ok doser
lifeguard at the cement pond
Yesterday a poster suggested that rape was always horrific. I was considering it last night and wanted to see if folks here agreed that rape is always horrific.
See caveats below.
The following scenario is accepted as "rape" - it was counted as rape in the statistics, it was investigated as rape - I do not know how it resolved - clearly, to me, what this woman underwent was not horrific:
As I thought about it last night, I started considering another angle (that I plan to explore in a different thread eventually) that involves rhohypnol - the "date rape" drug, aka "roofies". One of the effects of rhohypnol is that the user becomes compliant and open to suggestions that they would otherwise reject. Another effect is that of amnesia - MRI studies have shown that the regions of the brain responsible for creating short term memory and converting it to long term memory are inactive when taking rhohypnol. IOW, it's not that memory is masked. No memory is created.
Apparently, without memory of traumatic events, no psychological effects develop. (As an aside, there's been some interesting research done using rhohypnol to extinguish memory in patients with PTSD)
In the settings that often are related to rape - clubbing, raves, frat parties - rhohypnol is usually taken (or given) with other drugs such as alcohol, marijuana, ecstasy, etc. These combinations usually exacerbate the effects under consideration.
And so, the following scenario often ensues:
A woman takes or is given rhohypnol. When she awakes in the morning, she has no memory of the events of the night before, but suspects that she may have been raped. She reports it and is examined in the hospital where it is determined that she was sexually active the night before. No physical damage is noted. She is currently taking birth control pills. There was nobody at the party with whom she would normally have had sex - no ex-boyfriends, no acquaintances - in fact, every guy at the party was incredibly ugly - if sex occurred, she is certain that she did not give consent. She admits that she may not have refused consent. The hospital reports it as a rape and it is investigated as a rape.
And so we have a woman who has been "raped".
No physical damage has occurred.
No memory was created, so no psychological damage has occurred.
Was this "rape" horrific?
1. No, I'm not trying to minimize rape. Rape is an assault.
2. Not all things that are called rape should be called rape
3. Everything I write is my own opinion and does not necessarily represent the opinion of the staff or the owners of TOL. It's mine! All mine! Bwahahahaaha!!
4. My interest in this lies in my academic field of study and the environment in which I find myself.
5. No, I do not sympathize with real² rapists. Real² rapists should be executed, swiftly and publicly.
6. No, I am not trying to absolve myself of some undefined "guilt".
7. No, I am not planning to rape anybody.
8. If the subject matter under discussion is too disturbing to you, you are encouraged to avoid the thread.
9. If you want to discuss the cowardly actions of some students at Umpqua, feel free to go to this thread: http://www.theologyonline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=113485
10. These conversations go more smoothly if we keep the mud-slinging, insults and trolling to a minimum.
11. If you can't control yourself and choose to ignore 8 and 10, don't whine about it in the woodshed if it's turned back in your face.
12. Clearly there are instances of rape that are horrific.
13. I'm not interested in examining responsibility in this one.
See caveats below.
The following scenario is accepted as "rape" - it was counted as rape in the statistics, it was investigated as rape - I do not know how it resolved - clearly, to me, what this woman underwent was not horrific:
| Herewith, a Philadelphia magazine report about Swarthmore College, where in 2013 a student “was in her room with a guy with whom she’d been hooking up for three months”: “They’d now decided — mutually, she thought — just to be friends. When he ended up falling asleep on her bed, she changed into pajamas and climbed in next to him. Soon, he was putting his arm around her and taking off her clothes. ‘I basically said, “No, I don’t want to have sex with you.” And then he said, “OK, that’s fine” and stopped. . . . And then he started again a few minutes later, taking off my panties, taking off his boxers. I just kind of laid there and didn’t do anything — I had already said no. I was just tired and wanted to go to bed. I let him finish. I pulled my panties back on and went to sleep.’” Six weeks later, the woman reported that she had been raped. |
As I thought about it last night, I started considering another angle (that I plan to explore in a different thread eventually) that involves rhohypnol - the "date rape" drug, aka "roofies". One of the effects of rhohypnol is that the user becomes compliant and open to suggestions that they would otherwise reject. Another effect is that of amnesia - MRI studies have shown that the regions of the brain responsible for creating short term memory and converting it to long term memory are inactive when taking rhohypnol. IOW, it's not that memory is masked. No memory is created.
Apparently, without memory of traumatic events, no psychological effects develop. (As an aside, there's been some interesting research done using rhohypnol to extinguish memory in patients with PTSD)
In the settings that often are related to rape - clubbing, raves, frat parties - rhohypnol is usually taken (or given) with other drugs such as alcohol, marijuana, ecstasy, etc. These combinations usually exacerbate the effects under consideration.
And so, the following scenario often ensues:
A woman takes or is given rhohypnol. When she awakes in the morning, she has no memory of the events of the night before, but suspects that she may have been raped. She reports it and is examined in the hospital where it is determined that she was sexually active the night before. No physical damage is noted. She is currently taking birth control pills. There was nobody at the party with whom she would normally have had sex - no ex-boyfriends, no acquaintances - in fact, every guy at the party was incredibly ugly - if sex occurred, she is certain that she did not give consent. She admits that she may not have refused consent. The hospital reports it as a rape and it is investigated as a rape.
And so we have a woman who has been "raped".
No physical damage has occurred.
No memory was created, so no psychological damage has occurred.
Was this "rape" horrific?
1. No, I'm not trying to minimize rape. Rape is an assault.
2. Not all things that are called rape should be called rape
3. Everything I write is my own opinion and does not necessarily represent the opinion of the staff or the owners of TOL. It's mine! All mine! Bwahahahaaha!!
4. My interest in this lies in my academic field of study and the environment in which I find myself.
5. No, I do not sympathize with real² rapists. Real² rapists should be executed, swiftly and publicly.
6. No, I am not trying to absolve myself of some undefined "guilt".
7. No, I am not planning to rape anybody.
8. If the subject matter under discussion is too disturbing to you, you are encouraged to avoid the thread.
9. If you want to discuss the cowardly actions of some students at Umpqua, feel free to go to this thread: http://www.theologyonline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=113485
10. These conversations go more smoothly if we keep the mud-slinging, insults and trolling to a minimum.
11. If you can't control yourself and choose to ignore 8 and 10, don't whine about it in the woodshed if it's turned back in your face.
12. Clearly there are instances of rape that are horrific.
13. I'm not interested in examining responsibility in this one.
