Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP
Posting-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site bbncca.ARPA
Path: utzoo!linus!bbncca!sdyer
From: sdyer@bbncca.ARPA (Steve Dyer)
Newsgroups: net.women,net.flame
Subject: Re: Martillo's Rape Cure
Message-ID: <640@bbncca.ARPA>
Date: Sun, 25-Mar-84 16:42:46 EST
Article-I.D.: bbncca.640
Posted: Sun Mar 25 16:42:46 1984
Date-Received: Mon, 26-Mar-84 03:21:34 EST
References: <6965@unc.UUCP> <358@ihuxt.UUCP>
Organization: Bolt, Beranek and Newman, Cambridge, Ma.
Lines: 38

I hardly think that Chuck Mosher's response to Martillo could be
rightly called "extreme cultural chauvinism."  We are, after all,
talking here about modern Western society, NOT Libya.  We are looking
for solutions which make sense in our cultural context.

A statement like:
	If women are willing to pay the price, rape can easily be
	eliminated.
reveals a lot about the preconceptions of the person saying it.

First, it seems to indicate that rape is a response to female provocation;
that if women indeed wore veils and hid their eyes from men, then rape
would vanish.  Well, we know that that argument is specious.  Second, it
argues that living a sheltered second-class life is an acceptable tradeoff
for women.

I would instead argue that Islamic cultures have a special "esteem" (for
the lack of a more suitable word) for women which dictates the attitudes
and behavior of both sexes in the culture.  Islamic women's dress and
roles, and "protection" from rape, are derived directly from these
underlying attitudes.  The presence or absence of a veil doesn't CAUSE
respect or disrespect (or rape.)  Rather, it is a semiotic cue about the
nature of the woman, and the behavior which one can get away with.  Western
women who visit Islamic countries, though they might dress modestly by our
standards, are still subjected to almost continuous public harassment by
some men, who assume that such women are "easy" (or the Islamic
equivalent.)  So much for respect for women in general...

In Western societies, there is no similar widespread stigma or
preconceptions about women derived from their clothing or behavior.
Or, at least, there is enormous latitude between the stereotyped
polarities of the virgin and the whore.  Therefore, it is equally
inappropriate for Mr. Martillo to propose standards of Islamic behavior
for women in our society--they just don't make sense in our culture.
-- 
/Steve Dyer
{decvax,linus,ima}!bbncca!sdyer
sdyer@bbncca.ARPA