OPINION: Reminder: Rape's not a biological need: QUESTIONABLE MINDS.

Byline: Fraser Sherman

Dec. 16--Contrary to what some people believe, rape doesn't happen because of the way women dress or because men want to father lots of children.

I'd like to think this was old news, but a recent item in the Northwest Florida Daily News' Spout Off column reminded me that it isn't. The writer grumbled that "with the male's propensity to procreate ... seductive female clothing creates a dangerous situation." For this reason, he or she went on, we must "return to some modicum of modesty for the sake of morality!"

Yes, that's what I consider a moral statement: If a man does something violent, the victim is at fault. Rape is a violent, cruel, brutal act, but to this writer, rape is just an excuse to lecture women on how to dress.

Taking it from the top: Men don't rape because of "seductive female clothing." Nuns have been raped, so have women in Islam's burkhas and chadors, and so were women in those long, all-concealing Victorian dresses. Men don't rape because of their "propensity to procreate."

This is a theory that refuses to die: Men are biologically programmed to sleep with lots of women (because that spreads their genes to the highest number of offspring) so rape is a natural outgrowth of that.

Except that rapists have assaulted women well past childbearing. And girls not yet fertile. And women who are already pregnant. And women the rapist is married to or sleeping with, so rape isn't needed to impregnate them. And rape-murders, which make the question of procreation moot.

None of that makes sense if rape is about the "propensity to procreate." It makes perfect sense if rape is about power, ego and dominance.

Even if rapists were obeying some biological imperative, that doesn't translate into having no control over what they do. On the contrary, men can control the impulse to rape just fine, which is why they attack when their victim is alone and vulnerable, not when there's a cop standing next to her.

And for that matter, we all have a biological need to eat. Would that excuse me snatching food from the writer's plate if I'm hungry? Would he or she suggest Albertson's and Publix create a "dangerous situation" by exposing all those yummy foods to people who have a "propensity" for eating? Biology doesn't excuse rape in any way, shape or form.

The moral issue in rape is simple: Rape is immoral, and rapists should be prosecuted, convicted if guilty and then locked up. Morality means women should be free to dress as they darn well choose without having to worry that if someone assaults them, the case will be written off ("I ask you, ladies and gentlemen of the jury, would any respectable woman wear a dress that short?").

It's not been that long since the "she asked for it" defense was standard in rape trials, and the thinking is still too common.

And once you start down that road, it's always possible to find proof that "she asked for it."

Because her skirt was too short. Because she showed cleavage. Because she showed any skin at all (the Taliban theory). Because she was out in a bar without a man along (yes, I have heard this argument). Because she wasn't a virgin (ditto). Because she was out on a date with him. Because he was so handsome, she must have wanted to sleep with him. Because she didn't resist the rapist "enough."

Rape is not an uncontrollable urge, it's a cold-blooded and evil choice. And the moral position is stop the rapist, not lecture about the supposed sins of the victim.

Destin Log reporter Fraser Sherman can be contacted at (850) 654-8442 and Fraser_Sherman@link.freedom.com.

Copyright (c) 2006, Destin Log, Fla.

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business

News.

For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.

OPINION: Reminder: Rape's not a biological need: QUESTIONABLE MINDS.

Byline: Fraser Sherman

Dec. 16--Contrary to what some people believe, rape doesn't happen because of the way women dress or because men want to father lots of children.

I'd like to think this was old news, but a recent item in the Northwest Florida Daily News' Spout Off column reminded me that it isn't. The writer grumbled that "with the male's propensity to procreate ... seductive female clothing creates a dangerous situation." For this reason, he or she went on, we must "return to some modicum of modesty for the sake of morality!"

Yes, that's what I consider a moral statement: If a man does something violent, the victim is at fault. Rape is a violent, cruel, brutal act, but to this writer, rape is just an excuse to lecture women on how to dress.

Taking it from the top: Men don't rape because of "seductive female clothing." Nuns have been raped, so have women in Islam's burkhas and chadors, and so were women in those long, all-concealing Victorian dresses. Men don't rape because of their "propensity to procreate."

This is a theory that refuses to die: Men are biologically programmed to sleep with lots of women (because that spreads their genes to the highest number of offspring) so rape is a natural outgrowth of that.

Except that rapists have assaulted women well past childbearing. And girls not yet fertile. And women who are already pregnant. And women the rapist is married to or sleeping with, so rape isn't needed to impregnate them. And rape-murders, which make the question of procreation moot.

None of that makes sense if rape is about the "propensity to procreate." It makes perfect sense if rape is about power, ego and dominance.

