Nu Vibez and Roleplay Guide Magazine - August 2014 | Page 102

TURNING DOWN THE HEAT ON RICE - p3

Perhaps some unwri en social code that
directs men to never hit a woman, is s ll
adhered to by some men and some
women, but this 'chivalry' while
commendable, is in direct opposi on to
the basic no on of criminal assault that
simply makes a judgement on who
assaulted whom, for what and in what
propor on, gender is not usually a factor.
Both systems live in uneasy tension and
cause more conflicts than they solve,
especially in cases like that of Rice.
The other ma er of the disparity
between the penal es that Rice received
from the NFL also evokes a sense of
outrage over whether the welfare of
people (and women in par cular to
those that found that aspect most
salient) was less important than tes ng
posi ve for marijuana. On the face of it,
the penalty does indeed seem
unreasonably biased. However, it is also
just as unjust to make harsh judgements
without doing some due diligence.
All organisa ons have rules to regulate
the behaviour of their members and the
NFL is no excep on. To get a suspension
for a posi ve drug blood test, the
member has had to be caught out three
occasions. This is a 'three strikes and you
are out' concept. So really, if we were to
compare the first posi ve drug result and
the fact that the rule does not suspend
the player, with the first personal
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