Unsportsmanlike Conduct: College Football and the Politics of Rape | Jessica Luther
"Highly relevant, hard-hitting, much-needed information that reveals the widespread existence of rape by sports players on college campuses." --Kirkus Reviews "Few subjects are as difficult, or as important, as this one, and Jessica Luther handles it flawlessly. We have to demand that schools take better care of our kids; it's that simple. Luther gives us the tools to do so, breaking down exactly where we are, how we got here, and--most importantly--how the system can change." --Rachel Nichols, ESPN "Jessica Luther is one of the most important voices on gender issues in sports. And this book does not disappoint: it is essential reading for anyone who hopes to better understand the intersection of gender and our sports landscape." --Kate Fagan, EspnW "The maxim of the law is silence gives consent. Back when nobody was talking about AIDS, the maxim was silence equals death. There exists in our major sports a malignant culture of sexual assault and bureaucratic indifference. There is nothing this culture resists more than plain talk, and Jessica Luther has been speaking more plainly about this ongoing obscenity than almost anyone else. This is a hard, necessary, and important book, a book by someone who refuses to be silent, and damn sure refuses to consent." --Charles P. Pierce, author of Idiot America: How Stupidity Became a Virtue in the Land of the Free "Luther's well-researched book speaks powerfully to the complicated landscape of sexual assaults on college campuses--including the greedy interests at play in denying it--and provides us a much-needed road map for instituting effective change. I highly recommend this book for anyone who believes that student safety should matter more than athletic success, and that we all have a role to play in assuring that it does." --Wendy Davis, former Texas state senator, founder of Deeds Not Words "Unsportsmanlike Conduct is an important book by an important writer. Jessica Luther's place as both sports fan and empathetic observer makes her perfect to explore the shameful ways universities and their athletic programs address sexual assault, as no one could say she doesn't love football. She just loves people more, as she should, and this book is an important mirror to make us question how sports became more important to the world than the women who make life possible." --Bomani Jones, ESPN The latest from Akashic's Edge of Sports imprint. Football teams create playbooks, in which they draw up the plays they will use on the field. Playbooks are how teams work and why they win. This book is about a different kind of playbook: the one coaches, teams, universities, police, communities, the media, and fans seem to follow whenever a college football player is accused of sexual assault. It's a deep dive into how different institutions--the NCAA, athletic departments, universities, the media--run the same plays over and over again when these stories break. If everyone runs his play well, scrutiny dies down quickly, no institution ever has to change how it operates, and the evaporation of these cases into nothingness looks natural. In short, this playbook is why nothing ever changes. Unsportsmanlike Conduct unpacks this societal playbook piece by piece, and not only advocates that we destroy the old plays, but also suggests we replace them with ones that will force us to finally do something about this issue.