Well of course they can't!

[denny]

Just heard one of the girls in my office arguing with two of the guys that "A girl can't rape a man! If they're, you know, up, then it's not rape is it, if they're enjoying it?"

Not sure whether this should be filed under Helen's 'sexism: every little counts' tag or not...

Comments

[ulorin-vex.livejournal.com]

once again i am stunned by the dumb-ness of people

[libellum.livejournal.com]

Oh, ick. Did you hear how the rest of the conversation went? It would be nice if the guys had managed to convince them otherwise...

[steerpikelet.livejournal.com]

Yes, it COMPLETELY should be filed under that tab. That's a SHOCKING and untrue thing to say.
I once sat in at a (male-on-male) rape trial where the main argument of the defence seemed to be 'he was hard, so it wasn't rape.' Yrhonour, have you ever stimulated a prostate before? Have you ever even heard of rohypnol?
Women can rape men. Men can rape men. And women can rape and aid in the rape of women. It just doesn't tend to happen as much.

[dennyd.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure if it's sexist, in that the equal and opposite attitude also exists - "if she's physically aroused then she's consenting". If it works for either gender then I'm not sure it's sexist.

OTOH, I think it's one of the few things like that which is considered more 'self-evident' when applied to men than to women, which I why I considered tagging it thusly.

[easternpromise.livejournal.com]

I don't think the sexism is based on sexual arousal, it's based on the way in which said sexual arousal is manifested which is markedly different between men and women (unless I have got things very wrong somewhere along the line).

It's very comprehensible to society that a woman can be raped because, y'know, there's a hole there and things go in the hole and if the woman said no then things should not have gone there and that's rape.

A man being raped by a man is comprehensible for the same reason, but a man being raped by a woman isn't. Because how could a man *possibly* be forced by a woman to have sex against his will? (according to society anyway).

[easternpromise.livejournal.com]

*applause*

I was going to say much the same...

[fellcat.livejournal.com]

Yes, it COMPLETELY should be filed under that tab.

Hear hear!

It should also be filed under the tab called "how_sexism_hurts_men" because sexism will continue to exist as long as it is regarded solely as a women's problem.

[original-hell.livejournal.com]

*bangs head against wall*

[pooloftrees.livejournal.com]

I wonder what would they have thought of the scenario where the man is tied down and forced to take Viagra? That way the "it's up" is not even remotely under the man's control...

[fellcat.livejournal.com]

I believe that an approximation to the scenario you outline was used in an episode of Desperate Housewives, in which Orson is raped by his ex-wife who is abetted by her mother.

[androktone.livejournal.com]

Havent they been watching Peep Show? ;)

[theorb.livejournal.com]

Rape has everything to do with volition, and nothing at all to do with enjoyment, and they aren't at all the same. If I'm kidnapped and injected with happy drugs, does that make it no longer kidnapping, because they made me enjoy it?