Rape as evil: I'm sure many people have a knee-jerk reaction to this, but for me, later on, fridge brilliance started setting in. Rape spelled out is non-consensual sex. It's seen as very damaging for several reasons, two big ones which are the mental damage, and the social damage - and that's even in modern society still a stupid spot - the VICTIM is handled as 'damaged' or 'lessened', which... so, yeah. Now, imagine a society where rape is _expected_, and you grow up expecting to be forced to have sex sooner or later, and you're not boxed and categorized by society for it. I'd expect this future society also has a handle on reproduction and disease, so sex in itself, is a recreational activity. Forced to participate in a recreational activity. It's probably seen as lesser evil than forcing someone to eat meat in a ingrained vegetarian society.
Hide / Show RepliesMeh. I know better topics for future culture shock than legalized rape.
There were and still are plenty of societies where women grow up expecting to be raped and quite aware that nothing will be done to the perpetrator. And they are still incredibly damaged.
the universe is made of stories
The entire conflict, deciding which set of moral values to follow, is completely ridiculous. It is morally wrong to enforce your morals on starfish aliens, and it is likewise wrong for them to enforce their values on your people.
If it was my decision, I would have gladly committed genocide against all three of these worlds, simply because they have no concept of respecting the cultures of (to them) starfish aliens, and so forfeit their own right to existence in my eyes.