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SEX, LIES AND FEMINISM |
4 Pages - Page 3 |
| 5. The Legal Concept of Rape |
 | | So I think we have to decide whether, or to what extent, rape and female passivity are two sides of the same genetically programmed coin, and to design our legal system in accordance with that decision. The trouble is that the prevalence of Feminist propaganda has tended to have the effect (in this area as elsewhere) of letting women have their cake and eat it, too. Women have the luxury of being able to rely on men to make all the moves - and then they can accuse them of rape as and when the whim takes them.
Masculists should demand sexual equality in the area of sex crimes. The types of crimes that women commit should be more heavily penalised than they are at present. To balance the crime of rape (unless it is downgraded in some way), I suggest that there should be some legal way of penalising women to an equivalent degree for failing to take the initiative in sexual relationships - or (alternatively) for rejecting a man when it could be argued that she had "led him on" (in the context of the culture in which they lived). |
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The point is that in practice, and in the overwhelming majority of cases, men are in the position of having to initiate sexual relationships with women in the face of a female attitude ranging from active discouragement (often, but of course not always turning into acquiescence if the man persists), through apparent indifference, to ambiguous non-discouragement, with possible "signs" of receptivity.
I have heard of one study which claims to show that, in singles bars, it is the women that initiate the sexual relationships. However, as far as the first actual physical contact is concerned, it seems that this was deemed to include "incidental" or "quasi-accidental" touching of the man by the woman. This would be typical of the general "deniability" stance of women in sexual relationships. Although I have not been able to read that study myself, it seems likely that the actual unambiguous, risk-taking transition from casual acquaintance to physical/sexual relationship is still the responsibility of the male.
Relatively recently, the phenomenon of "date rape" has hit the headlines, particularly in the United States. What is new about date rape is that it marks an attempted shift in the definition of "rape". Previously, the ordinary citizen would have assumed that rape was sexual intercourse which was forced on a woman who had stated that she was unwilling to participate in it. With date rape came the idea that rape was what a man committed if he had sexual intercourse with a woman who had not explicitly requested it.
This is totally unfair to men. As Thomas (1993) puts it; "... there seems little way in which a boy can avoid being accused of rape. For boys are still expected to take girls out, pour a couple of drinks down them, plead everlasting love and then make a pass.... If you don't at least try to seduce them, girls are apt to get offended (and start casting aspersions on your virility - PZ). And ... there may never be a moment at which anyone actually asks, 'May I?' or gets the answer 'Yes'." (op.cit., page 178)
Then there's the old problem of women who say "no" and mean "yes". Many Feminists deny that this ever happens, but Thomas (1993) cites a 1991 poll, conducted among female students at the University of Texas's psychology department, where nearly 50% of respondents admitted to saying "no" to sexual advances while really meaning "yes" or "maybe". Most men must be aware of this sort of behaviour from their own experience. |
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| 6. The Political Context of Rape |
I find myself in total agreement with Barbara Amiel, quoted by Thomas (1993, pages 178-9) as writing that the sex war: "has moved from the liberal goal of equality between the sexes to the political goal of power for women, and is now well on the road to legislating out of existence the biologically based mating habits of our species.... Feminists wish male sexuality to be immaterial in criminal law. Women should be free to engage in any type of behaviour that suits their own sexuality without regard to the consequences. This approach views men as vibrators: women may pick them up, switch them on, play around and then, if the off- switch doesn't work, sue the manufacturer for damages."
I also agree with Amiel's conclusion that the hidden agenda behind the whole date-rape issue could be found in the fact that the US National Organization of Women, America's leading Feminist organization, had just announced that its senior leaders were Lesbians. It would be psychologically very hard for Feminist activists to keep attacking men in the way that they do if they were at the same time emotionally and sexually involved in relationships with men. It is quite clear that many Feminist writers and activists hate/hated men - and they probably hate/hated men becase they are/were Lesbians.
It may also be a chicken-and-egg situation, to some extent: some women may become Lesbians as a result of joining the Feminist movement and meeting Lesbian Feminists; others may have started out as Lesbians, and then seen the Feminist movement as a way of expressing their dislike of men. Still others may have been bisexuals or closet Lesbians who found that the Feminist movement provided an environment more conducive to Lesbianism than to Heterosexuality. Some may have joined the Women's Movement mainly in order to find partners, even ! |
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