Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!usc!aero-c!nadel
From: rivero@dev8.mdcbbs.com
Newsgroups: soc.feminism
Subject: Re: Uproar over challenge to campus date-rape study
Message-ID: <1991Jun10.121053.1@dev8.mdcbbs.com>
Date: 10 Jun 91 12:10:53 GMT
References: <1991May31.195050.12567@netcom.COM> <1991Jun4.095137.1@dev8b.mdcbbs.com> <1991Jun6.055523.12257@morrow.stanford.edu>
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In article <1991Jun6.055523.12257@morrow.stanford.edu>, gwyn@pangea.stanford.edu (Gwyneth Williams) writes:
> In article <1991Jun4.095137.1@dev8b.mdcbbs.com> rivero@dev8b.mdcbbs.com writes:
>> [deletions in desperate attempt to save bandwidth]
>>  Galileo's conviction did not change the reality that the Earth moves
>>around the Sun. Likewise, all the political rhetoric will not
>>change the reality that the majority of men are NOT lust crazed
>>date-rapists, but average decent men who want a good family life.
>
> I think I must agree with your last statement, but have to suppress
> a knee-jerk reaction to disagree.
> Perhaps this is because when I hear "the majority of men want a good family
> life", partly I wonder what martians I have found in my personal life.
They are probably relatives of my ex. :-)
> IMHO this statement trivializes date rape and the variety of
> oppressions which women must undergo. Saying "those type of men are only
> a minority" suggests to me "they are erratic cases, exceptions, and
> therefore negligible and don't count". Of course, this is stretching the
> point, but it seems the underlying attitude is there.

  Okay, let's ghet real clear here. I do not think ANYONE wishes to trivialize
the issues of rape. I certainly do not. I think it is a serious offense
which not only traumatizes the victim, but (as can be seen here) induces
fear in non-raped women (thereby limiting their mobility and freedom) and
creates a hostile environment for "average decent men who want a good family
life". EVERYBODY LOSES.

  Every rape counts. BUT, so does every date that ends with a simple
goodnight. If we lose our ability to enjoy each others company, then
the rapists have become terrorists, able to make us all fear living a normal
life.

Michael