Even if rapists were obeying some biological imperative, that doesn't translate into having no control over what they do. On the contrary, men can control the impulse to rape just fine, which is why they attack when their victim is alone and vulnerable, not when there's a cop standing next to her.

And for that matter, we all have a biological need to eat. Would that excuse me snatching food from the writer's plate if I'm hungry? Would he or she suggest Albertson's and Publix create a "dangerous situation" by exposing all those yummy foods to people who have a "propensity" for eating? Biology doesn't excuse rape in any way, shape or form.

The moral issue in rape is simple: Rape is immoral, and rapists should be prosecuted, convicted if guilty and then locked up. Morality means women should be free to dress as they darn well choose without having to worry that if someone assaults them, the case will be written off ("I ask you, ladies and gentlemen of the jury, would any respectable woman wear a dress that short?").

It's not been that long since the "she asked for it" defense was standard in rape trials, and the thinking is still too common.

And once you start down that road, it's always possible to find proof that "she asked for it."

Because her skirt was too short. Because she showed cleavage. Because she showed any skin at all (the Taliban theory). Because she was out in a bar without a man along (yes, I have heard this argument). Because she wasn't a virgin (ditto). Because she was out on a date with him. Because he was so handsome, she must have wanted to sleep with him. Because she didn't resist the rapist "enough."

Rape is not an uncontrollable urge, it's a cold-blooded and evil choice. And the moral position is stop the rapist, not lecture about the supposed sins of the victim.

Destin Log reporter Fraser Sherman can be contacted at (850) 654-8442 and Fraser_Sherman@link.freedom.com.

Copyright (c) 2006, Destin Log, Fla.

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business

News.

For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.

OPINION: Reminder: Rape's not a biological need: QUESTIONABLE MINDS.

Byline: Fraser Sherman

Dec. 16--Contrary to what some people believe, rape doesn't happen because of the way women dress or because men want to father lots of children.

I'd like to think this was old news, but a recent item in the Northwest Florida Daily News' Spout Off column reminded me that it isn't. The writer grumbled that "with the male's propensity to procreate ... seductive female clothing creates a dangerous situation." For this reason, he or she went on, we must "return to some modicum of modesty for the sake of morality!"

Yes, that's what I consider a moral statement: If a man does something violent, the victim is at fault. Rape is a violent, cruel, brutal act, but to this writer, rape is just an excuse to lecture women on how to dress.

Taking it from the top: Men don't rape because of "seductive female clothing." Nuns have been raped, so have women in Islam's burkhas and chadors, and so were women in those long, all-concealing Victorian dresses. Men don't rape because of their "propensity to procreate."

This is a theory that refuses to die: Men are biologically programmed to sleep with lots of women (because that spreads their genes to the highest number of offspring) so rape is a natural outgrowth of that.

Except that rapists have assaulted women well past childbearing. And girls not yet fertile. And women who are already pregnant. And women the rapist is married to or sleeping with, so rape isn't needed to impregnate them. And rape-murders, which make the question of procreation moot.

None of that makes sense if rape is about the "propensity to procreate." It makes perfect sense if rape is about power, ego and dominance.

Even if rapists were obeying some biological imperative, that doesn't translate into having no control over what they do. On the contrary, men can control the impulse to rape just fine, which is why they attack when their victim is alone and vulnerable, not when there's a cop standing next to her.

And for that matter, we all have a biological need to eat. Would that excuse me snatching food from the writer's plate if I'm hungry? Would he or she suggest Albertson's and Publix create a "dangerous situation" by exposing all those yummy foods to people who have a "propensity" for eating? Biology doesn't excuse rape in any way, shape or form.

The moral issue in rape is simple: Rape is immoral, and rapists should be prosecuted, convicted if guilty and then locked up. Morality means women should be free to dress as they darn well choose without having to worry that if someone assaults them, the case will be written off ("I ask you, ladies and gentlemen of the jury, would any respectable woman wear a dress that short?").

It's not been that long since the "she asked for it" defense was standard in rape trials, and the thinking is still too common.

And once you start down that road, it's always possible to find proof that "she asked for it."

Because her skirt was too short. Because she showed cleavage. Because she showed any skin at all (the Taliban theory). Because she was out in a bar without a man along (yes, I have heard this argument). Because she wasn't a virgin (ditto). Because she was out on a date with him. Because he was so handsome, she must have wanted to sleep with him. Because she didn't resist the rapist "enough."

Rape is not an uncontrollable urge, it's a cold-blooded and evil choice. And the moral position is stop the rapist, not lecture about the supposed sins of the victim.

Destin Log reporter Fraser Sherman can be contacted at (850) 654-8442 and Fraser_Sherman@link.freedom.com.

Copyright (c) 2006, Destin Log, Fla.

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business

News.

For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.