Rape
and it's
Motives
This paper was written for Sociology 227-Criminology at University of Waterloo. I am proud to say I received this paper back from my professor on March 31st 1999, and was given an A. This was honestly one of the most difficult papers I have ever written, not because of the requirements, but it affected me emotionally. I feel like it is a great accomplishment for myself.
Rape is no longer stated as an individual offense in Canada's Criminal Code. Rape is now considered under the section of sexual assault, where sexual assault is defined as touching without the consent of the complainant, where consent is "the voluntary agreement of the complainant to engage in sexual activity in question" (Greenspan & Rosenberg, 1999, p. 518-519).
In the past, rape was considered a rare act carried out by a tiny minority of abnormal and deviant men. It was an unfortunate experience suffered by a small number of women. However, feminists have been working to change this because most rapists appear mentally healthy and normal, and sexual assault is more common than previously thought (Bryson, 1992, p. 217). Sex offenders almost always attack alone, committing the offense at their own home or the victim's residence. Victims are almost always chosen by their helplessness and their implausibility as sexual targets (Adams & Toch, 1994, 147).
Approximately 1-7% (Foulis & McCabe, 1997) of women who experience sexual assault files formal complaints. In a 1997 survey completed by Lackie and DeMan (p. 451), 54% of American college women had been victims of sexual assault, and 28% of these respondents' experiences met the legal definition of rape. According to rape myths, rape would be avoided if women did not provoke men, healthy women resisted rape, rape was justifiable if the man had paid for the date, males had the right to assume a woman wanted to have sexual intercourse with a man if she had previously slept with him, along with several other myths (Douglas, Johnson, & Schander, 1997, p.693). Feminists believe that these myths are created by the patriarchal structure within our society. Therefore, feminists argue that sexual assault is a result of this dominant power structure, rather than an individuals drive for sexual desire and gratification (Bryson, 1992). However, feminists' idea of men's wish for power and control over women does not convince everyone that sexual desire is not a motive for men to commit sexual assault. It is important to take both power and dominance over woman, and sexual desire into consideration when examining motives of sexual assault. In this paper, I will be assuming the man is the offender the majority of the time, and the woman is the victim.
Feminists emphasize that a fearfully, pleading victim is just what a rapist desires. In fact, this type of victim makes it easy for the rapist to exert power and dominance over her, and therefore has full control over the situation. Nelson, Olivette, and Shanahan, (1997, p. 228) believe feminists do not want to be the cause of oppressive power, but instead value empowerment, internal strength, and self-determination, that are restrained even when power differentials exist. As women begin to become aware and actualize their strength and goals, they gain a sense of purpose and an awareness of an identity as a woman. Feminists long to right the wrongs of a patriarchal society founded upon the value of power. Feminists believe equality is the only viable basis for a productive and human society.
According to Bryson (1992, p. 176), sexuality and sexual desire may be partially related to the dominant power structure. Radical feminists view all existing social institutions and relationships as part of this patriarchal power structure. Patriarchy is a process of conditioning which starts during childhood socialization within the family, and is reinforced by education. This power structure relies upon sexual violence and is an expression of male power. Sexuality is not just an individual matter but is part of the power structures within our society (p. 211). A patriarchal society is a product of a world where men have authority, sexual behaviour becomes bound up with the idea of ownership, domination, and submission. Different moral codes began to exist for both men and women, as sexual violence has become tolerated by men, and women were and still are treated as sex objects (p. 212).
The threat of sexual violence is enough to dominate women's lives. Feminists believe that this has nothing to do with sex, but with the overwhelming power men exert over women. It is an indication of men's hatred for women. Of course not all men hate women, or even commit sexual assault, so why is this? One possible reason is that all men benefit from sexual violence that restricts women's lives. Because of this restriction women are socialized to obtain men's protection from other men they might fear. Sexual assault for these men has become nothing more or nothing less than a conscious process of intimidation by which all men keep all women in a state of fear (p. 218). Ferraro's study (1996, p. 675) of women's fear of sexual assault states that women are more afraid of rape than of murder. This fear influences women's daily lives, their dependence on men, and men's power over women.
In unequal power relations Oldersma and Leijenaar (1991, p. 32), state that the more powerful party tends to disregard the viewpoint of the less powerful. In the case of sexual assault, the more powerful person is generally the offender. In most cases, the victim is a helpless female and less powerful, with no control over her own decisions or choices. From a power position, it is easy to assume that others will go along with ‘your' preferences. This has functioned to justify action which harms women's interests, such as thinking that sexual assault victims "asked for it." The more powerful party imposes their preferences onto the less powerful, denying them a right to their own wishes.
Stuart supports (1981, p. 105) that sexism is the cause of all violence because violence is a reflection of the unequal power relations between men and women. He presented sadistic rapists, rapists, and non-rapists, with a 2 minute videotape of scenes involving a heterosexual mutually consenting sexual act, a violent rape, and a physical assault with no sexual connotations. By measuring the participant's erections during these scenes, it was possible for Stuart to separate rapists and non-rapists because only rapists responded to rape stimuli, and the violent scene, rather than the mutually consenting sex scene. Rapists reacted to these particular scenes because of the domination associated with the scene, held by the male over the female (p. 120).
