Jack Wright and Other Male Survivors of Sexual Abuse
In October 2020, Jack Wright and Sienna Mae Gomez started collaborating on several social media platforms, mostly TikTok. Though their relationship was never officially confirmed, there were several videos showing instances of physical affection. These videos were their most popular, with their internet “clout” rising through the roof. In May 2021, it all exploded. Sexual assault allegations, internet chaos, and Sienna getting “canceled.” To dive into it all, we have to start at the beginning of the allegations. Mason Rizzo, Jack’s close childhood friend, spoke out on the situation first. He posted a now-deleted paragraph on Twitter explaining how frustrated he was with Sienna. Then Jack and his twin brother James both retweeted the post. Sienna immediately lost hundreds of thousands of fans, but several loyal fans of Sienna majorly rejected the allegations because “they couldn’t be true.”
After all of this, Sienna released a YouTube video titled “addressing false allegations.” In this video, she states that she was not the one to blame and she was”‘just” a young woman. Her statement worsened the issue, with many saying she was victim-blaming,a defense mechanism in which someone holds the victim responsible for someone else's actions. Her other statements were received the same way, with hate towards her on several platforms.
Most sexual assault allegations are a woman accusing a man of sexual assault and the reason why it was harder to get the general public to believe Jack and his story was because he is a man. A 1990 national study of U.S. adults reported that 16% of men were sexually abused before the age of 18, but it has been seen with other studies that many men do not report the assaults. With the under-reported sexual assaults, these numbers are likely underestimated. With the gender roles involved in these types of allegations, many people started agreeing with Sienna, the alleged assaulter, because “there was no way a woman could have done it.” The “Me Too” movement paved the way for many survivors of sexual assault, but the movement mainly highlights female survivors. While the stigma around sexual abuse is very tense, many male survivors refuse to speak up about their trauma because of their gender and fear they will not be recognized.
With Jack’s comments about his story, many fans thought he was trying to cancel Sienna before she could cancel him. “Canceling” is a way of almost completely removing a person’s status and platform. In this state of social media, it is very easy to cancel someone and ruin their reputation. Sienna got canceled by most of the social population- her brand deals fell through and other influencers refused to associate with her. While it is debated whether or not canceling is a good way to hold people accountable, it is a quick way to get answers, ethical or not.
Currently, Sienna Mae Gomez is still getting canceled all over the internet. Mostly everyone believed Jack in his story quickly, but many male survivors never are heard.
By Caroline Lackey