Debunking Rape.
Or why this will never make Today’s Highlights on Medium.
“You might want to believe that the penis is a lethal weapon, and all women live in fear of that lethal weapon, well that’s bullshit.” Germaine Greer
America is a nation of myths. A president can form a myth around all Mexicans being rapists and drug dealers. He can even report they’re lousy limbo dancers. Throughout American history, the fine line between fact and exaggeration has been the cornerstone of its existence.
You could say news wouldn’t be news without a certain amount of exaggeration. If journalists and columnists stuck to facts, we’d be through the 6 o’clock reports in about, well, 6 minutes. We need filler, so we need myths.
Recently, Germaine Greer, the feminist of feminists, claimed the whole allegory of rape is a myth, something that has most feminists howling and probably a few rapists ready to kiss her feet.
How could Greer, a rape victim herself, call most rapes just lazy, careless, non-consensual bad sex? “I can hear the feminists screaming at me, ‘you’re trivializing rape!” she said. “Quentin Tarantino will say it’s one of the most violent crimes in the world. Bullshit, Tarantino.”
Has the Queen of Feminists gone to the other side? Or does she see exaggeration turning the feminist battleground into the next Little Big Horn?
Greer questions how 70 percent of women suffer from PDSD, while only 20 percent of war veterans do. “Are you saying, “she adds, “that something [non-consensual sex] that leaves no sign, no injury is more damaging to a woman than seeing your best friend blown up by an IED is to a veteran?”
In her latest book, Greer seems to take a certain amount of joy debunking the myth of rape. It’s enough to make feminists wonder if she’s had a change of heart or, perhaps, a sex change. Has the Queen of Feminists gone to the other side? Or does she see exaggeration turning the feminist battleground into the next Little Big Horn?
Months back, I wondered the same thing. As I pointed out in my article “Believing Our Own Myths,” General George Armstrong Custer was so pleased with himself after the Washita River Massacre (which was mostly women, children and old people), he led his Seventh Cavalry to Little Big Horn, figuring he’d have an easy day of it. What he thought were a few hundred Cheyenne and Sioux turned out to be over 10,000 pretty upset warriors.
Custer’s body was later found on Last Stand Hill, naked to his socks, with an erection. As historians would later note, the whole thing could have been avoided if Custer had a better spy glass.
Could it be that Greer sees the same thing happening with feminist movements today? Could #MeToo and #TimesUp be turning what looks like a successful battleground into a bloody mess, miscalculating their own right to claim rape and sexual assault as violent acts?
The only winners will be the lawyers. To her mind, the biggest mistake victims make is going after long prison terms for their assailants.
“I want to turn the discourse about rape upside down,” Greer claimed. “We aren’t getting anywhere approaching it down the tunnel of history.”
According to her, even supposedly cut-and-dried trials like Harvey Weinstein’s won’t have the effect women want. The only winners will be the lawyers. To her mind, the biggest mistake victims make is going after long prison terms for their assailants. These are the hardest cases to try, and losing only makes future rape accusations bigger headaches for the courts.
She’s more in favour of rapists — where evidence of violence isn’t present — doing 200 hours of community service.
Feminists, of course, are appalled. They’re accusing Greer of trivializing rape, instead of standing up for women.
But it might be Greer, the cooler head in the bunch, who sees the battle before it becomes a massacre. She may be right in her own way.
Let’s go back to General Custer for a minute. His problem was thinking his myth could apply across the board. If he could take out one unguarded village, why not them all? Are women making the same mistake now?
As one activist pointed out, “So what if a few innocent men are brought down? How does that compare with what women have suffered?”
Since the start of the #MeToo movement, more and more allegations have surfaced, some nothing more than “I felt violated.” Is feeling violated or “uncomfortable” enough to ruin someone’s career?
As one activist pointed out, “So what if a few innocent men are brought down? How does that compare with what women have suffered?”
It’s an interesting argument, possibly the same one Custer used during the American Indian Wars. Didn’t all Indians deserve to be butchered? Hadn’t they butchered enough innocent white men, women and children?
In reality, few tribes were killers. Warring factions like the Comanches and Apaches were certainly bloodthirsty, but they killed more Indians than whites. In a way, isn’t that the mistake women are making now?
Today it seems like every woman is claiming she’s been sexually assaulted at one time or another. In fact, it’s like if you haven’t been mauled, heckled or ejaculated on by a man, you don’t have skin in the game.
One woman wrote me after reading “Believing Our Own Myths,” saying, “I tried to remember if I’d ever been raped. I couldn’t remember having been. That made me wonder if I wasn’t pretty enough to be raped.”
Fortunately, it’s no longer a question of “Were you raped or not?” Now you can claim “unwanted advances” and you’re a full-fledged member.
To belong you have to have a shared experience. Fortunately, it’s no longer a question of “Were you raped or not?” Now you can claim “unwanted advances” and you’re a full-fledged member.
Perhaps that’s what Greer is worried about now. Is wanting to be a full-fledged member driving women to report rape? And once you’ve outed bigwigs like Harvey Weinstein, aren’t you inclined to move on to every sexist or perceived sexist, since it takes too long to distinguish between the two?
Near the end of his life, Custer claimed to have killed more Indians than snakes. It wasn’t hard to do, considering the mood at the time. Who wanted to go around worrying about getting scalped? Better to kill a few thousand innocents in the name of justice — or perceived justice.
When millions gather, yes, it’s a call for change. Pay equality, safe environments — these are all worth fighting for. But movements can undo the good they’re trying to achieve. They can find themselves riding off, sure of a victory, when 10,000 Sioux and Cheyenne are waiting around the corner.
“If we are going to say trust us,” Greer stated, “and our accusation should stand as evidence, then we have to reduce the tariff for rape.”
If anything, Greer is saying “pick your battles.” Rape is rape. Bad sex is bad sex. Unless we distinguish between the two, we’re creating more filler for the news, more myths, and more money in the lawyers’ pockets.
“If we are going to say trust us,” Greer stated, “and our accusation should stand as evidence, then we have to reduce the tariff for rape.”
I hear the feminists howling, telling their sisters justice is theirs if they attack in numbers. Like those Cheyenne and Sioux, it’s hard to talk moderation when you’ve got your war paint on.
Are women justified in wanting revenge and vindication? Do they deserve their battles and maybe a few massacres?
Well, this is the American way afterall. What would this country be without the occasional massacre and a few generals saying “whoops”? Sure, you’ve taken lives that didn’t need to be taken. History will forgive you.
Your intentions were good. You stood for something.
Just say “whoops” and move on.
Robert Cormack is a novelist, humorists and blogger. His first novel “You Can Lead a Horse to Water (But You Can’t Make It Scuba Dive)” is available online and at most major bookstores (now in paperback). Check out Yucca Publishing or Skyhorse Press for more details.
