According to Mackinnon, a scholar of violence against women believes that rape occurs because women resist. The male is the dominant in the action and the female is the submissive. If the female were to accept the assertiveness of the male, then what would be considered rape otherwise would become sex (208). Based on this one has to assume that men, because they are the aggressor, cannot be raped by another woman.
What happens when the woman becomes the aggressor and the man says no? The image itself is hard to imagine. And even if this was the case, people are reluctant to call it rape. The idea that a man can’t stop a woman from having sex with him or the thought that he would want to, is beyond many people, both men and women alike. Consider this, a woman gets drunk and goes to a room in an attempt to sleep it off. A man follows her into the room a little later and decides to take advantage of the situation. The girl is too inebriated to say no or fight back, however it is still considered rape because just because she was unable to say no, it does not mean that she consented. What would happen if the roles were reversed and it was the male taken advantage of in his drunken state? Honestly, nothing. More than likely, even if the male did feel violated, he would not report it to anyone. And even if he did come forward, is there actually a real chance that he will be heard or believed? And what if two women were involved? Can a woman rape another woman? Technically, neither would be considered rape if no biological (penile) penetration was done to the victim.
To me if sex if forced on someone who says ‘no’ or isn’t competent enough to consent, it should be considered rape, no matter what sex or gender of the aggressors or victims are. I am honestly interested in getting feedback on this topic. I want to know where some people stand on this and why.
The main difference why it is so much worse for females comes from society. In society women are looked down upon as damgaged goods almost if they have been raped. This comes from the fact that society usually says that women should not be very sexually ative. For men its the opposite. If a man is raped by a woman society dosn't think, oh you poor man what are you going to do now? They think, your a man your supposed to be sexually active, deal with it. With women its different, since society tells them not be as sexually active they treat them like broken objects once they are raped. This attitude might make the woman feel more violated because she was brought up to think that.
ReplyDeleteEither way both instances of rape are wrong, however i think women have it worse because they are treated so differently afterwords. Like something is wrong with them.
To Jared: But wouldn't it be harder for a man for the reasons you just stated. Women may get coddled and get the "poor thing" treatment, but they are more likely than men to get justice or be believed. Wouldn't the lack of acknowledgment for a man who has been raped eel like being violated again? The man has been violated, but because he is a man and supposed to be sexually active he is completely dismissed and treated like something is wrong with them.
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