Todd Akin, Paul Ryan, and Redefining Rape

[moonbladem]

Comments

[erunamiryene]

The idea that women who are "legitimate" rape victims can't get pregnant has currency in some corners of the fringe right.

Except, it's not the fringe. Look at pretty much every mainstream Republican's stance on rape. It's all variations on a theme of "if you don't meet [x requirement], it wasn't real'".

When you have an article of this length with this many references, it's not fringe anymore, sorry.

[purple01_prose]

Also, for like 150+ years, it was legally required for judges to tell jurors that women survivors were probably lying--BEFORE THE CASE HAD EVEN BEGUN AND ORAL ARGUMENTS HAD YET TO BE AIRED. Rape and it's legal history in the US is really, really shameful, and yeah, these ideas existed before the US, but no doubt that legal 'necessity' has contributed to that general idea.

JFC, the Puritans were better at prosecuting rape than our current courts. (Granted. I don't much like the Puritans, but they at least had that right). There's a book A Woman Scorned: Acquaintance Rape on Trial that looks at the history of rape when it's been fought in the courts, and it's exceedingly depressing. A good book, but depressing.

[fierceleaf]

How can he be both an Ayn Rand fan and religious zealot on the same time?

[fierceleaf]

Exactly.

[romp]

Rand disliked Christ for his stance on poverty...and Ryan likes him despite it?

[romp]

I think we're way overdue for a "war on women" tag. :)

That occurred to me a few months ago.
-cosigned

[screamingintune]

yep, +1

[hinoema]

We don't have one?!? Monstrous!

[carmy_w]

OICWYDT! LOL!

TW: rape

[screamingintune]

the "forcible" qualifier to "rape" seems redundant. Rape by it's very definition is forced. Do lawmakers realize by trying to divide it up that they're putting across the message that a woman has to look like she's been in a violent brawl to know she's been raped? Are women expected to physically fight as much as possible, even though it could get them badly injured or killed?

A family friend was raped earlier this year when she went on a date with a guy from match.com, and when my mom told me about it, she said that the police told her that it was good she had bruises and injuries, because then people would believe it and a conviction was more likely. So that's where we are as a society -- grateful for physical injury, otherwise that rapist will walk. Disgusting. Really sick of living in a world that hates women.

Re: TW: rape

[muizenstaartje]

That's horrible. Horrible that she was raped and horrible that she was told she was lucky, because she got additional physical injuries.
This is not how it should be.

Re: TW: rape

[thelilyqueen]

Yep, we are, because at least then we would have died 'defending our honor' or somesuch. Or angels would come and save us. Take your pick.

It is, I have to admit, easier to prove that whatever happened was not consensual if there are physical injuries. Unless it was caught on tape, witnessed, etc. threats and other sorts of coercion don't leave evidence that can be entered into a court register. I'm not sure how to get around that.

What needs to stop right. fecking. now. is the assumption that rape victims are lying, and in particular the framing of underage girls as 'Lolitas' who seduced those poor, bewildered 50 year old men.

Re: TW: rape

[chaya]

the "forcible" qualifier to "rape" seems redundant.

In some situations "forcible rape" distinguishes between other kinds of rape such as rape through blackmail, or rape of someone who cannot consent (asleep, intoxicated, too young, etc). This is not to say that these are not all kinds of legitimate rape, of course. And as you've said there are a lot of people (most often men) who do have some sick notion that if you don't fight 'til you're knocked out or half-dead, you didn't "try hard enough" to get away. These are also usually the guys that don't view any kind of non-forcible rape (such as rape of a woman who's blacked out) to really "count"...

[amyura]

Do they not get that minors are incapable of consenting? There's a reason statutory rape is on the books.

[carmy_w]

Yes, but to these assholes, it doesn't count once the female reaches menarche, regardless of her age. After that, she needs a chastity belt.

[metatrix]

yes, but technically it's more complicated than that. In most states minors are capable of consenting to sex with someone who is close in age. So if a 16 year old girl had sex with her 16 year old boyfriend and got knocked up, it wouldn't be statutory rape. I guess they are afraid that she could lie and say she got knocked up by a 19 year old, making it statutory rape. That's really far-fetched conspiracy theory shit though.