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From: mazur@inmet.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.women
Subject: Re: Re: Rape by Women?!?!? - Prejudice?? - (nf)
Message-ID: <996@inmet.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 5-Mar-84 23:54:38 EST
Article-I.D.: inmet.996
Posted: Mon Mar  5 23:54:38 1984
Date-Received: Wed, 7-Mar-84 07:23:30 EST
Lines: 57

#R:rabbit:-255200:inmet:10900055:000:2668
inmet!mazur    Mar  4 21:49:00 1984


	What does this have to do with men raping women?  Well, I can't see
	why any individual should fear another individual, unless
	the lesson that they've learned from life is that 
	"All strangers are bad", or "All men are bad" or
	some combination of the above.  This is the foremost thing that
	a woman learns from hearing about  rape and rape victims.  

	The effects of this  fear extend far beyond the victim 
	and the criminal, in that they are reflected (unjustly, damnit) 
	on to all males of the appropriate age by a great majority of the
	female population. 

I agree that it is discomfiting for you to have women avoiding you late
at night at work (or on a street or in a bar).  It's just as uncomfortable
for women to live with the fear of rape.  I think it's very similar to the
fear of strangers that parents instill in their children.  Many people worry
about what teaching this fear of strangers can do to children, but it seems
that it is more than worth the risk.  In this latter case, yes, children are
taught that ALL strangers are bad, but I don't think women think that ALL
strangers or ALL men are bad.  I think it comes down to "better be safe than
sorry".
 
	The effect is to create a form of fear and prejudice not unlike the 
	effects of a greatly unbalanced racial population, where the weaker 
	population feels that it is constantly threatened, leading to both 
	fearful and agressive behavior on the part of both groups.

Isn't this exactly Susan Brownmiller's point?  

	I am offended by anyone who feels that men are not affected by,
	or are somehow aided/empowered/advantaged by, rape.  I regard
	such an attitude as seperatist, divisive, and likely to enhance
	the ?rage?anger?whatever? that motivates a rapist in the first
	place as well.  

Well, Brownmiller was also called a racist when her book came out.  Although
I am not a disciple of Brownmiller's (and as of yet haven't read the entire
book), I still think that her ideas may have some merit.  Also, jj's last
sentence could be interpreted to say (even though I'm sure he didn't intend 
it) that "don't make a big thing out of this, or you'll get it worse".

	I'm not trying to start a fire here, but I do think that 
	extreme statements on either side (I'm not referring to either
	of the authors that are referred to in the ref's field of this
	note, necessarily.) don't help anything, and don't make anyone
	better.   We're in this TOGETHER, damnit, let's act that way!

Well, we may not be extreme, but we're certainly polarized :-).  I don't
want a fire, just some discussion.

Beth Mazur
{ima,harpo,esquire}!inmet!mazur