Rape apology
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*Steven King (R-[[Iowa|IA]]) in August 2012 stated that he’d never heard of a child getting pregnant from statutory rape or incest. <ref>http://2012.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/08/steve-king-statutory-rape.php?ref=fpnewsfee</ref> | *Steven King (R-[[Iowa|IA]]) in August 2012 stated that he’d never heard of a child getting pregnant from statutory rape or incest. <ref>http://2012.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/08/steve-king-statutory-rape.php?ref=fpnewsfee</ref> | ||
| − | + | ==Strange Analogies and Political Backpeddling== | |
In August 2012 Senate candidate Tom Smith (R-[[Pennsylvania|PA]]) asserted that his daughter's unmarried pregnancy was ''similar'' to rape; this isn't quite the same thing as the above comments but it's a completely bizarre analogy nonetheless.<ref>[http://2012.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/08/pennsylvania-tom-smith-senate-pregnancy-rape-unwed-daughter.php Pennsylvania Senate Candidate: Daughter’s Out-Of-Wedlock Pregnancy ‘Similar’ To Rape,] Talking Points Memo</ref> | In August 2012 Senate candidate Tom Smith (R-[[Pennsylvania|PA]]) asserted that his daughter's unmarried pregnancy was ''similar'' to rape; this isn't quite the same thing as the above comments but it's a completely bizarre analogy nonetheless.<ref>[http://2012.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/08/pennsylvania-tom-smith-senate-pregnancy-rape-unwed-daughter.php Pennsylvania Senate Candidate: Daughter’s Out-Of-Wedlock Pregnancy ‘Similar’ To Rape,] Talking Points Memo</ref> | ||
Revision as of 22:24, 28 August 2012
Rape apologists are those who suggest that rape is misreported, infrequent, not that big a deal, or even excusable in some circumstances, such as within a marriage or if the victim was "provocatively dressed."
Predictably, rape apologists are usually those who oppose reproductive rights for women, and/or those who feel that marriage equals ownership. One example is Phyllis Schlafly's comment that "by getting married, the woman has consented to sex, and I don't think you can call it rape."[1]
Contents |
Allegations of frequent false reporting
Rape apologists frequently accuse women of misreporting rape, or "crying rape" to get what they want (like an abortion). Accusations of rape against partners or other acquaintances are sometimes disbelieved by others and perceived as a spiteful reaction to some other grievance.
Statistics, however, show that rape is dramatically under-reported.[2][3][4]
It's not rape if...
...it's not "forcible"
Rape apologists frequently refer only to "forcible" rape when condemning rape or proposing legislation relating to rapes and their consequences. This explicitly excludes statutory rape, which is the only legitimate reason that the term "forcible rape" even exists. It implicitly excludes rapes committed with date-rape drugs, along with many marital rapes and those committed by people the victim knew, because those rapes are apparently less rapey than the stranger-in-an-alley scenario, which is statistically less common.
...she's asleep!
On the same day as a host of Republicans were shoving their foots in their mouths, UK MP George Galloway added his own take on rape, specifically referencing Julian Assange's sexual assault charges. Apparently it's not rape if she's asleep: "This is something which can happen, you know. I mean, not everybody needs to be asked prior to each insertion."[5]
Pregnancy as a counter-indication to rape
Rape apologists have suggested that if a women gets pregnant then she was at least partly consensual to intercourse and cannot have been forcibly raped. This is used by pro-lifers to handwave the inconvenient subject of rape-induced pregnancy, and avoid allowing two of the standard allowable reasons for abortions: rape and incest. This is perhaps one of the real-life examples of Skarka's Law.
Of course, this is not true - in fact, studies have shown that rape is more likely to result in conception than ordinary sexual acts.[6]
Use by Republicans
"Real rape can't get you pregnant" has a history of use by American conservatives, closely aligned with the Religious Right:[7]
- Stephen Freind (R-PA), in 1988, stated that conception only takes place in "one in millions and millions and millions" of rapes, because rape causes women to "secrete a certain secretion, that kills sperm. [8]
- Henry Aldridge (R-NC), in 1995, stated "The facts show that people who are raped — who are truly raped — the juices don't flow, the body functions don't work and they don't get pregnant. Medical authorities agree that this is a rarity, if ever." [9]
- Todd Akin (R-MO) in August 2012 stated that "if it's a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down".[10]
- Steven King (R-IA) in August 2012 stated that he’d never heard of a child getting pregnant from statutory rape or incest. [11]
Strange Analogies and Political Backpeddling
In August 2012 Senate candidate Tom Smith (R-PA) asserted that his daughter's unmarried pregnancy was similar to rape; this isn't quite the same thing as the above comments but it's a completely bizarre analogy nonetheless.[12]
Also in August, Wisconsin Lieutenant Governor Rebecca Kleefish originally condemned Akin's comments (stating quite clearly that "rape is rape") until she was reminded that fellow Wisconsin Republican (and current Vice Presidential candidate) Paul Ryan co-sponsored a US House bill with Akin that would have limited Federal funding for abortions except in cases of rape recategorized by the bill as "forcible" or incest.[13] Kleefish then backpeddled and invoked the possibility of "more forcible rape", a semantic distinction that may not mean very much to rape victims.[14]
Extraordinary people are the product of rape
In further Republican minimization of rape, Mike Huckabee said as a response to Todd Akin's "legitimate rape" gaffe, "Some extraordinary people have come from forcible rape," including the gospel singer, Ethel Waters (who was obviously well adjusted - married at age 13, divorced shortly after, and was not the product of forcible rape, but rather Republican Approved Statutory Rape) and this other guy you've never heard of, but who was equally well adjusted - with the violently assaulting the non-forceable rapist who blessed his mother with his life (ungrateful!).[15] He doesn't mention the extraordinary courage necessary to raise a child of rape, or the extraordinary strength of any woman dealing with rape and pregnancy, no matter what she chooses to do. Guess the survivors are not all that extraordinary.
See also
Footnotes
- ↑ Schlafly: Married Women Can’t Be Raped By Husbands. Right Wing Watch: March 29, 2007.
- ↑ http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20110218135832/http://rds.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs05/hors293.pdf
- ↑ American Medical Association (1995) Sexual Assault in America.
- ↑ http://www.hmic.gov.uk/media/without-consent-20061231.pdf
- ↑ http://feministing.com/2012/08/21/british-mp-george-galloway-defends-assange-its-not-rape-if-shes-asleep
- ↑ http://in.reuters.com/article/2012/08/20/usa-politics-abortion-claim-idINL2E8JKI1320120820
- ↑ http://jezebel.com/5936160/the-official-guide-to-legitimate-rape?tag=todd-akin
- ↑ http://articles.philly.com/1988-03-23/news/26277205_1_freind-woman-secretes-luigi-mastroianni
- ↑ http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Lawmaker-Says-Rape-Can-t-Cause-Pregnancy-3036411.php
- ↑ http://fox2now.com/2012/08/19/the-jaco-report-august-19-2012/
- ↑ http://2012.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/08/steve-king-statutory-rape.php?ref=fpnewsfee
- ↑ Pennsylvania Senate Candidate: Daughter’s Out-Of-Wedlock Pregnancy ‘Similar’ To Rape, Talking Points Memo
- ↑ Akin Bad: Paul Ryan’s ‘Forcible Rape’ Bill Co-Sponsor Drags Him Into Daylight, Mediaite
- ↑ Wisconsin Lt. Governor Rebecca Kleefisch: Some Rapes Are More Equal Than Others, Gawker
- ↑ Extraordinary people come from rape".