tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12625691.post2918468735834528913..comments2024-02-29T01:43:23.900-05:00Comments on Women's Bioethics Blog: Cake or Rape? Not the Same Ring as Cake or Death...Linda MacDonald Glennhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02378544626277000243noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12625691.post-6752730331183725932008-04-11T18:48:00.000-04:002008-04-11T18:48:00.000-04:00This makes me want to scream or possibly injure th...This makes me want to scream or possibly injure the politician who said these things. Trivializing rape (Uh...and I include but do not limit myself to spousal rape here) is tantamount to trivializing a woman's right to her own body. I don't care who you are, how well you know a woman, or how much she enjoys the kinkiest sex. You have no right to force anything on her.Andiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13628400389581581974noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12625691.post-81521701331781081612008-04-10T11:12:00.000-04:002008-04-10T11:12:00.000-04:00While I share the response espoused (horror, despa...While I share the response espoused (horror, despair, not surprised), I wonder whether in presenting this incident with such dismissal, we truly create a space for people to learn how to use their power well, or merely, perpetuate a culture of shame that suppresses the ignorance that leads a person to hold a view like the one on the assemblyman's blog. <BR/><BR/>Empathy seems a cornerstone of facilitating ethical development, and we have to be able to give it to ourselves before we can share it with others. Nonetheless, when practiced diligently, empathy invites and inspires others to learn to use their power well.<BR/><BR/>Our brains are patterned not to see how our actions do not align with how we see ourselves - the cognitive dissonance effect. So with regard to our own power, we are often fish swimming in water. <BR/><BR/>Learning empathy for those outside of one's power group is a real challenge- particularly for those who hold positions of power due to 'unearned privilege'. (inherited, structurally based power) <BR/><BR/>No question, it is important to take a clear stand against violence and to underscore the harm that oppressive attitudes create, yet I sense that rather than the hammer of shame and condemnation, if we take the opportunity for using this "preaching to the choir" space for choir practice, to demonstrate how a different voice leads to and creates a different space that can hold diverse perspectives, then the beauty of the choir's singing will beckon others to join and we can end these cycles of violence/ despair, rather than merely running the ignorance underground and being left in a state of despair until the 'next' time this kind of pervasive but suppressed view rears its hurtful head.<BR/><BR/>I realize that nothing stated here is new, perhaps just a question of whether we practice what we preach and if not, whether we are missing the opportunity that our power as creators and holders of this space affords.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12625691.post-23157340495668231762008-04-09T16:57:00.000-04:002008-04-09T16:57:00.000-04:00Thanks Sue. I'm close to bingo! ;-) (I have to fin...Thanks Sue. I'm close to bingo! ;-) (I <I>have</I> to find humour in here somewhere - it's either laugh or cry.)Kelly Hillshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15027400439081662699noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12625691.post-64526817127529313102008-04-09T15:59:00.000-04:002008-04-09T15:59:00.000-04:00......what?!?!?unreal. but no: real.yrgk.hey, Kel.........what?!?!?<BR/><BR/>unreal. but no: real.<BR/><BR/>yrgk.<BR/><BR/>hey, Kelly: score another flummox-reaction.Sue Trinidadhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04607124236112450990noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12625691.post-34531502984949394232008-04-09T15:18:00.000-04:002008-04-09T15:18:00.000-04:00I admit I've been having fun walking around the ph...I admit I've been having fun walking around the philosophy department, just having people read the Londonist article. The reactions have been pretty entertaining - mostly variations of shocked speechlessness.Kelly Hillshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15027400439081662699noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12625691.post-81272707832423989122008-04-09T15:17:00.000-04:002008-04-09T15:17:00.000-04:00Force-feeding a woman chocolate cake is an offense...Force-feeding a woman chocolate cake is an offense, as it's assault and a violation on her personal sovereignty. I love me some chocolate cake, but on my terms, not someone else's.<BR/>And sex is the same way. Your wife could love sex so much she's invented new positions that make the Kama Sutra look tame. That still doesn't give you the right to force sex on her. <BR/>I wonder if he thinks that men can't be raped...Evelynhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08652137971137847562noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12625691.post-10493579214395028522008-04-09T14:17:00.000-04:002008-04-09T14:17:00.000-04:00Once again, that screaming thing... It took quite ...Once again, that screaming thing... <BR/><BR/>It took quite a bit of effort to convey to some male associates of mine exactly how it feels to be threatened with the possibility of sexual assault. The closest I could come was comparing it to their feelings about being aggressively hit on by a bearish gay guy at a bar. One thing that should be a primary goal of women is to find ways to communicate the depth of meaning that such matters like rape have in ways that men can understand.SabrinaWhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18273102123975115696noreply@blogger.com