Pervasive Thought

[ladylade]

I've spent the entire evening reading articles about sex, sexuality and gender (again, instead of doing what I should be, which is--in different levels of importance--either homework or finishing up fic), and I came across a series of articles that really were eye-opening, because I've thought about the topic in an abstract way but never actually

Comments

[emocezi]

Did they catch the guy who raped her and cut off his dick with a rusty spoon?

That's the first question I think of.

[ladylade]

Amen.

It pisses me off so much how little time people get for rape, if they get any time at all. I think in Maryland the average sentence is around 9.5, 9.75 years for rape, but that's just the sentence and, on average, rapists serve half their time (or, probably, less).

In other words: FUCK THAT.

(I'm really glad that I know people who are like, "Rape culture? I bite my thumb at you and, also, GTFO.")

[emocezi]

I think rapists should get locked in a cell with several very tall, angry, men that show them exactly what it's like to be raped.

[fotoshop_cutout]

Actually, the first question I have is "Is she going to be alright?"

Read the article. The only question I have after reading it is: "Does this mean that humans just have rape culture no matter what?" Because there is actually a psychological reason why women do crafts and not men; not to say there can't be exceptions in that! Personally, it's my Dad who knits and crochets while my Mum and I sit back and shake our heads. But I'm pretty sure that cave-women were the ones cooking and child-rearing and doing all those culturally "women-y" things and the men who were hunting. Does this mean they also had a rape culture?

I'm not sure any of the above made any sense, I just woke up :/

[ladylade]

No, I totally see what you're getting at, the craft thing was a little vague and definitely abstract, but I think the idea behind it was that if a man decided to do crafts, he is essentially "giving up" his masculinity, and that if that man were to be raped, the acting of crafting would become a but, like, "It's horrible that he was raped, but he did crafts and that's really gay. Don't homos always want sex?" (It's terrifying that people think like that.) It's a seed in a row of crops, as far as devaluing rape.

I think that, when Pervocracy talks about rape culture, what she means is that rape culture exists when people primarily focus on variables of the victim (what she was wearing, if she was drunk, whether she was walking alone somewhere) instead of the constant variable of a rapist. Prevention is for the victim, of things s/he shouldn't do because it "increases" the chance of being raped, and instead prevention should be teaching people what explicit consent is and why rape doesn't really get you anything (she mentioned in

[fotoshop_cutout]

Ah, I see. I still think that the craft thing is a bit silly, but I understand why it's there a bit now.

[ladylade]

It really is silly, especially when you take into account that really fine, delicate lace is made mostly by men. And, as a reader, you really shouldn't have to do so much legwork to understand the idea.

[ladylade]

Ooooh, thesis? What are you writing about?

[thefrozenheart]

My first question was, "Is she ever going to be ok?"... then, there wasn't a question but a thought "I hope they catch that son of a bitch and throw him into a prison cell, I hope the cops tell the other prisoners that he raped someone, and I hope these prisoners rape him..." And maybe isn't a right/nice thought, idk... but that's honestly what I thought.

I read the article and I'm usually a person who tries not to judge and see all the different points of view, but this doesn't make sense any sense to me, Rape culture? I don't think so. It's not a culture, it's a fucking crime.

So after reading this article, my questions and thoughts are the same.

[ladylade]

It may not be a nice thought, but it's pretty similar to the ones I have. I'm like, "...strap that fucker down and let the victim rape the rapist."

What didn't make sense about it, for you? (This is an honest question, because I really am curious.) I don't think she was saying that rape is a type of culture (like, "hey, me and my buddies are in the rape society") but that we have a culture that devalues and enables rape more than it should, like the thought that someone shouldn't dress "slutty" because it attracts rapists--one, it doesn't; two, it puts some blame on the victim, whether the person means to or not.

[thefrozenheart]

To be honest I think I used the wrong word, it makes sense like you said that we have a culture that devalues and enables rape more than it should, but I don't like the way she talks about it... and I got confused when she said that 7. "A person's sexuality can be separated from their self." is believe/behavior of rape culture. I mean, I do believe that you can be a submissive in bed and leader at work, for example, so I don't understand how this is something that a rape culture would believe, I don't see the connection...

This probably don't make any sense and I'm sorry, but since english isn't my first language sometimes it's difficult for me to express what I'm thinking *blush*

[ladylade]

You have an awesome point about that. Like, I think a person's sexuality is innate, but I do agree about sexuality being separated from a lot of different areas, particularly work. I really wish that she had explained that part, or maybe said seven was something like, "A person is just their sexuality."

[kumquatweekend]

First thought: "Did you mean, 'someone raped a girl'? Howzabout let's assign responsibility for the raping on the appropriate person; that is, THE RAPIST."

Second question: "Did she know the guy? I bet she did..."

*runs off to read*

That was fantastic. It confirmed my view of society, because I was lucky enough to have liberal pinko commie lefty parents who taught me and my sister from DAY ONE that our bodies were our own, that no one ever "asks" to be raped by dressing a certain way, etc, etc. (I love my parents A LOT.)

It also made me think of the guest piece on Kate Harding's blog, Shroedinger's Rapist: "When you approach me in public, you are Schrödinger’s Rapist. You may or may not be a man who would commit rape. I won’t know for sure unless you start sexually assaulting me. I can’t see inside your head, and I don’t know your intentions. If you expect me to trust you-to accept you at face value as a nice sort of guy-you are not only failing to respect my reasonable caution, you are being cavalier about my personal safety."

[ladylade]

Yaaaaaay. :D People that have been commenting on this are so awesome.

I love this article so much because I've always felt uneasy when people bring up things about what the girl was wearing or how drunk she was or if she was walking alone on a dark street, and I've never really understood why it bothered me so much until I read this. It gave me a concrete definition to what I was feeling, which is always fantastic.

It's really funny, because that article reminds me of a piece I read (that, of course, I can't find because I'm shit at bookmarking things) about how women's greatest fear of men is that men will rape or kill them, but men's greatest fear of women is that women will laugh at them. The disparity between those two responses pretty much sums up, for me, why feminism is not dead and is definitely still needed.