Flirty women responsible for rape?

Post Reply New Topic

If rape is all about irresistable attraction, male rapists have weird taste in women.

Like vivi said, it's about power, not sex.

That's not true. In order to be directly proportional to the factors over which you have control, that means the factors you can't control must not play any role at all -- otherwise the relationship is not directly proportional.

I think the factors that you can't control (e.g. the mental state of the man in question) outweigh things such as dress or inebriation. A man who is not interested in committing rape will not rape you no matter how provocatively you dress or how much you've had to drink. I think the vast majority of men fall into that category.

Jeremy

Don't look at me, I'm not one of them. Remember, I don't belong here, I'm on the wrong planet. I only appear to be human. But I've had 61 years to observe this strange species.



Go for it!

All other things being equal, the more attractive the women makes herself, the more likely she is to get attacked, IMO. If she looks like a dead dog, and rarely leaves her well secured house, the probability is, to all intents and purposes "0". If she's pissed out of her skull, riding the tube butt-naked with "come f**k me" written in lipstick on her arse, the probability would be "1".

It's a long while since I studied maths. I don't pretend that the above is "directly proportional" per se, but figuratively (and we're not in a maths lecture here) it's not far off, I think. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

That's a common belief (and it may be true, for all I know), but is there any evidence that shows that that's really the case? I think we're getting ahead of ourselves a little bit.

Jeremy

rapists seek power. Not just physical pain, but the desire to humiliate and mentally scar them. Not sexual gratification. Unless somebody can prove me wrong, there is no link between sexual attractiveness and likelihood of being attacked.

Do they still have have pepper spray?

I'd like to divulge some of my own personal and private thoughts on rape, but I doubt it's appropriate in this forum. My thoughts on rape don't exactly relate to much of anything mentioned yet.

I did a quick search on google, and found some figures saying 80% of victims are under 30 (when they're at their most sexually attractive). I've not time to find more information to corroborate that; but if true, would lend some weight to what I've said. Also consider that in the mind of a potential rapist sexual satisfaction (penetration of pretty looking young ladies), and the wish to control, are not necessarily mutually exclusive.

People only rape because they can't singe.

LOL, sanity.

i do realise that men may be thinking about "screwing" me- i am quite happy for them to think all they want. but that still doesn't make it my responsibility if a man tries to force himself on me. one can only do so much to ensure one's safety- i don't want to live my life in fear, wearing a black veil over my head, just because there is a minority of people out there who interpret a glimpse of flesh as a green light.

but, i agree with CRACK and the others who say that rape is more about power than sexual attraction, anyway. the reason why i agree with this is because i have read about many high-profile rapists who were considered good-looking and popular by those that knew them. if they had wanted to seduce their victim they could've easily done so- instead they chose to use physical force because inflicting suffering on their victim was their objective- not sexual gratification.

i don't know, vivi...... where did you see it last?!

Actually-and please correct me if I'm wrong on this, I was having trouble finding any reliable statistics-I do believe a significant percentage of rapists-notwithstanding what is probably a very common rape situation, one in which one or more of the party has had too much to drink-fall into the category of sociopaths/violent criminals. So I have to disagree with Ed as I think that in fact very few men are potential rapists, as I think it is now generally believed that people become sociopaths as a result of early childhood neglect/abuse and other factors. In the case of a sociopath/violent criminal, it's about both sex and power-they get sexual gratification from exerting power and dominance over the victim, and from hurting the victim, similar to serial killers. Unless the rape is opportunistic, I think they tend to target victims who are attractive or confident because they get more gratification from controlling such people. In cases like this it's not as much a gender issue but a deeply rooted social problem that must be tackled to the best of our ability. And of course in these cases it's no more the fault of the victim than in any other violent crime, and I cannot imagine the horror of being the victim of such a crime It's my biggest fear.

I agree that a very common scenario in which rape occurs is when one or more of the party has had too much to drink. I agree with what's been said above-if the person has clearly said no, of course it's rape, but when the person says yes but cannot think clearly, it is more of a gray area, since I agree that people are responsible for their actions when intoxicated, in this sort of situation and in other sorts of situations. This is one situation where I'd say it wasn't rape as long as both parties are not able to think clearly. If whoever sleeps with her still has the capacity to think clearly though, then I think that if it's not rape (and I'd say that it is, and that it is not the victims fault) it's at least deplorable of a person to take advantage of another person who is not thinking clearly, unless they had some prior understanding while both thinking clearly that it is ok. I forget where I read this, and I'm just paraphrasing here, but someone made a very good point once that people should be more respectful in such situations, and if the guy really respected a girl in that situation he would never take advantage of her but protect her. This last issue, as well the other remaining rape scenario-someone simply taking advantage of someone else-are the two in which I think are gender issues-the tendency of society to portray women's bodies as an object whose primary purpose is for sexual gratification. Of course most people don't see it to extreme though( I hope), so I still disagree that most people have the capacity to commit rape. I think that there are a lot of misconceptions about rape.

Just quick comment, can't reply to replies until Saturday unless I find an open WLAN, as I'll be in Florida:

Rape is quite common among the animal kingdom.
And early humans certainly raped. Early wars were about land, food, and women.
Therefore, I'd say that the deep inhibition most humans (even with AS) feel about rape is not likely so much genetic as much as social programing of inhibition. It's become almost as taboo as cannibalism, the ultimate cultural no-no.
Therefore, even people without much restraint and many inhibitions are unlikely to commit rape because it's not even something that would immediately occur to them to do. This as juxtaposed to the frat-boy reinforcement of the "ha-ha, I'm so bad let's go spray paint bridges" mentality.

You don't leave your cell phone on the passenger seat of the car and not expect to return to find the glass smashed and the phone gone, do you? That doesn't excuse the thief — he's still committed a crime — but you'll get little sympathy from anyone, including the police. You would have contributed to your own misfortune — you've ignored obvious risks.

You can apply the same to being attacked and raped. Why shouldn't you? It doesn't make rape right, but if you're sensible, and take certain precautions, you can reduce the risk, I think

You've only got to visit a city centre on a Saturday night to see young ladies, dressed like cheap hookers, out of their faces on booze to realise certain young people have little appreciation of risk. It seems many have the attitude that it's always someone else's problem, that they have no control over their own destiny, and that their guardian angel that is our liberal democracy will protect them: that's not true. Lifes's all about probability, you can never be certain about anything; but if you behave in a certain way, you can stack the odds in your favour. You don't have to wear a black veil, or live in constant fear. Instead, dress sensibly, don't get drunk, and be aware of where you are, and what's going on around you. If you ignore that advice, and get raped, I'd be happy to see the rapist shot; but you would get little sympathy from me.

Ascan, that's the whole problem right there. Women are not cell phones, jewelry, keys or stereos. We're not things....we are people and the meme that women are property is still very strong in our society. That's why we think a guy can't control himself from raping because what he's doing is stealing belongings, not hurting another human being. We have got to get away from that kind of thinking as that's what makes the world so unsafe for women, children and to an extent, men too.