Term Definitions

Culture of Silence: The reluctance to speak up about a matter which is known to exist, but is not discussed or acknowledged due to communal, unspoken consensus. An example of this would be Our Guys, a book by Bernard Lefkowitz in which he describes a 1989 gang rape of a "slightly retarded" 17 year old girl by a group of high status athletes. There were 13 boys in total, 6 of them leave before the rape begins. These 6 boys KNOW what's about to happen, and know that it is wrong, but because they are all members of the same team, they don't say anything to an authority figure. Of the 7 who stay, only 2 actually commit assault, the other 5 serve as the audience members who facilitate the rape by cheering on the 2.

Dynamics of the Athletic Male Peer Group: Audience: These are the "wannabe boys and men who actively applaud and support the words and practices of the Leaders - High Status boys and men at the center of their group who perpetrate misogynist, homophobic, assault at the Target - vulnerable, feminized object of ridicule, degradation, sexual assault, and conquest. Also, the Marginals are the lower status group members who support leaders with their silent complicity. An example of this can be the rape described by Lefkowitz in his book Our Guys, where the 17 year old girl serves as the Target, 6 boys who first leave are the Marginals, the 2 who actually rape the target are the Leaders, and the 5 who cheer them on are the Audience. Although this is the rape of a female, a male often serves as the target. For instance in fraternities, sports teams, the military etc, where there are all males, and all have to have initiation rituals (hazing).