By studying male sexual arousal patterns, Lackie and DeMan (1997 p. 451) believe that sexual contact by sexual coercion, abuse, and physical force is common on university campus's. Their study showed that 6% of men admitted participating in an act that met the legal definition of rape, 50% verbally pressured a woman into some form of sexual activity, and 35% recorded a history of sexual aggression. They discovered important variables contributing to men using force for sex was, sex role stereotyping, fraternity membership, athletic participation, hostility towards women, aggressive drive and attitude, alcohol use, and masculinity. These men who have been recognized as being sexually aggressive, tend to hold stereotypical beliefs about the role of women. Men who hold these types of beliefs have permissive attitudes toward rape, while they demonstrate arousal patterns similar to identified rapists (p. 452). Foulis and McCabe (1997, p.787) also believe that people who hold sexist attitudes are more inclined to perceive aggression as male appropriate behaviour, and demonstrate their power in a sexual manner towards women. Therefore, they discovered that sexually aggressive men are motivated by aggression, rather than sexuality alone (Lackie & DeMan, 1997, p. 452).
Feminists have begun to consider the extent to which language encodes a vision of social reality that does not serve the interests of certain groups of women. Burt and Code (1995, p. 47) both feel that the language attached to events and activities, especially those related to sex and sexuality often holds male perspectives such as, "screw," "lay," and "penetration." The language society uses shapes and constructs our reality (p. 45). A good example is a demonstration at Queens University in 1989 was a "no means no" rape awareness campaign. Obscene and violent messages appeared in the windows of men's dormitories such as "no means harder/dyke/more beer/tie me up." These messages indicated the extreme degree to which women's words are not their own and how men can also use language as a from of control and power to dominate women sexually (p. 50). The use of language to sexually exploit entails the use of power to elicit sex, often through the use of threat, punishment, or even the promise of reward (Perry, 1998, p. 445).
Many people tend to blame sexual assault on intoxicants by believing the person was unaware of their actions. Along the same line are other ideas of anger and temporary insanity. Very few sex offenders are psychotic and very few insane people actually take part in any form of sexual assault. So why do other people in similar situations not commit sexual assaults (Hollins & Howells, 1989, p. 208)? Some people believe that other products such pornography can also be blamed for sexual assault. Even the most hard core versions of such material is widely available in North America. The attitude portrayed in these materials is essentially negative towards women and implies that a woman's role in sex is to serve men. An even bigger message is that women really enjoy being raped even if they do resist. This plays a major role in socialization of children, teaching them rape is acceptable (1989, p. 214).
Most feminists firmly believe sexual assault is caused by the dominate power structure within our society. However, Bryson (1992, p. 220) describes how feminist Catherine MacKinnon rejects the idea that sexual assault is just purely an expression of sexual violence. She believes that gender identity is learned in a context of domination and submission. In our society, sexual pleasure for women has appeared as masochistic, but men's power is eroticised. Accordingly, MacKinnon feels that sexual assault produces sexual satisfaction derived from domination. Men who commit sexual assault do not just set out purely for control and power, because there is definitely a variable of sexual desire present.
Foucault (Ramazanoglu, 1993. p. 114) agrees with MacKinnon saying that rape is not exclusively an act of power and control, nor an unsexual act. He believes it is one extreme of existing power relations. Sexual assault, rape, and a whole range of sexual practices are socially produced in the interests of men for control over women, along with sexual gratification for themselves.
I personally have to criticize feminists for strictly believing that sexual assault has been prevalent in our society because men just want to acquire power and control over women. By experiencing this myself, the man definitely was motivated by sexual desire and was looking for gratification, at least in my case. His want for power definitely was present, but his control over me was definitely sexual. He was looking to pleasure himself, without taking into account what I as the victim wanted. It would be unfair to me if someone were to say that this man was not looking for sexual pleasure, when his actions showed me clearly what he was trying to achieve. I also refuse to believe that my case was a rare exception, but acknowledge the fact that other people's experiences are most likely similar to my own.
By speaking with other women who have all endured this traumatic experience, it is clear to see that everyone has their own personal opinions about an individual's motivation to commit a sexual assault. Paula says, "I think he got more sexually aroused by the power relations too - I mean, I think he really got something out of the fact that I was completely helpless and unable to get away from him - I did try - and he got so aggressive." Tiana also agrees with Paula by describing that her rapist "tried all ways to gain control over [her] without success . . . so he then tried the only way left to him . . . to take that control forcibly . . . to try and make [her] belong to him." Adrienne states exactly what the other two women have expressed when she says "some men feel empowered by raping women. They feel superior by making women feel inferior. Some men may believe that they can make themselves feel better by making women feel like they are less. They gain control and power by taking it away from women." Amanda does not feel that she was raped because the man wanted control over her. Although, she feels "[her] fear of being out of control is a new phenomenon since the attack, but [she doesn't] think he wanted control so much as sexual gratification" during the rape. The other three women do not completely disagree with Amanda, by not dismissing the fact that sexual desire is definitely a motive somewhere a long the way, and both can be equally accountable.
Overall, the combination of anger and sexual arousal has to be closely related to the probability of raping a victim, than either factor alone. It appears that many different people have their own opinions stressing either power relations and control, sexual desire, or the two variables together. A rapist might be more likely to rape a victim whose behaviour enhances both his sexual arousal and anger. Victims' responses to fear might provide the rapist with respect from his victim, which causes him to feel powerful and become sexually aroused by the amount of control achieved from the fearful victim. However, I feel that Cassandra states it perfectly, and perhaps better than many experts when she says, "whatever the reason [someone rapes it is] still unforgivable and the result is the same. I don't think it should be treated as any less of a crime if the motive is lust rather than power."
09/04/99
*Please note: this banner is not part of my personal site. If you do not like what appears, simply press refresh on your browser and a new one will be displayed.