Body Counts, Culinary Expression, and Other Notes
Bells said:
And as I said earlier, sociobiologists who argue your point always, and I mean always, bring it back to rape prevention for the woman and they always ignore and disregard that young fertile women are only a portion of rape victims and they always ignore child rape victims, male rape victims and the elderly who are rape victims and they also always ignore that women and children also rape.. Why? Because it does not fit into their theory.
It is a disconnection occurring between science and social policy. If the science supports this biological trigger argument, then the U.S. is in terrible trouble, because we have no device in place to deal with it. That is to say, sure, maybe men need to be locked up, but the law doesn't allow it.
Indeed, in the biological trigger argument, it seems the onus should not be so much on the women as the men. After all, as
Billvon argued:
However, a woman should use common sense and not marry violent, irresponsible and/or criminal men. Fortunately most make such sensible decisions - which is why that particular bit of sense is, in fact, common. This, of course, does not excuse rape."
Now, setting aside that his argument of "common sense" translates to "adherence to unfounded myth" instead of "obvious course according to reliable outcomes", we might then consider the men's selection of rape targets.
If this is about men being fundamentally inclined toward rape, then we might say that instead of putting the onus on women to select better men, it is up to the rapey men to find the women who will allow them to conduct themselves as such.
But no. In this argument, it is simply unfair to put that burden on men.
These advocatesmight
think they're smart, but in the end they are simply disgusting and, more importantly, dangerous.
Here, I think, is an aspect our neighbors are overlooking:
If it's ever, say, Trooper's turn to be fucked and beaten into a bloody pulp in an alley, should we treat her with the same cruel hatred she shows rape survivors today?
The thing is that as much as we might think such a moment would bring us satisfaction, it doesn't. Poetic justice that ends up with the class asshole finding a Slurpee poured down his shorts is one thing, but there is no justice, poetic or otherwise, in the idea of Trooper being fucked and beaten into code blue. It is
always easy to dispense self-righteous, hateful advice if one entertains the notion that they are somehow immune. But I sincerely doubt that, should it ever be Trooper's turn, or perhaps someone close to her, that she will cling to this misogyny she's undertaken for the sake of how she does or doesn't like someone else.
When I think of the rape survivors I've known over the years, two tragedies stick out in my mind, and one is relatively recent.
The recent one is the realization that
women's expectation of sexual violence is real enough that it's true, some women stop considering rape by its name. And, it's also true that, whatever psychological disruptions rape may cause are frequently masked within that social context. That is to say, as I've gotten older, the damage expressed by rape survivors generally seems to lessen with age, barring extraordinary circumstances.
And, yes, one can say what he or she will about the suggestion of "extraordinary circumstances" in rape. That is, one might say, "So, this happened, and I can't sleep, and it's tearing me up", but age and guile, or perhaps, as morbid as it sounds,
practice, generally means I'm not sitting up all night, back to back with a rape survivor, guarding against Satan itself emerging from the shadows in the corner of the room.
But the longer knowledge is the more important one, and, for me, stems from a tale that involves sitting back to back all night in a room with a delusional rape survivor fearing the Devil would emerge from the shadows. Look, it might sound coldly analytical from the outside perspective, but the survivors I've known who have recovered most strongly are the ones who had genuine, loving support, people who would give their lives if necessary to create a safe realm for their wounded friends and family to heal.
And those who faltered? Those who
didn't make it through? Those we can no longer call rape
survivors?
You know the punch line, and it's not funny at all. Trooper? Geoff? Billvon? It's enough to give a person religion, if only so they might pray, "God help the rape survivor in their company."
The ones who didn't make it through
drowned in the flood of blame and hatred against the victim, and
asphyxiated in the toxic justifications awarded the rapist.
Body counts are one thing. This is life and we are human. But the idea of body counts just because some men want to improve their chances of getting some tail?
If I cut your throat with a kitchen knife, is it
murder, or
culinary expression? Maybe I could stomp your head in with
futból spikes; it's not murder, but a sports celebration. Shoot you with a rifle? It's not murder, but a successful hunt.