anand@utastro.UUCP (Anand Sivaramakrishnan) (10/24/85)
> > > > Although I am perfectly willing, myself, to trust *no men* at > > all .... > > > > Ellen Eades > > -- > > Ellen, > Not trusting ANY man not to rape you rings of paranoia,..... > .... Your remarks are an abomination to decent men every where. > > ray --- Considering how many women have been raped, I don't think Ellen Eades' position is in the least bit paranoid. Suppose you knew that out of ten cars on a lot one was rigged up with a bomb wired to the ignition (and you could not open up the hood).... would you drive or walk? At a rough guess, one woman in 10 has been raped. Please reconsider whether you think Ms. Eades is paranoid. I do not consider her remarks offensive to me, but then I may not be a member of the set you defined above.
clyde@reed.UUCP (Clyde Bryja) (10/28/85)
In response to Ray Frank's rather gross response to Ellen Eades: > At a rough guess, one woman in 10 has been raped. Please > reconsider whether you think Ms. Eades is paranoid. I do not > consider her remarks offensive to me, but then I may not be a > member of the set you defined above. About five years ago (when I was still in high school) I was told by a friend that the statistics are close to ONE WOMAN (read a human female of any age) IN FOUR having to experience rape in her lifetime. I didn't believe it then, but I've heard this same statistic quoted from about half a dozen people (whom I consider to be trustworthy sources) since then. One of these people is a professional councilor. I've never seen this printed anywhere, though, but I don't doubt it anymore. It's very frightening! -- +++++++++++ "For Easter Day is Christmas time, Clyde Bryja And far away is near, Box 21, Reed College And two and two is more than four, Portland, OR 97202 And over there is here."
oleg@birtch.UUCP (Oleg Kiselev x268) (11/05/85)
In article <2062@reed.UUCP> clyde@reed.UUCP (Clyde Bryja) writes: >About five years ago (when I was still in high school) I was told >by a friend that the statistics are close to ONE WOMAN (read a human >female of any age) IN FOUR having to experience rape in her lifetime. I'll tell you something MUCH scarier and will repeat it as many times as it takes to get it through to the likes of Ray Frank: Current statistics is that 50% of women have been/will be raped AT LEAST once in her lifetime. Unoficial data from women's action/defence and feminis groups states that in USA 3 out of 4 women get raped. Only a small percentage of those rapes get reported. An even smaller percentage gets into courts. I use word "RAPE" for a situation in which a participant is taking part in a sexual act against her/his will. This includes oral, anal, genital sex and a few other less frequent practices. This also includes cases of a husbands forcing his wife to perform a sexual act. Marriage is NOT an ownership license and does NOT entitle either spouse to demand sex from another! It is sad that in society where men are a minority, men dominate all social and political institutions and IGNORE most problems of the female majority. DISCLAMER: I am NOT a feminist. I hate to see blatant injustices! -- Disclamer: My employers go to church every Sunday, listen to Country music, and donate money to GOP. I am just a deviant. ----------------------------------+ Don't bother, I'll find the door, "Only through a violent revolution| Oleg Kiselev. can the existing order be pre- |...!{trwrb|scgvaxd}!felix!birtch!oleg served..."-Perfect Student Union |...!{ihnp4|randvax}!ucla-cs!uclapic!oac6!oleg
wmartin@brl-tgr.ARPA (Will Martin ) (11/07/85)
In article <89@birtch.UUCP> oleg@birtch.UUCP (Oleg Kiselev x268) writes: >I use word "RAPE" for a situation in which a participant is taking part >in a sexual act against her/his will. I get the impression that the following situation would be described as or qualify as "rape" by the poster of the above: Scene = married couple in bed together -- Husband: "Hey, honey, let's..." [puts hand on her arm] Wife: "Nah, I don't feel like it..." Husband [whiningly]: "Aw, c'mon..." Wife [resignedly]: "Oh, OK..." And they have sex. There is no physical force; the wife agrees to grant access to sex in order to avoid later recrimination or argument or just to shut him up and get it all over with. One could probably characterize this as "psychological blackmail" or any of a string of pejorative or neutral terms, depending on what you point you want to make... Using this sort of criteria, I would guess that EVERY non-virgin of any sex has been "raped" at least once. Most males wouldn't admit it, feeling (probably unconsciously) that they have a macho image of "always being ready for sex" to perpetuate, but I think it works both ways. I will freely accept that it is much more likely that the woman would be the one cajoled, though. I don't think much of this sort of usage of the term "rape". It becomes overused and therefore loses its impact and seriousness. If you really DO care about rape, you shouldn't dilute the severity or the horrendousness of it by applying the term too widely or too generally. I feel that feminists who toss the term about too readily do just that, and therefore act in a self-defeating manner. (So, too, does anyone else doing so, but it seems most publicized [and therefore having the greatest ill-effect] when done by feminists.) You certainly can use the language any way you want, but you should take some thought to avoiding the weakening of your own tenets and position by being careless with the terminology. Too much of such dilution, and the reaction to statements about rape will degenerate into "so what? every woman claims she's been raped these days..." -- and THEN how will you inspire the emotional committment necessary to fight this? "Rape" still is a powerful word to the general public; it is much less powerful to those who have been exposed to it repeatedly (like those of us reading this newsgroup, or those who read the magazines and books of the feminist genre). It would be wise to stop this weakening before it becomes general and reduces the effect on the uninitiated, because what else will you have to replace it when it loses its impact? Will