The underlying cause of rape

by Loris 74 Replies latest watchtower child-abuse

  • Guest 77
    Guest 77

    Let me get this straight, it's not what's 'under' the skirt that is the underlying cause of rape, but rather the 'enticing' style of dress? Hmmmm. Romans 14:14, "...nothing is defiled in itself; only where a man considers something to be defiled, to him it is defiled."

    Matt.5:28, "...everyone that keeps on looking at a women so as to have a passion for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart." Enticing style of dress?

    By the way, men get rape too! Is it because they were shorts or bathing suits? Am I to understand that the heart and mind has nothing to do with rape? Yeah right.

    Guest 77

  • Abaddon
    Abaddon

    We hear a lot about the nature/nurture debate in intelligence research; I've always thought that it was fairly obvious presenting the question as a polarised choice rather than a spectrum of influences was an over-simplification.

    The aggression/sex debate in rape research is likewise fairly logically a combination of factors.

    If it were ALL about power and NOT about sex, then homosexual rape by heterosexual men would be as common as heterosexual rape.

    It isn't; it DOES happen though, outside of prisons, so obviously rape does occur in situations where it is ALL about power.

    However, if we think that someone is not going to be influenced by their sexual preferences and by normal standards of attractiveness a lot of the time (regardless of what other motivations might drive them to the crime), we are ignoring the statistics that show that rape is especially common amongst the sector of population most likely to be attractive (and indeed fertile).

    Analysis of these figures to remove any factors increasing likilihood of rape NOT related to attractiveness (such as younger women might have more time in the day where they are vulnerable to assault, and an attacker might target younger victims as they will be easier to deal with through psychological intimidation) would give a clearer picture of the role of attractiveness.

    You see, the argument here is really (although many people would try to avoid saying it); is rape an E.volutionary S.table S.trategy, i.e is rape a genetic trait that is so succesful in passing on genes it remains in the population? It is the 'all men are born rapists' argument. After all, some primates use rape as a breeding stragtegy; we are a primate.

    Personally, I don't think it is a valid argument to say it is an ESS. The primates that use it either don't have pair-bonds like we do, or are wholey solitary creatures invading a dominant males territory.

    Neither of these scenarios is representative of human evolution; we have evolved a fairly durable pair-bond, one where there was cheating by both male and female, but one where the male would defend his reproductive rights from open assault. In small communities such as we evolved in, unless rape was carried out by someone outside the community who then got away, the rapist would suffer significant reproductive penalties, probably exceeding the reproductive advantages of rape; having one's testicles converted to ear rings would kind of end one's chances of fathering a child...

    But, one can then argue that rape might be a result of us now living in huge disparate communities where the inhibitions of knowing the person you were raping and knowing you would get what was coming to you are removed, and that it therefore is a viable strategy for reproduction; rape is frequently associated with invading forces of soldiers and has even been used as a policy of invading forces.

    It's less easy to rebutt this argument, but it's also impossible to remove power from the equation in such instances, as in such circumstances display and establishment of power are also arguable motives.

    Rapists seem to be groupable into lower income and education groups; perhaps a group that are unable to 'obtain women' (which would validate the sex argument)?

    Well... no, not really; as far as I am aware there is no evidence showing that being single is associated with being a rapist, which would be the case if the preceding was a valid argument. Maybe the lower income and education generates feelings of powerlessness in modern society that result in some men establishing power over another human in the most violent and brutal fashion?

    The sex argument also doesn't fully address the sentient animal argument; yup, we are an animal with instincts, but although I have seen women on the street who look sexually arrousing, I've never had an instinctive reaction to rape, let alone an instinctive reaction to rape overcome me, as I am a sentient animal. Humans are all sentient animals (even Republicans *wink*); although some are obviously less sentient than others, "I couldn't stop myself' rates fairly poorly as we all know this means "I didn't WANT to stop myself'.

    It looks like we are left with a situation where logically power and sexual attractiveness are both influential in rape, but where sex doesn't seem to be the main factor, but rather a secondary factor where someone attractive is selected for rape by a rapist, although the motivations for that rape are beyond the attractiveness of the victim and are more to do with internal factors in the rapist.

  • Guest 77
    Guest 77

    Aba, what about the rapes in prisons?

    Guest 77

  • avengers
    avengers

    Abaddon. It "seems" in your comments that you're more defending the nudist lifestyle than that you're concerned
    about the welfare of children.

    If as an adult you want to live that way it's your own choice, but what about the children? Where's their choice?

    my comment:

    I myself see a rapist as a predator and I see a pedophile also as a predator. If these unbalanced persons visit nudist beaches and are unable to get in a normal way as you say the things that are really normal, well. we have a problem.
    your comment:
    No, we don't have a problem... you actually seem to view nakedness as a sexual act.

