Female on male rape in fiction

I am making a draft of a fantasy story in which the protagonist is a gay man and is on a quest to fight a vile dictator who has supernatural abilities. On the way he forms a relationship with a gorgeous soldier, but they are tragically separated and then he later befriends a young woman and they have a great mutual respect and she knows all about his relationship and his sexuality. Then the protagonist's life is endangered by the dark designs of the archvillain and she has to use supernatural means to save him, but this temporarily drives her mad and she rapes him while he is still immobile. I had in mind images of the phenomena of Sleep Paralysis and Hypnogoga and wanted the scene to recall them. When suffering sleep paralysis, people can see dream figments resembling aliens or monsters while they are unable to move. In a bygone era when superstitions were different, many people dreamt about witches bearing down on them. So the protagonist can see the distorted image of his friend with her faculty for reason gone, on top of him and shrieking at him.

I managed to get a gay man's opinion of this idea and he said that his skin crawled at the idea of a gay man being raped by a woman. I had not intended it that way. It's not at all supposed to evoke the vile "corrective rape" idea where e.g. lesbians get ganged raped by men who are bigoted deviants. I had expected it to evoke pathos for both characters. It is supposed to be traumatic for the protagonist, but it is also very distressing for his friend when her rational thinking is restored. She had not been in her right mind at the time! If she is very sorry indeed, I thought that would make it seem better. Although I suppose it should damage his faith in her.

So everyone, does this sound like it evokes pathos or is it really too nasty?

Thanks.

Wouldn't it work better as "he still trusts her and stuff, but can't help but feel a little awkward around her"? I mean, if my friend surprised me with sex while under mind control, I wouldn't see it as betrayal or whatever

I really don't think that you can say that for sure, but I'll set that aside for a moment.

To the OP: I would suggest that you read up on the psychological effects of rape, particularly in men, then strongly consider the way that your characters think in general. What you want to emphasise here is verisimilitude. What kind of character is your protagonist? How would he react to such a violation of trust and body, even if it were unknowing? This, and not plot convenience, should drive what your characters do next. (Not to mention that failing to consider these things is bound to land you in hot water with a lot of people.)

As someone who had a friend that took advantage of her, I refused to speak to him again.

Since the woman was under some sort of influence—which in itself has unfortunate implications—the friendship would suffer greatly, but there would be a slim chance of repair with an honest discussion about boundaries and sincere remorse.

edited 24th Oct '12 2:32:54 PM by Leradny

One thing to examine... why rape specifically? Why did you decide to include it here, and what does it add to the story that her simply trying to kill him whilst mind-controlled would not?

Rape is a very charged subject, and so it's best to put a lot of thought into if, when, and how it should show up in your writing.

@Iaculus; Hypnotists say that it is impossible to force someone to do something that they are really dead set against ever doing. It would not be possible for the character in question to try to murder the protagonist no matter what. However, it is explained earlier that she has issues relating to anger that is buried deep. The issue that I have clearly worked out is that she feels betrayed about her father leaving when she was a baby and that it created a subconscious resentment against men that is only manifest in the instance where she loses her reason. Also, when not able to think properly, she holds the conviction that the protagonist *owes* her for saving him from the archvillain. No part of her character wants to kill him. It is a sad fact that in real life, lots of rapes are carried out by those the victim is already acquainted with, including those who are trusted.

As part of the long term consequence I had intended the rape to result in a conception which is a subject that is necessary for the story to be furthered. The protagonist did not have the desire to be intimate with a woman in order to become a father, so it adds to the defining element of tragedy in his background as well.

Yes, you are right that the subject matter requires very careful handling indeed!

@JHM; The protagonist is sensitive and very personable. He is not the sort of man to be a grudge holder, but the event is meant to be traumatic. I am certain that he is the sort of character who would feel deeply in her debt for having saved his life at an earlier point and I hadn't envisioned even this scene as being something that would nullify that sense of obligation.

In real life, lots of people actually stay in abusive relationships of their own accord, let us not forget. And in these cases there is no supernatural involved, so the abusive parties do not have a faculty for reason that can be restored. I did not think that it would completely destroy the friendship.