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SIMULATED RAPE AS ENTERTAINMENT? "UNCONSCIONABLE" SAYS WOMAN WHO WORKS WITH CONVICTED SEX OFFENDERS

"Linda McMahon Promotes Violence Against Women And Sexual Abuse - As Reflected In Her [WWE] Sextertainment. ... She Is A Dangerous Candidate. ... It's Not Entertainment. ... It's Highly Dangerous To An Impressionable Adolescent Male Brain." - Sex Offender Counselor Eileen Redden

Simulated Rape As Entertainment? "Unconscionable" Says Woman Who Works With Convicted Sex Offenders

Hartford Courant's "Capitol Watch" Blog

Daniela Altimari

March 18, 2010

There's a widening gender gap among Republican U.S. Senate candidates Linda McMahon and Rob Simmons but don't count Eileen Redden among the former World Wrestling Entertainment CEO's female fans.

Redden, who has worked with convicted sex offenders for two decades, is deeply troubled by the violent and sexually explicit content once promoted by WWE. And she believes McMahon the candidate ought to answer for the excesses overseen by McMahon the CEO.

"Linda McMahon promotes violence against women and sexual abuse - as reflected in her [WWE] sextertainment,'' Redden said. "She is a dangerous candidate."

Redden has studied the link between viewing sexually exploitative material and sexual aggression; she said she finds it deeply troubling that 13-year-old boys are being exposed to such programming.

"It's not entertainment,'' Redden said in a phone interview. "It's highly dangerous to an impressionable adolescent male brain.''

She said she finds WWE's simulated rape scenes "unconscionable.''

That view, incidentally, was shared by participants in a focus group convened by the Simmons campaign. Voters were shown WWE video and asked to comment. They used words such as "sick," "perverted," "terrible" and "disgusting," according to a summary of the focus group findings provided by the Simmons camp. (By the way, Redden did not participate in these focus groups. She has no affiliation with the Simmon [sic] campaign and said she decided to conact [sic] me only after reading the article about McMahon's popularity with women.) ...

Redden said she can think of plenty of other forms of "entertainment."

"If she wanted to entertain children, she could have built baseball parks,'' she said.

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