It’s wearying, this constant reminder that we live in a culture that has standards at odds with lofty goals. People make special conditions for their principles. The people lamenting the “ruined” lives of the Steubenville rapists would no doubt feel completely different had the victim been their daughter. But there’s no hesitation to indulge in public shaming since it’s their favored sons who are going to have pay a penalty for indulging what we too often give implicit permission.
I remember clearly the moment the disparity really struck home for me. I was maybe eighteen or nineteen, watching a Sixty Minutes segment on some aspect of sexuality. …