Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-27079851-20171120082917/@comment-1916997-20171121215632

Aine1989 wrote: CoolDudeAl wrote: Utter solitude wrote:

CoolDudeAl wrote:

You may feel that way, but I didn't, as no one was talking about it at all, other than bringing up recent Hollywood things, but one of those was Spacey, so that was a man violating men issue, so again not connected to the amount of women who have issues with rape/assult/etc. I'm glad you agree that women are the major victims of sex crimes, because that was one of the main things I wanted to make sure was getting across. Do we need to talk about it when it's everywhere? (Does that make sense? lol) Part of what upsets people about this storyline, imo, is that male victims are so underreported. There's a huuuuuuge stigma there. As I and others have pointed out, it's a joke in our society. That's what upsets me about it. If a person rapes or assaults someone else, they should be punished. If a character rapes or assaults another, they should be punished. This show has a record of non-forcible rape going unpunished. And the fact that the victims are male highlights a less thought of problem in our society. Some of what you've said, CDA, seems to feed into that idea. It's all the same issue. and the show is playing into it. I get it, but (and I think Esk has pointed this out multiple times before) it isn't just these rapes that go unpunished, it is nearly everything, done by both heroes and villains. Regina, Zelena, Rumple, Hook, etc. have all killed multiple people, and have not had to pay for those crimes. Snow, Robin, etc. have stole things, again with no punishment. Snow and Charming kidnapped Mal's baby, and again nothing happened to them. The list can go on and on. So yes, rape goes unpunished on this show, but so does every other crime, including murder (which I consider the worst crime of all), and no one bats an eyelash. Here's the thing. We as a society know murder is wrong. Murderers get punished. They aren't generally sympathised with. Yes there are exceptions especially racially motivated murders and domestic violeance) but generally, society condemns murder.

Rape is different. Rape victims are asked about whether or not they were drunk, what they were wearing, if they were flirting. Think of Brock Turner and how he had a "bright future". Adults sleeping with minors is acceptable because "she's mature for her age". Catcalling is considered a compliment. Assault is just "boys being boys". Hell, the President of the United States of America is a rapist. Because society doesn't generally condemn rape.

That is the issue. Rape going unpunished is reflective of our own society. So rape can't be used in plot for fictional stories, because it isn't looked at by the society the same way murder is? I don't think that is fair to writers. The writers didn't decide how society as a whole was going to respond to rape. And half the reason rape goes unpunished is because it isn't reported. I'm not blaming the victims, as I know they are tramatized and scared to say something, but the justice system can't punish someone for a crime, when they don't know a crime is commited. And then when people do say something, the statue of limitations is up, meaning the person can't be punished for the crime, even if they admit they did it. And yes, many men will defend men over women, because of the "bros before hos" mentality, which is a seperate issue. Like I said before, rape as a whole is a complex issue, and many things have to change to solve it. But I don't think all that burden should be put on the writers of a fantasy tv show.