The issue of rape is an ongoing drama of ownership. Beliefs have placed this event of violence on an auction block of ownership, haggling the victims numbers and nature to establish an outcome that barters a broader definition. It is in fact a definitive understanding we are bidding on. Because we live in times in which our popular perceptions are directed to see the glass as half empty and the half that is full as financed, threats to our safety loom larger by perception. It is this very perception that drives public policy to a frenzy of selective policing in response to our fears. It is no different with rape, as evidenced by a zero tolerance policy that can be understood as more of a selective response to what we choose to believe.
Any discussion of rape between genders is quickly polarized by highly politicized statements such as “all men are rapists” and in most cases the conversation turns to the effects of rape rather than contributing factors. It is justified ad hominem and correct for a man to feel a sense of shame in discussing this with a woman. It’s called empathy and it is a very human trait. It is reasonable to suggest discussing the effects of rape leads to a more sympathetic view. However sympathy from a rapist would only be directed at themselves if at all. With the ever changing definition of rape it would do well for men to understand that no means no and unless you choose the risk, yes also means no. Curbing rape may lie solely in the hands of women and the documentation they are willing to provide.
Numbers Don’t Lie…Until Questioned.
The numbers unfortunately have been politicized to an extent that the nature of prevalence is obscured by argument as to what is valid. The FBI offers a model of aggregate statistics collected from law enforcement agencies from state to state based on actual occurrence, with accompanying caveats as to the accuracy. When drilling down further to local municipalities it is evident that the numbers are not recorded based on occurrence but may be grouped. Sexual assaults may include common assault rape may be diluted with occurrences of sexual assault. The method in which statistics are aggregated or mixed on a local level may be to service local issues relating to deployment of support services, manpower and funding.
Following the trail of other groups for numbers, such as the National Organization of Women leads to the Bureau of Justice web site. Reading the references supplied by N.O.W. it is the survey year of 2006 in which they aggregate their message regarding “sexual violence”. It is this year in which the Bureau outlines anomalies in their statistics that result in an exaggerated outcome that cannot be attributed to an increase in crime and have been removed from their year to year tables.
The Bureau collects their information by survey direct to households in search of victims. The year to year table is stunning and I have included it here. It is worth noting that the graph includes statistics for all occurrences of rape over the age of 12, both genders gay and straight. What is noticeable is the decline in the occurrence from 1979 to 2009, with no meaningful upturn since 1991. To translate this into the lingo of the N.O.W. in ‘79 there were roughly 1,945 rapes per day. Contrasted to 2009 in which approximately 208 rapes per day were committed. It is a decline in occurrence almost tenfold. Breathtaking to see a decline almost eight fold occur over the course of just twenty years. Such a decline in prevalence raises questions although not conclusive I suggest the following, attrition, law and abortion. Many suggest “aging out” a demographic transition in the youth population away from a “baby boomer” population. North Carolina in 1993 became the last state to remove the spousal exemption for marital rape, a closing message to the culture of marriage. My favourite is Roe v Wade and sanctioned abortion in 1973, eighteen years later we see a steady decline not just in rape but all areas of crime. Interesting to note that between 1973 and 2005, 45 million abortions have been carried out, a compound affect in that it removed perpetrators and victims from the population.
The Body as Currency
It is strictly my opinion, but I contend that rape has long been part of an economy of the body, the ability to trade when we have nothing except ourselves. It is this marketplace where you will find the most deception, and the least reward. The ability to exploit with cunning and insight in this economy can yield dividends and profit and is as subtle as a favour and as exploitive as slavery. It is what moves the planet when the banks are closed. In the lower ranks of existence where money is short and work is long the skin trade may be the only source to gain bonus and benefit. An afternoon building a deck can be traded for, well whatever you can get that will settle your bill. A hot meal, use of the car, all the beer you can drink (till the jobs done) or sex. It’s an economy that trades in satisfaction, not prosperity or profit, And once you monetize satisfaction you objectify everything.
Every Man Is a Rapist…Yeah, so What’s Your Point?
Every man is in some way offended by this statement it removes dignity and applies accusation to the sense of their own humanity. I am less offended by it and in fact, agree with it in a way most men don’t. If you are married you may be upset with the “inventory” of your partner’s complaints. Conversations are quickly hijacked by the never ending “list” while the difficulty you are attempting to address takes 2nd then 3rd place. Welcome to female economics. You may have experienced sex for service in your relationship right after the purchase of a new refrigerator or jewellery. I myself was offered a blow job by my partner for every 5 thousand dollars of receivables I collected in my business, this from someone that was repulsed by the thought. Is it any wonder that when sex is devalued by not meeting the asking price that a man would be a rapist. The “list” of complaints is your bar tab, your outstanding debt. When a woman “settles” she is not settling for you it’s your debt to her that she “settles” for. It’s a skin trade of female economics and you owe, you owe, it’s off to work you go.
It is no different outside of marriage when courting the painted package batting her eyes and smiling sensually as you reach for the bill. It’s a product launch seeking the best price, monetized in easy weekly payments with financing built in, a consume-her driven economy. Men should be wary, product offerings and discounted specials may be the warning sign of a vagicon lemonade stand. When seeking refreshment it is a safe bet and prudent to get a receipt, even if you record it yourself. The vagicons are everywhere armed with crooked smiles and feigned competence just waiting for a big strong man. In fact for those who can’t resist bartering drinks in a bar for vagipoints, next time you decide to bring her home don’t sleep with her get her to build your deck or do the dishes. In this economy there is no equality only debt from the moment of purchase, the moment you plant your seed you have leased the land and your occupancy. There is no doubt in my mind that many bad deals in the dating milieu have ended with charges of rape. Let the buyer beware!
What’s the Big Deal…Isn’t Rape Educational?
Again with the “rape culture” the bellowing can be heard by the deaf, better it should be called what it is, “selective rape”. This culture has a single focus and a single language spoken by the cunnilinguist. The plight of anyone else and particularly men will garner a double dose of shame to set you straight. So callous is the mindset that Catherine Comins, assistant dean of student life at Vassar is quoted saying “men who are unjustly accused can sometimes gain from the experience”. Cunnilinguists openly ignore the plight of men and particularly those in prison, Ms. Comins preferred institute of education for men. She speaks in cunnilingualisms with the brevity of a self-serving worm better defined of late by the term vagicon. It is the violence of rape that Ms. Comins suggests is the educator in a prison system where 1 in 5 men suffer from attack, where the prevalence inside exceeds the prevalence outside. There is no better definition of “rape culture” than a culture that would incarcerate men and ignore their plight, a culture that controls the institutions, the very cages where it occurs and offers it as comedic candy and entertainment.
Because the portion of our glass that is full is financed, we are invested in the improvement of our lives to such an extent that we rely on others and particularly the media for our larger understandings. It is our larger understandings that form a public opinion that is bartered by professional politicians to form the policy that will govern our daily lives. It is the media and it’s manipulation that serves this bullshit on a daily basis, I for one am shutting them off, and advocating for an education in the truth.
