Rotten Little Girls

Tag: society

March 20, 2009

The Entertainment Value of Rape

by Kelly

Rape has many definitions to different people – to some it’s black and white, to others there are many grey areas. Some define it as violence, others think of it as a purely sexual act. Regardless of these ambiguities (on an individual and societal level), hopefully we can all agree on a few simple things:

1) Rape is bad.
2) If a woman (or man) says “No” or is otherwise incapacitated (i.e. drunk, asleep) and a man persists in penetrating her orally, anally or vaginally, it is rape.
3) Rape is not entertaining.

While these seem like pretty obvious statements, not everyone agrees with them. For one thing, rape is used as a tool of war (even by American troops), so not everyone thinks it’s all that bad apparently. Secondly, many people do not believe that date/acquaintance rape exists, or think that if a woman dresses provocatively or flirts with a man, she is asking for it (and therefore it is not rape). These are all very problematic standpoints. However, at least in American society, I would say that a substantial amount of people agree with statements 1 and 2. Apparently, however, lots of people think rape is entertaining. Don’t believe me?

There is a game that has been around for a few years in Japan called Rapelay. It has gained recent press coverage in the United States because Amazon sold the game through its United Kingdom branch. After customers complained to Amazon, it took the game off its proverbial “shelves” and has issued statements of apology. Of course, the game is available online (with English translations), so it doesn’t really matter that Western stores aren’t selling it.

What is Rapelay you might ask? From the numerous articles written on the subject lately, I gather that it’s a game in which a male protagonist gets out of prison after serving time for – you guessed it – raping and groping a woman (who he later takes revenge on in the game). I’m not too clear on the plotline, thankfully, but one of the main plots of the game is the molestation and rape of a mother and her two underaged daughters. Bonus features include forcing your female victims to get abortions, enlisting friends to gang rape women with you, etc etc etc. Disgusted yet? Apparently this is part of a niche video game genre in Japan called eroge…which means there are more games like this out there. Just when I thought humanity couldn’t reach new lows…

Who the hell plays these games and actually enjoys them? I won’t post the screenshots, but if you click on the links below this paragraph you can see some (slightly disturbing but safe for work) images of the game. It makes me sick to think that someone could spend time raping pixelated women. It truly boggles the mind. I wrote a post about sexism in video games a month ago, but this game takes the cake in terms of sexual violence against women in popular culture and entertainment. That particular concept is the hardest for me to reconcile – the fact that rape is not only commodified in this situation but it is presented as a form of entertainment & cheap thrills.

Here are some excellent articles on Rapelay & eroge:

Slate: And You Thought Grand Theft Auto Was Bad
The Telegraph: Rapelay virtual rape game banned by Amazon
Shakesville: Looking for Rape Products? Try Amazon
Jezebel: Overstock.com, eBay Remove Rape Simulation Game

Thoughts? Rants? Comment below.

- Dollface

11 comments
August 9, 2008

The Fishbowl Effect of Sexual Objectification

by Kelly

“All women live in sexual objectification the way fish live in water” writes Catherine A. MacKinnon in her book, “Toward a Feminist Theory of the State.” Now, this book was published in 1989, but does that make her statement any less true?

It’s not the first fish analogy I’ve heard. “There are so many fish in the sea,” a mother might tell her unlucky-in-love teenager. “I feel like I’m in a fish bowl” an employee might complain when being overly scrutinized by his superiors.

The fish & water analogy is significant here because of the implications: the transparency of water, the natural habitat water provides fish. What would a fish be without water? In that same vein, what would women be without men (or vice-versa)? Where would women be without sexual objectification?

If MacKinnon is right, women cannot walk down the street without being seen, viewed, or objectified by others. As I write this, a billboard-truck hybrid drives past, advertising (in BIG! RED! CAPITAL! LETTERS!) a “Gentleman’s Club”. In broad daylight, mind you, on the main street of a picturesque town in the Northeast. The irony is palpable. Apparently I can’t even sit on a street bench and write about sexual objectification without being reminded of strip clubs (which, let’s be honest, are one of the more brutally honest forms of sexual objectification out there).

It’s not enough that women are objectified. We (and our male counterparts) are constantly & visually assaulted by sexualized imagery. There are vodka advertisements with scantily-clad women, fashion editorials with lip-sticked models, and an exponential amount of music videos highlighting female dancers grinding on male singers. You can’t even flip TV channels without seeing these images.

There are plenty of women and men who have already written extensively on this subject. I’m not here to paraphrase them, or to add much insight to their findings. I only want to ask one thing of you. Become more aware. These images are not going anywhere. However, you do not have to let them be the definition of your beauty standards. If you are female, these images do not have to control your own self-worth. If you are male, these images do not have to be a standard that your girlfriend/sister/mother/daughter must live up to. We have the power to reject what the media tells us is valuable.

Sometimes, it may seem hard to ignore. Even as I write this, thoughts of my own self-doubts (about my body, sexuality, and value to others) come to mind. Yet I take comfort in the fact that if I personally work to reject society’s standards of beauty, and surround myself with others who do the same, there is hope that I can feel less like a fish, and more like a woman.

6 comments
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