Wednesday, February 11, 2004

"Alas, a blog" & a theory about rape

Amp at Alas, a blog analyzes why rape occurs in our society.

Quoting in part, Amp says:

"What causes rape? How can we change our culture so that it happens less often, or not at all? I'd like to give my opinions on this - at, perhaps, some risk of pissing some folks off....I'd identify three interrelated candidates: the myth of masculinity, cultural disdain for women, and our society's conception of sexuality as something possessed exclusively by women. If we want "24 hours in which there is no rape," then we have to destroy these three warped cultural ideas."


Here are some of my thoughts on that post: (as I posted on Amp's blog)

Amp,

I think your analysis has a large amount of validity and I hope it helps to open people's minds.

I do have some points of discussion/disagreement for you:
1) blaming society may lead rapists to say that they are not at fault for raping women - they are "just" doing what we "program" them to do. This is unacceptable.

2) I understand what you are saying about the possibility of rape being connected to sex. However, I think that the point of the theorists who say that it isn't about sex but about violence and power fits into your theme - they have the power to take what they want and since sex is what they want they just take it without consequences.

3) Men need to be held more accountable for rape and its long-term psychological and psycho-social consequences.

4) My largest point of disagreement is when it come to the "specialized" form of rape which is incest. I do NOT believe that a man who rapes/incests his two-year-old daughter (a common age for father-daughter incest to begin) is doing it for sexual pleasure. The bastard is doing it because he can.

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