Can rape not involve physicall asault? Is it especially evil?

At least in the military, this is not true. Having sex with someone who is drunk counts as rape. (Or if you're both drunk, the woman is automatically the victim.)

That’s the epitome of privilege right there, not considering armed nazis a threat to your life. - Silasw

Of course rape doesn't need physical assault to still be rape. Rape is by definition non-consensual sex, and you don't necessarily need physical force to get around the lack of consent: This thread has already brought up a number of examples (drugging, forcing people to drink, blackmail, emotional coercion).

The fact that people believe it's only rape if it's violent is why so many people are afraid to report rape, because they fear they won't be believed.

The owner of this account is temporarily unavailable. Please leave your number and call again later.

I am confused as to why this is even in question.

"If there's a hole, it's a man's job to thrust into it!" — Ryoma Nagare, New Getter Robo

Because someone somewhere imagined a future society where rape was OK as long as it wasn't violent (as part of imagining futures that may be such that they seem better than our present to their inhabitants but seem horrible and weird and repulsive to present us) and people were at first baffled because they didn't think it could be possible.

'''YOU SEE THIS DOG I'M PETTING? THAT WAS COURAGE WOLF.Cute, isn't he?

Kinsey described rape as using "force or threats" which always seemed a reasonable description. Saying you have a bomb in your pocket and will blow both of you up if she doesn't comply is not an assault.

You may force someone to do something even if you don't use force.

Now I am confused: so, does it mean you didn't think rape could be done without physical violence, because The Man wrote a story in which non-violent rape was a-okay?

edited 18th Jan '11 7:12:45 AM by lordGacek

"Atheism is the religion whose followers are easiest to troll"

Your question confuses me, and I think there's a negative that's gotta go for it to make sense. However, I'll answer it as it is:

More like, I was utterly confused by the concept and it took me a while to figure it out. I brought up this discussion so that I could get more angles on the problem. And it still sounds like an utterly stupid idea. I understand the concept of future people being so physically and mentally enhanced that they become Nigh-Invulnerable and, like the vampires in Dance In The Vampire Bund, develop Adrenaline Junkie, violent, overemotional attitudes and little concern for personal safety. Even then, I don't think rape will be one of the things that will generally be accepted as legal. Then again, in today's society it's legal to deceive and cheat people into slimy contracts because even the lawyers they paid to advise them gave them crappy advice about the finer print, and for some reason the metaphors "getting fucked up the ass" and "being fucked" readily spring to mind, but even then I don't think actual physical rape can ever become permissible legal behaviour.

Also, what does The Man have to do with this?

edited 18th Jan '11 8:50:27 AM by RawPower

'''YOU SEE THIS DOG I'M PETTING? THAT WAS COURAGE WOLF.Cute, isn't he?

Okay. I'd say the problem is, you worded your initial question a bit confusingly — that you only recently began to think rape may be committed without physical force — and then gave an explanation, which explained how you began to ponder this matter in the first place, but wasn't so much of an answer to the question why you didn't think such a rape was possible before you read that story. I guess that's it.

So, if you're curious of my view: if a person clearly doesn't want sex with you, and you do that anyway, it is rape, but the term itself, it should not be watered down lest it loses its horror.

To build on the story's example: legalising "rape" is in no way scary, if we are to define "rape" as any sexual encounter which may, or may not, be declared undesirable post factum. You know, the "not paying a prostitute" problem, like if the prostitute you did realised a day later that you paid her with false money. Or this: that Assange dude is kind of a jerk, but I hardly find the idea of waking up after a, uh, a laborious night and discovering the guy did you again in your sleep as bad as the idea of some hick pulling you from the street into his car.

Then again, to use some other name for that "lesser" kind would water it down from the other side, so I'm in a bit of a loss.

I used "The Man" because I'm unsure of "The Big Y" as a mocking nickname, so I'm trying other possibilities.

edited 18th Jan '11 9:25:51 AM by lordGacek

"Atheism is the religion whose followers are easiest to troll"