The Feminist Version of Rape (Cathryn Crawford)

The Washington Dispatch ^ | August 15, 2003 | Cathryn Crawford

[Scenic Sounds]

There is a movement in this country to push women towards a victim status, towards an attitude that implies that a woman is simply a passive person, someone whom men can and will always take advantage of, both in public and private life. This movement is fomented and spearheaded by the liberal feminists, who believe that men are monsters and women are powerless victims against them (a clear contradiction to true feminism).

The symptom of this movement is that the liberal feminists have taken hold of the word rape and its connotations and associations and twisted it to mean something that it was never meant to. Rape, by definition, is anyone forcefully, through harm or threat of harm, forcing another person to have sex with them - there must be a clearly expressed lack of consent and/or coercion by force or threat of force. According to New York law, "forcible compulsion" ( i.e. rape) is defined as "to compel by either the use of physical force or a threat express or implied which places a person in fear of immediate death or physical injury to himself, herself, or another person."

However, this definition, which is widely mirrored in all fifty states, has been watered down. According to Dr. Andrea Parrot, a psychiatry professor at Cornell University who specializes in studying date rape, "Any sexual intercourse without mutual desire is a form of rape. Anyone who is psychologically or physically pressured into sexual contact is as much a victim of rape as the person who is attacked on the streets."

Now university counselors can convince twenty year old girls that since their boyfriend whined until they finally had sex with them, they’ve been raped. After all, under Dr. Parrot’s definition, that is classified as psychological pressure.

In many studies performed, especially those that focused on date rape or acquaintance rape, the women who were interviewed said that they did not realize that they had been raped until the interviewer described rape scenarios involving psychological pressure. These women did not feel violated, and the counselors and interviewers have to convince them that they have, indeed, been raped.

For example, the most comprehensive and most widely stated study for on-campus sex crimes is Mary Koss’s Ms. Campus Project on Sexual Assault. It was conducted through surveys, and it speculates that 1 in 4 women have been sexually assaulted. However - Koss obtained her data concerning the "incidence and prevalence of sexual aggression" with a 10-item survey featuring questions such as, "Have you given in to sexual intercourse when you didn't want to because you were overwhelmed by a man's continual arguments and pressure?" and "Have you had sexual intercourse when you didn't want to because a man threatened or used some degree of physical force to make you?". Questions 9 and 10 (which also refer to the use of force or threats of violence) seem to fit the conventional picture of rape, but consider question 8: "Have you had sexual intercourse when you didn't want to because a man gave you alcohol or drugs?" According to psychiatry, this question would be "double-barreled": What, exactly, is it asking? The meaning could change simply by what questions were asked leading up to this specific one. Does this mean that after a man buys you a drink and then you have sex with him, he has raped you? Did the girl express that she “didn’t want to,” or did the “didn’t want to” feelings come after the fact?

There has to be a clear boundary between what is and isn’t rape. Rape is not confusion or negative feelings after sex. Rape is not feeling that you don’t want to have sex, but giving in to please your boyfriend. That simply isn’t rape. Rape is when you are forced to have sex with someone, against your will, and when you clearly express that you are not complying with the situation.

This new way of defining rape, the feminist version of rape, gives women a way to simply be a passive victim, externalizing any feelings of guilt and shame about the sexual encounter and forcing responsibility onto the other person involved. Sadly, because of this attitude, rape is becoming just another everyday occurrence, something that some girls say with a shrug, as though it’s a normal part of life and is no big deal. Date rape has become the new campus hot button, and it has become so normal that girls discuss it as though it’s a trivial, almost normal thing to experience.

This attitude not only cheapens the value and independence of women, it sets women up for failure, and teaches them that they are victims of predatory men. More importantly, it trivializes sexual violence by making it something that is no longer horrible, but something that is typical and representative of the whole of society. It has become an expectation, and when true sexual trauma occurs, it gets swept away in the tide of indifference that this attitude has fostered.

Cathryn Crawford is a student from Texas. She can be reached at feedback@washingtondispatch.com.

[Scenic Sounds]

Ping for Cathryn Crawford's latest column. ;-)

[Chad Fairbanks]

since their boyfriend whined until they finally had sex with them, they’ve been raped.

They do that? Men actually whine until they get sex? What an odd thing...

[Agnes Heep]

Uriah will be happy to know he's a rapist.

[Consort]

It's time to put the Liberal Clitorati down and out.

[Tymesup]

Let's not forget the asterisk that if you are someday elected President, any past activities are pardoned.

[Scenic Sounds]

They do that? Men actually whine until they get sex? What an odd thing...

I think all women are different. I don't believe in violence, but hey, some of them just are just asking for a good licking. ;-)

[Scenic Sounds]

Uriah will be happy to know he's a rapist.

LMAO. ;-)

[Chad Fairbanks]

I know you emant that tongue in cheek ;0)

[LanPB01]

As an undergraduate in the mid-90's, my university was swamped by "Take Back the Night" (as if they had dropped it out of their purse somewhere) rallies and other such nonsense. One girl even wrote a column in the school paper describing a fraternity "rape room", where they brothers drugged women and had their way with them.

In reality, there was no such room. And since I worked for campus housing, I had access to all the information regarding criminal reports on campus. It turned out the only reported sexual assaults on campus during the whole academic year, at a university with 28,000 students, had been two male-on-male attacks.

[nothingnew]

It has become an expectation, and when true sexual trauma occurs, it gets swept away in the tide of indifference that this attitude has fostered.

BUMP

FMCDH

[jlogajan]

There has to be a clear boundary between what is and isn’t rape.

This is a statement of your desire rather than an imperative that you've demonstrated by evidence.

You would think there is a clear boundary between what is and isn't murder, but then you get into all sorts of accidental death / reckless endangerment scenarios and suddenly it isn't so clear after all.

Similarly it would be nice if there was always a clear boundary between what is and isn't theft/fraud. But then you get into financial dealings with different expectations and different levels of information, and the lines become blurry.

Rape is a question of consent. It'll always have a subjective component. You may hope and wish that you could always draw clear lines, but lacking a demonstration of certainty in all cases, your statement is just a wish and nothing more.

[upchuck]

Amen, Cathryn. Ya done good! This is just more of the "I'm a victim and therefore don't have to take any responsibility" crap.

[Cathryn Crawford]

As an undergraduate in the mid-90's, my university was swamped by "Take Back the Night" (as if they had dropped it out of their purse somewhere) rallies and other such nonsense. One girl even wrote a column in the school paper describing a fraternity "rape room", where they brothers drugged women and had their way with them.

I found an incredible amount of info about the "Take Back The Night" movement, but I didn't have room for all of the stats in this piece.

[oyez]

Some couples think begging is a form of foreplay.

[jlogajan]

The above should be directed to Cathryn, of course.

[ampat]

Seems to me giving alcohol or drugs for sex is a form of payment, therefore, prostitution.

[squidly]

Seems to me giving alcohol or drugs for sex is a form of payment, therefore, prostitution.

Ditto for diamond rings.

[LanPB01]

The "Take Back the Night" movement has basically evolved into a cult. I know women that graduated with me in 1997 that still attend all the rallies at our universitiy organized by these people.

[E.G.C.]

BTTT!!!!