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Friday, July 27, 2012

Horrors / Sexual Politics A Little Light Friday Reading (About Rape)

Posted by Cienna Madrid on Fri, Jul 27, 2012 at 1:59 PM

It's a Friday (TGIF!), you're stoked about the weekend (RIGHT?!!) and about the baked eggs and ham thing you just ate (FUCKIN' YUM), and you're cruising for a little light reading to aid the digestion process.

How about all these horrific Reddit stories from rapists detailing why they rape?

I know, I know: Horrifying and depressing. But, as Jezebel points out:


...it's impossible to talk about the reasons people rape without involving rapists in the discussion. Rapists aren't hiding in the bushes: around two-thirds of rapes are committed by someone known to the victim, and 73 percent of sexual assaults are perpetrated by a non-stranger. It's a mistake to think we're justifying rapists' actions by listening to their stories. Some of them are tough to read, but their brutal honesty effectively illustrates how a lack of communication and education perpetuates rape culture. Ignoring or dismissing these men (and women) out of hand may be an effective coping strategy for a given individual, but not for society. It gets us nowhere.

So why'd they do it? What were they thinking?

I couldn't get through very much of the Reddit thread, but Jezebel highlights a few and parses through the rapists' underlying justifications—I got mixed messages! My hormones got away from me! I was peer pressured into raping that girl!—which is really what we need to be focused on. Just as women should know to use the talking point "no means no," both men and women should be made aware of the cadre of bullshit excuses used by men to justify sexual assault, because women don't rape themselves.

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