Sexual Assault in the Public Eye
Yesterday I read through a Facebook post of a Disney friend I have "known" for quite some time. I have been in the Disney fan community on the internet for more than 20 years. There are people from there that are among my closest friends. There are others I haven't met in real life, but from seeing their posts in the community that long, you can be a pretty good judge of character.
In this case, the person's co-host of a Disney podcast came out with a story of an incident of sexual assault which happened to her. That person is also someone I have "known" for a long time in Disney circles. In addition, a picture was taken of the incident by friends of hers who were there. A complaint sent to Disney with the picture apparently was found to be legit enough that they sent her a check for $500 in compensation which she promptly tore up. It's not about money. It's about making sure other women don't go through the same thing.
The person is question is a popular performer at one of the resort hotels, known as "Yehaa Bob." From her post:
I have no problem believing this happened. The comments section where people (mostly men) completely back him demonstrated why women don't talk about this and why she didn't talk about it for years. They demanded to see the pictures and even the check before they would believe her story. Again, this isn't some fly-by-night unknown person on the internet. This is someone who is a long-time, well-respected part of Disney fandom. There were comments of "all he did was grab you ass?" Because yes, we need men's approval before we are allowed to feel violated (that was sarcasm).
Yeeha Bob crossed a line. I know that behavioral standards over the years have changed. I had another conversation earlier today that I had men rub up against me on the subway back in the day and I just moved. If I'd tried to have them arrested, I would have been laughed at. A friend's daughter worked in the nursing home my father was in near the end and she was shocked that the old men felt it was okay to grab her butt. The standards have changed. In their day, short of a slap across the face, there were no consequences to the behavior. They were encouraged to see how far they could get.
That said, Yeeha Bob is a public performer at Disney. I am sure through the years there have been classes at Disney on what is appropriate and not appropriate when encountering the public. I now their costumed characters go through a lot of coaching and education in this area. He should have known better, and I'm guessing he did. He just used his position as an entertainer to keep up the behavior.
Not only that, but Disney's response is disappointing to a Disney fan. Obviously, there was enough in the photo for them to fork over a check, but not enough to take this performer out of the public eye so he couldn't continue the behavior. Even when confronted with photographic evidence, they chose to keep him in the same position. Not only that, they gave him the Disney Legends Award.
The person who shared her story (with her permission) has said he heard other similar stories from women, so this was not an isolated incident.
The public facebook post by the victim can be found here:
https://www.facebook.com/mscribnermaclean/posts/10213865130357581
In this case, the person's co-host of a Disney podcast came out with a story of an incident of sexual assault which happened to her. That person is also someone I have "known" for a long time in Disney circles. In addition, a picture was taken of the incident by friends of hers who were there. A complaint sent to Disney with the picture apparently was found to be legit enough that they sent her a check for $500 in compensation which she promptly tore up. It's not about money. It's about making sure other women don't go through the same thing.
The person is question is a popular performer at one of the resort hotels, known as "Yehaa Bob." From her post:
A number of runners went to see YeeHaw Bob perform during race weekend. At the end of his performance, he asked us to come up to the piano for a photo. He asked me to sit next to him on the piano.
Several photos were taken and during that time he reached behind me and grabbed and squeezed my rear-end. This was not just an inadvertent touch — his hand stayed there and squeezed for a long time.
As is the case when this happens to many women, I was so stunned that I froze. I didn’t want to make a scene in front of my running friends. I felt all the blood drain out of my head and just froze.
I have no problem believing this happened. The comments section where people (mostly men) completely back him demonstrated why women don't talk about this and why she didn't talk about it for years. They demanded to see the pictures and even the check before they would believe her story. Again, this isn't some fly-by-night unknown person on the internet. This is someone who is a long-time, well-respected part of Disney fandom. There were comments of "all he did was grab you ass?" Because yes, we need men's approval before we are allowed to feel violated (that was sarcasm).
Yeeha Bob crossed a line. I know that behavioral standards over the years have changed. I had another conversation earlier today that I had men rub up against me on the subway back in the day and I just moved. If I'd tried to have them arrested, I would have been laughed at. A friend's daughter worked in the nursing home my father was in near the end and she was shocked that the old men felt it was okay to grab her butt. The standards have changed. In their day, short of a slap across the face, there were no consequences to the behavior. They were encouraged to see how far they could get.
That said, Yeeha Bob is a public performer at Disney. I am sure through the years there have been classes at Disney on what is appropriate and not appropriate when encountering the public. I now their costumed characters go through a lot of coaching and education in this area. He should have known better, and I'm guessing he did. He just used his position as an entertainer to keep up the behavior.
Not only that, but Disney's response is disappointing to a Disney fan. Obviously, there was enough in the photo for them to fork over a check, but not enough to take this performer out of the public eye so he couldn't continue the behavior. Even when confronted with photographic evidence, they chose to keep him in the same position. Not only that, they gave him the Disney Legends Award.
The person who shared her story (with her permission) has said he heard other similar stories from women, so this was not an isolated incident.
The public facebook post by the victim can be found here:
https://www.facebook.com/mscribnermaclean/posts/10213865130357581
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