Talking about rape
Everyone is talking about rape this week, proving that something good can come out of an idiotic comment like the one Todd Akin made. The fact that a topic that is usually treated like a dirty little secret (or at the very least, something too taboo to discuss) is actually being given this much attention--by the President of the United States, even--is almost surreal. Encouraging, but surreal. To witness a national discussion about rape that condemns victim-blaming and the classification of some rapes as more "legitimate" than others is downright heartening.
What's disheartening was waking up to another email from FF.net informing me that they've removed the file I posted directing people who were looking for Little Earthquakes to this location. My hope is that everyone who needed to see it did, and that future readers will be able to locate the story on their own. Once I get access to An Archive of Our Own, I'll post it there. I will likely post it a few other places, when I have time.
Based on a comment left on my explanation that Little Earthquakes had been purged from FF.net (on that site), it appears that the removal may not have been due to a FF.net purge based on their adult content policy, but rather because some anonymous person decided to engage in a campaign to have it taken down. I have no idea if it's true or not, but an anonymous "Guest" claimed to have reported Little Earthquakes for two months straight, asking for the story to be removed...because it was "filth" that "glorified rape".
Huh?
I can't imagine that this person ever bothered to read the story (if that's even what happened...I wouldn't put it past some troll to claim credit for the whole thing). This same person threatened to try and get the story removed from LJ, as well (which is laughable, really, since LJ obviously hosts plenty of adult content and kink memes and such, and has a "Adult Content" flag one can set on their posts for just that reason). Plus, there is nothing offensive about this story except for the fact that the topics it explores are based in reality.
I honestly don't know why someone has made it their mission to see Little Earthquakes scrubbed from the Internet. I'm sad for this person, and for whatever happened to them that has made them focus so much on something that doesn't affect them in any way. If people don't like this particular story or simply don't enjoy fiction about serious, difficult topics, I encourage them not to read my work. I also ask that they not to make it harder for people who want to read this type of story--who might even benefit from doing so.
I can't tell you guys how many reviews and private notes I've received about Little Earthquakes, both when I was writing it and in the months after. A fair number of those notes were from rape survivors and/or their partners. Honestly, I've probably received more supportive, encouraging, and grateful comments on this story than any other I've written, and the most meaningful feedback has been from women who identified with this story in a tangible way.
Am I "glorifying rape" by choosing to write a piece of fan fiction about it? No. Talking about something that really happens does not equal glorifying it. Why choose to tell this story as a piece of fan fiction with beloved characters? Simply so more people would read it. This wasn't a story I wanted to publish and sell. It was a story I wanted to tell to anyone who wanted to read it. If anyone is distressed that I have taken established characters OOC in doing so, I'm sorry. I love Callie and Arizona and tried to treat them as respectfully as possible. I tried to treat the reader as respectfully as possible, too.
Trying to censor fiction about rape will not make rape go away. Nor is it particularly helpful when there are those in our society who clearly still don't understand what constitutes rape, how victims are impacted, or the physical realities of sexual assault (i.e. a woman's body cannot "shut down" the fertilization of an egg simply because she didn't choose to be inseminated). It's only by actually talking about rape and sexual assault--as a society, in the media, in fiction--that we can fully appreciate the pervasiveness of sexual violence, the impact it has on victims and their loved ones, and what it even means.
I'm not saying a piece of fan fiction amounts to much in the grand scheme of things, but I'll be damned if I allow a bully to censor it. And I'm mad as hell to have been accused of "glorifying" something so horrific. Because I dared to write about it?
No.