General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: There's a lot of pushback when you point out and challenge examples of rape culture... [View all]joelbny
(21 posts)I suppose we do have to count all the rapists and molesters as rape apologists, not to mention the enablers and those who cover-up.
I guess I was thinking more of people publicly defending rape, which I would hope is rare. Anyway this story is sad and disturbing and just one of thousands of unknown incidents. As a progressive I do like to think there is hope for humanity to outgrow its tendency to violence.
Also the ubiquity of hardcore internet pornography available to boys as they enter puberty can't help. Not that I am blaming porn for this, but so much of it is misogynistic and downright abusive of women, it's hard not to think that boys' exposure to internet porn would influence them somehow on their relations to women.
I guess the whole fifty-shades phenomenon confuses the porn issue. I was surprised how popular those books were among women (I haven't read them, just the kindle samples, which were a bit creepy). I had an ex who was into rough sex/being dominated, but I thought this was more of a niche kink thing, but apparently it's more mainstream. And I thought I was jaded and worldly!
Anyway I'm not equating 50-shades or misogynist porn to rape, but it does confuse the whole morality-of-pornography issue, which I would think has some relation to rape. But there are the pro-porn feminists and the anti-porn feminists I suppose, complicated area.