Fighting Words
Rape
-from Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary
1 : an act or instance of robbing or despoiling or carrying away a person by force
2 : unlawful sexual activity and usually sexual intercourse carried out forcibly or under threat of injury against the will usually of a female or with a person who is beneath a certain age or incapable of valid consent -- compare SEXUAL ASSAULT, STATUTORY RAPE
3 : an outrageous violation
dreda posted the rest of the memo. I'll quote her here:
"The vast majority of people who are raped and sexually assaulted are woman-born women. But not all of them. The vast, vast majority of people who perpetrate these crimes are man-born men. But not all of them. Gender is no protection; gender is no excuse.
"You are not powerless in the face of assault. If assaulted, you will have to make split-second decisions about when fighting becomes a losing proposition. But - the person who assaults you has given up the right to be treated fairly. They have given up the right to be unharmed. In a very real sense, the survival of your self and your body may be dependent on your willingness to kill someone who couldn't give a good goddamn about you as a whole, living human being. So fuck them. They deserve no quarter.
"I am sad that I know these things. I am sad that the people from whom I have learned them understand them in a very real and personal sense. I am not big or strong enough to protect the world, to save everyone from damage, to repair all the harm done to those I love. But I can make sure the things they tell me do not disappear."
If she doesn't say Yes, the answer is No.
By extension, if she is not old enough or capable enough or physically able to say Yes, the answer is also No.
If the answer is No, it's rape.
-from Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary
1 : an act or instance of robbing or despoiling or carrying away a person by force
2 : unlawful sexual activity and usually sexual intercourse carried out forcibly or under threat of injury against the will usually of a female or with a person who is beneath a certain age or incapable of valid consent -- compare SEXUAL ASSAULT, STATUTORY RAPE
3 : an outrageous violation
dreda posted the rest of the memo. I'll quote her here:
"The vast majority of people who are raped and sexually assaulted are woman-born women. But not all of them. The vast, vast majority of people who perpetrate these crimes are man-born men. But not all of them. Gender is no protection; gender is no excuse.
"You are not powerless in the face of assault. If assaulted, you will have to make split-second decisions about when fighting becomes a losing proposition. But - the person who assaults you has given up the right to be treated fairly. They have given up the right to be unharmed. In a very real sense, the survival of your self and your body may be dependent on your willingness to kill someone who couldn't give a good goddamn about you as a whole, living human being. So fuck them. They deserve no quarter.
"I am sad that I know these things. I am sad that the people from whom I have learned them understand them in a very real and personal sense. I am not big or strong enough to protect the world, to save everyone from damage, to repair all the harm done to those I love. But I can make sure the things they tell me do not disappear."
If she doesn't say Yes, the answer is No.
By extension, if she is not old enough or capable enough or physically able to say Yes, the answer is also No.
If the answer is No, it's rape.