This comment by JohnH on the post Jimmy Savile, Rape Culture and the Lessons for Us All
But rape is a problem of control, not sex, and control is, necessarily, linked to general disrespect and dominance, to a general lack of consent even in mild issues of dominance. We need to decide if there is a continuum of disrespect, micro-aggressions, sexual advances, sexual violence, rape and predatory sexual behavior.” Yes Graham, our definition of rape needs to be expanded to include a wide variety of human disrespect and transgressions. That feminists have Shanghaied the term to give women a elevated sense of victimization shows a lack of compassion and respect for all those who have been forced to submit to dominance and shame. No, this is not a simple case of male aggression against females, but a broader spectrum of power and control of an elite over the disenfranchised. As you point out in the Jimmy Savile case, a celebrity (rich and famous) can do the most horrendous things to others without condemnation by society and even peers. This is a case of class privilege that has raged for millennia where the rich can force their power over the less fortunate and there is no retribution. This is not merely a sexual issue, but class warfare where rape and humiliation is the weapon to keep the oppressed in their place. Yes, you do right in broadening the term, rape, to include the many who are shamed and humiliated beyond sexual assault.
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Food for Thought:
We should think of and deal with rape as a much broader issue that goes way beyond the horrible physical violation of sexual rape to include oppression, control and abuse of the many by the privileged and powerful class.
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Rape is a violent crime committed by sociopaths. These are broken people who have grown up with violence most or all of their lives, and are a very small percentage of the population. This myth of “every man is a potential rapist because men need to be taught to control themselves” is dangerous feminist propaganda and needs to be called out.
I think your instinct is probably right. Once you consider a group of people less than you, be it because of their gender, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation, economic and social position etc, you open the door to treating them with disrespect, violence and worst, since they are not “human” or of equal value to you.
I never thought about it that way – rape not as a problem of sex, but as a problem of control. I wonder if there is a correlation between the importance given to equality (i.e. respect to all peoples irrespective of personal characteristics) and incidences of rape?