    Isn't that exactly what the Watchtower has been saying with all the abuse being covered up: "No we don't have a problem"?
    I think any situation which could expose children to danger should be investigated, also nudist resorts.

    As for your comment: "you actually seem to view nakedness as a sexual act" is in some way true, though not always.
    One has to be able to discern the difference. Not everything is black and white.

    I still don't think we should stick our heads in the sand saying that there is no problem. As long as children are being abused,
    and it doesn't matter where, we have a problem.

    Andy

    p.s. this is a discussion and absolutely nothing personal.

  • Abaddon
    Abaddon

    Andy, nice of you to say;

    p.s. this is a discussion and absolutely nothing personal.

    I always find it convenient to make a statement like this when I have just accused someone of something despicable and something which I can't prove, as you do here;

    It "seems" in your comments that you're more defending the nudist lifestyle than that you're concerned about the welfare of children.

    Nice to know the level of comment I can make without it being regarded as personal! Is that "seems" as in "if I stick "seems" in with quotation marks it means I can say whatever the hell I like without having to back it up or apologise?"

    Don't worry, I've lived in Holland for three years. I now know that the reason the British Empire grew to the size it did and the Dutch Empire didn't had nothing to do with millitary strength or cunning or bravery, or even the fact there were more British people. It was all down to an inability to be subtle on the part of the Dutch!

    You asked;

    I have tried to address this issue earlier (which got 0) I ask myself if nudism does not instigate pedophily.

    I answered quite comprehensively why I think naturism does not instigate paedophilia.

    You are acting as though you have proved it does and that any defence of it is putting defending a lifesytle over the safety of children.

    Would you FIRST show that a child at a naturist resort is at greater risk of abduction than one at any comparable clothed resort?

    If you can prove there is a greater risk, then my saying that there is no greater risk could be described as me "more defending the nudist lifstyle than that you're concerned about the welfare of children".

    If there is no greater risk, then it 'seems' you don't know what you're talking about, and are making unfounded accusations.

    You accuse zen nudist of using Borg psychology and me of putting children's safety after a leisure activity; is there any specific reason you feel you can make such unpleasent comments about people before you have even shown that there is any validity in the linkage your making?

    If as an adult you want to live that way it's your own choice, but what about the children? Where's their choice?

    In this regard, their choice is exactly where children's choice is when it comes to other things that parents decide for their children, like the religion they are raised in, the programs they watch on TV, the school they go to, whether they have music lessons, etc.. But, without evidence you are assuming naturism gives rise to a greater risk from paedophiles. You also seem to be putting nudism or naturism into a special catagory, just because it involves people taking their clothes off, purely on your say-so. This again speaks more of your attitude than naturism; if you're unconvinced I can dig up some research that shows children exposed to naturism actually have better body image and self esteem, and fewer sexual problems.

    I think any situation which could expose children to danger should be investigated, also nudist resorts.

    As I commented earlier, children are unfortunately at risk in many places in society. You are still behaving like there is a proven greater risk of abuduction at naturist resorts - I say abduction because of your original comment "If these unbalanced persons visit nudist beaches ..." put it in that context.

    As for your comment: "you actually seem to view nakedness as a sexual act" is in some way true, though not always. One has to be able to discern the difference. Not everything is black and white.

    Andy, nakedness by itself is NOT sexual. Note what I say above 'nakedness as a sexual act'; I put it this way because there will be people who view a girl wearing a short skirt as a sexual act when the woman wearing it doesn't.

    Nakedness as practised at a family naturist resort is not practised by those there as a sexual act (obviously Hedonism and Cap d'Agde are not family naturist resorts).

    If you had been to family naturist resorts recently maybe your memory would be refreshed; at a family resort even couples avoid being too affectionate in public, you just don't see people kissing and cuddling except fleetingly. If anything, it's slightly prudish. God; at a normal resort no one is that bothered by guys staring at girls in bikinis. At a naturist resort people don't generally stare at people as people resepct each other privacy. Anyone not conforming to these standards sticks out.

    I still don't think we should stick our heads in the sand saying that there is no problem. As long as children are being abused,
    and it doesn't matter where, we have a problem.

    I agree there is a problem, but if there is a problem we need to fight the problem and not windmills, okay Don Quixote? Pretending without evidence there is added danger from naturism, when there is none (unless you can produce figures showing the contrary), just diverts people away from fighting the problem where the problem is.

