Something I really appreciated about The Sunshine Court was its nauseatingly realistic depiction of rape culture.
Jeanās (repeated, violent) sexual assault isnāt treated as something horrific; in the toxic environment of The Nest, itās normalized. The real story ā Riko ordering 5 male players to rape Jean as a sadistic way to ābreak him inā ā is quickly twisted by his abusers; Jean is seen as a calculating vixen who slept his way to the top, for a Perfect Court number:
They continuously mock and taunt Jean with senseless jokes about it. There is an element of jealousy at play; Jean is a prodigy player, and, as he says himself at some point in the book, his older teammates didnāt enjoy being shown up by a child. They certainly enjoyed knocking him down a peg, though, by humiliating him and creating an illusion that he only got his spot on the team for sleeping around, not his talent:
Even one of his rapists, Grayson, continues this false narrative despite knowing the truth (or maybe he even convinced himself this narrative is the truth; that Jean āseducedā him for a spot on the starting lineup):
Other ravens who donāt know the truth seem to quickly believe the narrative that a 16 yo chose to sleep with a bunch of his superiors for a personal gain; that is certainly easier than entertaining the thought that your teammates (friends?) are capable of something this horrific. Or maybe they simply donāt question it too hard; after all, Jean canāt tell his side of the story.
The rumors eventually spread outside the Nest. Jeanās reputation is tarnished to the point that this is one of the first things strangers on the internet learn about him:
The most heartbreaking detail about it all is Jeanās age. He was a 16 boy on the college team, the youngest player on the lineup; a foreigner who couldnāt even speak English when he arrived; an outsider. Despite the fact that his young age is something that even the ravens find particularly scandalous about the whole situation, Jeanās agency is never questioned. Heās not seen as a minor who was taken advantage of by older, superior men ā and most of them are quite significantly older, having already graduated by the time Jeanās 19; Grayson seems to be the youngest of them and heās at least three years older than Jean.
As many victims of SA, Jean had no choice but to continue living with his abusers side by side, pretending like nothing happened. Knowing thereās absolutely nothing he can do.
The first time someone voices concern over the questionable circumstances surrounding the whole situation happens in this conversation with Jeremy (to be fair, it seems like Jean's age isn't public knowledge but the ravens obviously know):
And as many victims, Jean internalized his experience as something he deserved on some level:
TLDR: Sexual assault is, unfortunately, a very big part of our culture; itās not just something that happens in the dark alleys; rapists aren't just scary strangers. They're also your friends, peers, teammates. The way the Nest (and the general public as a whole) turns a blind eye at best and mocks and humiliates the victim at worst is a microcosm of how SA is largely treated in real life. It was genuinely fascinating to see it depicted so realistically, even though it made for a heavy read at several points. I hope Nora keeps up the good work, and we'll see further exploration of the topic and Jean dealing with his trauma in the next book.
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