The Multiple Faces of Rape

http://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2014/07/01/my-own-rape-shows-how-badly-we-stereotype-perps-and-victims/

       In this article from the Washington Post, Richard Morgan, a writer from New York, discloses the details of his own experience with rape in an attempt to shed a bright light on the issue. He discusses a range of different kinds of rape including "War-crime rape, date rape, rape as a ritual for pledging a fraternity, spousal rape, incest, rape with known assailants, rape with unknown assailants, police officers sodomizing a man with a broomstick. Rape contains multitudes." He expands to stress that, "Any discussion of rape is going to require us as a culture to get much more imaginative about it." Which makes sense, considering that sex is defined by behaviors. And these behaviors that cause sexual arousal in an individual, fundamentally have to do with their unique biopsychosocial development and life experiences. So, just like sex and sexual activity can take on a ton of different forms, rape can and does as well.

       This article also opened my eyes to a different perspective on, and made me think about, what it means to be a victim. Richard touches on the stigma associated with men and rape by saying, "When male victims are discussed, it’s almost always about children [...] For adults, in or out of prison, male-on-male rape is mostly thought of as an attack on a heterosexual victim, rape adding homophobic insult to injury." I'm sure we've all heard about the stereotypical men in the alley waiting for t he women wearing something just a little too tight, who may have been "asking for it". It was interesting to me to see how sexuality plays such a large role in how we deem and qualify an individual worthy of being treated as a victim or not, regardless of the actual circumstances/series of events. 

       What are your thoughts on the matter? What truly makes an individual a victim?