Rape Theory Target of International Uproar
America's Doctors.com
The tempest over Randy Thornhill's scientific claims that rape is biological is building. And Thornhill, a University of New Mexico biology professor, said he's simply overwhelmed by the international furor.
After stints on nationally televised news programs in recent days, Thornhill declined to comment, saying he is "too swamped for (any) more this week."
Thornhill, who has been besieged with radio and television interview requests, is at the heart of a brewing controversy over whether rape is genetically innate or learned behavior.
In a scientific article published this month with University of Colorado evolutionary anthropologist Craig T. Palmer, Thornhill contends the act of rape is primarily biological and has its roots deep in human male evolution as a reproductive strategy.
But women are reacting with anger and fear, contending a biological theory cannot explain rapes in which victims are murdered or are very young or old and thus outside the age range for successful human reproduction.
Renie Garcia y Griego, who said she was raped 20 years ago, spoke at the news conference organized by the Albuquerque (N.M.) Rape Crisis Center and the Bernalillo County Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Coalition. She said she was not only a victim of the rapist but of the myth that the victim bears responsibility for the crime. She noted the first questions from police in her case were about what she was wearing and what she was doing.
Garcia y Griego, who works for the New Mexico Commission on the Status of Women, said she usually is reserved about her rape but was moved to speak out by media publicity about the scientists.
Thornhill and Palmer made their arguments in an article, "Why Men Rape" in the current issue of the New York Academy of Sciences journal called The Sciences.
The two scientists, whose work has attracted international attention, also are authors of "A Natural History of Rape: Biological Bases of Sexual Coercion," a book to be published by the MIT Press in April. The publisher has moved up the book printing twice, and copies are expected to be available soon.
Thornhill and Palmer say nothing they have written is an excuse for rape and that among their aims is to prompt social discussions and debates about the causes of rape.
Their arguments clash with a long-standing view that rape is not about sex but is a crime of violence based on male power or domination of women.
Thornhill "seems to be saying that it is inevitable for every man to commit this act and that is offensive to both sexes," said Joyce Lisbin, a health education and prevention manager of the UNM Student Health Center.
"It's a very interesting theory," said Lisbin, "but it's about bugs and animals, not humans."
Lisbin and others criticized Thornhill and Palmer for basing the work on animal research and not interviewing rape victims or even assailants.
But the scientists cite a variety of statistical human rape information supporting their thesis, including that the vast majority of women who are raped are of child-bearing age.
Others, like Rape Crisis Center Director Carolyn Ford, said the scientists' arguments perpetuate sexual myths about rape, such as that women are to blame for the crime because of the way in which they dress or act.
Ford said that the wave of publicity "is not going to change our outreach efforts one bit" and that the message would continue to be that rape is a crime of violence and power.
Thornhill caused another media stir two years ago with his research on mate selection based on beauty and body symmetry.
He has had other work published or recognized in mainstream scientific journals. His resume lists more than 100 articles he has published in a variety of scientific journals.
Larry Elmore, a health promotion specialist with the New Mexico Department of Public Health, said whatever the truth about rape, both men and women need to understand that "biology is not destiny."
Elmore said "there are complex factors in all of human behavior" and that rape likely is the product of biological, sociological and psychological factors.
"The vast majority of men make the right choice," he said. "We have to prevent the others from making the wrong choices."