    Open your window. Look out your door. You don't have to go to a naturist resort to find it, even though such demonisation may make you feel better.

    First off, children need to be equiped to deal with sexual predators; a decent sex education system with appropriate training to allow children to realise when they are at risk and who they can turn to is a start. We might feel uncomfortable with teaching seven year olds that their body is theirs and that anyone trying to touch them there is dangerous and that it's not their fault, but they need to get to a safe person as soon as possible, but if giving such education reduces risk to children, THAT is what it is all about.

    Second, we, as in modern western society, need to figure out what we want; we bewail, rightly, paedophilia, and then idolise youthful sexual attractiveness; we send mixed messages to our children. If we're gonna complain about sick adults sexualising our children and not see the contradiction in the clothing that is available for them, we are just kidding ourselves.

    Third, we need to make it possible for those who have controlled paedophile desires to seek help without effectively ending any chance of a normal life; it's very easy to look at the tip of the iceburg and be sunk by what you don't see under the surface. It might appall us, but if giving those who've controlled their perversion a chance at therapy (and private therapy) reduces risk to children, THAT is what it is all about.

    Guest 77: I would imagine rape in prison is often about power; those raping are typically socially dominant within the prison. Sexual frustration obviously makes some recanalise their sexuality from hetereo-based to orifice-based. It's hard to link it with the free world though, as there are so many factors different.

  • reboot
    reboot
    Personally, I don't think it is a valid argument to say it is an ESS. The primates that use it either don't have pair-bonds like we do, or are wholey solitary creatures invading a dominant males territoryE.volutionary S.table S.trategy, i.e is rape a genetic trait that is so succesful in passing on genes it remains in the population?

    Abbadon, thats an interesting point; i've often wondered if this could be a factor.

    But I am also aware that the number of pregnancies that arise from rape are very low, which make me think that the theory would'nt stand up from an evoloutionary point of view as it was ineffective?

    I know in my case it was a power- based revenge crime. The motive was punishment - I would have preferred a beating.

    As for coping- I know that for me and women that i've spoken to ;recovery is more likely if they felt their attacker was violence based and not sexually based.

  • Abaddon
    Abaddon

    reboot:

    But I am also aware that the number of pregnancies that arise from rape are very low, which make me think that the theory would'nt stand up from an evoloutionary point of view as it was ineffective?

    Also a good point; it's about 20-30% chance of conception per month normally. If we say women are fertile 1 week of 4, and that each week has maybe four instances of intercourse in a normal relationship, then it's probably only about a 2% chance of a woman being made pregnant by a single act of rape, all other factors being equal.

    This makes it being an ESS within a social group even less likely; 2% chance of passing genes on, 95% chance of having head kicked in.

    Outside of social groups such a low percentage of success would only make rape an ESS if there is a low risk of injury or death as a result, and normally there would be the invaded territories defenders to deal with, so it is hard to see how such a behaviour would have had suffiecient selection pressure to become an instinctive evolved strategy.

    As for coping- I know that for me and women that i've spoken to ;recovery is more likely if they felt their attacker was volence based and not sexually based.
    That makes sense; if it's violence ('power') based, it's all down to the guy. If is sex based, then part of the trigger is being a woman, which is not something one can do anything about.
  • funkyderek
    funkyderek
    But I am also aware that the number of pregnancies that arise from rape are very low, which make me think that the theory would'nt stand up from an evoloutionary point of view as it was ineffective?

    Actually there are studies that seem to indicate a higher than expected pregnancy rate for rape victims. I don't have time to elaborate now but I'll provide some sources tomorrow.

  • Country Girl
    Country Girl

    My take on it is very simple. Rape is not only a crime of power, it is also a crime of sex. But really, it all ties together if you think about it.

    A person that would "take" what he or she wants from another person, without their implicit permission, is a person that is not successful in society, nor interpersonal relations. A person that is not successful at establishing a relationship would probably be frustrated, emotionally, and physically. So this person goes out to "take" what he/she wants because it will immediately gratify the need that this person has, in BOTH ways, but is too inept to obtain by ordinary means. By "taking it" this person satisfies both needs: one of power, and one of sex.

    CG

  • Abaddon
    Abaddon

    I know the research you are talking about Derrick.

    However, it may well be that natural mechanisms evolved by females to increase their liklihood of conceiving through opportunistic sex with someone who is not their pair-bond partner are merely subborned by male rapists, as distinct from it signifying that rape is an ESS.

    Due to the hidden fertile period of the human female, rape is an appallingly poor strategy for passing your genes on unless there is very low risk.

    The latter caveat can not have often applied during our evolution.

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