Re: Date Rape Research Controversy

[EMAIL PROTECTED] (Kate Orman) wrote in message news:<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>...
> I've just updated my online essay, "The Date Rape Research 
> Controversy". Feedback is very welcome. It's here:
> 
> http://katesfeminist.info/rape/controversy/
> 
> Cheers,
> - Kate Orman

I spent some time trying to critically evaluate your writings but
found it very frustrating. The premise that seems to interest you is
to defend the claims of a particular rape 'researcher', Mary Koss.
That's fine- I went in waiting to be convinced one way or another.
However, the approach you have taken makes it very difficult to
determine whether you are correct or not in your assessments of Koss.
Instead, you look at the writings of others who have written about
Koss, intending to find ways to dismiss the interpretations of the
critics and support the interpretations of Koss's supporters.

For example, you assert that Katie Roiphe "may not have read" Koss
before attacking her study, and tell us about perceived errors that
Roiphe makes in The Morning After. You assert that because you've not
identified scientific articles that directly dispute Koss's paper, it
follows that "other researchers have repeatedly checked Koss's work
and accepted it as valid". The assertion that criticisms of Koss' work
(all) come from "outside the scientific field" while listing Playboy
as an example seems prejudicial and tendentious.

In other words, the reader is left with the perception that you are
going to support Koss's work because you are predisposed to do so,
perhaps for quite unscientific reasons. You make a concerted effort to
discredit any and all critics, but the defense is not satisfying
because the reader is unable to verify what it is that you are calling
rape and decide for themselves whether they do or do not agree with
that assessment. In fact, you actually seem to be dodging this effort,
which almost seems dishonest given your underlying premise that rape,
including acts that are apparently not always recognized as rapes, are
extremely common and have affected very large numbers of women.

There are some things that people get upset over when they see this
kind of tendentiousness. These are things that you should consider
watching out for in the interest not only of being a more effective
writer but also of getting at truth itself, rather than just proving a
preconceived opinion that may or may not in fact be true. Consider
this:

1. People don't like to come away with the impression that you believe
that only crimes against women, violence against women, is worthy of
study or concern. Your links pages link to "violence against women"
and "violence against women and girls", "toolkits to help prevent
violence against women", etc, but there is nothing but a single token
"rape of males" link to offer any kind of balance. I think the trend
now is to back off from the perception that only violence against
women is important- and in favor of the idea that any kind of violence
is wrong.

2. Many men are frightened and concerned about the fact that they are
socially expected to be the aggressor in a relationship- given the
virtual certainty that if they don't aggressively court women
romantically, they will not get any woman because the aggressive males
will get them all. The impression is rather widespread now among men
and women that "rape" can now be claimed by any woman who gets herself
intoxicated at a party and partakes of sex that she later regrets.
What can you offer men as evidence that you are not taking that
stance? Please don't cite the "legal definition of rape" because that
definition definitely can, in practice, encompass the above scenario.

3. The above two points speak to a larger issue: it is just inhumane
to fail to consider the forces and pressures experienced by both
sexes, rather than this singular concern for the wellbeing of only one
sex. Anything that you can offer to show that you've thought through
the man's POV and care about him and not only women would greatly
increase your effectiveness.

4. You offer some safety tips, through links, for preventing rape.
That is fine, but they avoid the subject of the kinds of things that
women can do that can put men into the ambiguous situations (e.g., the
intoxicated woman who's consented but might later decide that she was
raped) that terrify them. In other words, your links are very
consistent about the causes of rape: men, violent men, men who "don't
listen to women", "thoughtless, uncaring men" who "don't believe it
when a woman says no", but never "women who put men in ambiguous
situations which may lead to FRAs", "women who use their sexuality or
threats of false accusations to create legal problems", etc. The truth
is that women are an equal partner in most relationships, good and
bad, and the constant reference to women as innocent victims and men
as violent abusers just perpetuates the kind of thing that you seek to
avoid.

Well you asked for feedback. I hope it helps.
________________________________
"The highest patriotism is not a blind acceptance of official policy,
but a love of one's country deep enough to call her to a higher
standard."
--George McGovern