It was a stormy, pitch black night. A strange man breaks into a woman's
apartment by sliding open an unlocked window. He threatens the woman's life as she
kicks and screams with terror. He rapes her, and then leaves.
After work a husband comes home and insists that his wife performs oral sex.
When she denies him of his request; he tightly grabs her shoulder and pushes her to her
knees. He then unzips his pants and forces her to perform oral sex.
A couple is out on a date, when the man pulls off to the side of a country road.
The couple begins to make out in the back seat of the car. The man proceeds to pull off
both his and her pants as she says "I don't want to have sex," he ignores what she has said
All of these scenario's are considered rape in California. In this paper I will
address a feminist perspective of rape, and rape prevention.
Rape was viewed, prior to the 20th century, as a crime against the father or
husband of the raped women, rather than a crime against the women herself. These
women would not be allowed to marry into respectable families, and would often stay
single remaining the economic liability of the father. These women would have no value in
society; "a women's value within society was based on her ability to marry and produce
legitimate heirs" [Odem, Clay-Warner (1998), p. 36].
Rape was also viewed as the women's fault. Women were considered to be
depraved or a "fallen" woman if she engaged in sexual intercourse before she was married,
even if it was against her will. The women was blamed for the man's crime and was
"socially stigmatized" as a result of the attack.
There are many stereotypes of rape victims such as: the women "asked for it,"
when a women says "no" she really means "yes," women can resist rape if they want to,
a...