide often walk free.
If any good can come from the horror of the Pelicot crimes, it’s that the sheer scale and shock of it may force more men to grapple with the pervasive, socially sanctioned nature of violence against women. Reports like this should be required reading, a wake-up call delivered to phones and plastered in public spaces. Because when a rock this large falls into a lake this putrid, those who have the luxury of ignoring the ripples need to be shaken out of their willful blindness.
