How do feminist organizations and feminist theory deal with male rape?

Question

I have spent numerous years studying gender violence and regularly participate in events promoting awareness and education. I am one of few men completing a women's studies degree at my university, but I tend to argue with my colleagues over a certain issue. My professors define "rape" as violence against women, and when I ask how feminist theory deals with male rape I am told the issue is an anomaly, confined to gender-static environments (like prison), and/or the perpetrator is still male and the victim doesn't matter. Pamphlets I hand out at feminist events regularly include statistics of violence against women and contact information for battered women's shelters and centers that deal exclusively with female victims of abuse.

Does studying male victims or rape belongs in the women's studies curriculum and how does feminist theory define male rape? Also, should feminist groups include in their literature statistics of male victims and help info specific to their needs?

Answer 1

I would guess that the emphasis is on female victim/male perpetrator as that is the primary scenario. Of course, sexual violence is wrong, irregardless of who the victim or perpetrator is. As rape has nothing to do with s*x and everything to do with violence, it is conceivable that a woman might commit this act towards a man, although many would have difficulty believing it even possible. Rape is under reported by female victims; I would think that instance of under reporting by male victims would be even greater.

Answer 2

Waaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyyyyyyy more women are attacked than men so men should look into this on their side but if rape against women does stop forever then yes women should try to stop rape against men as well

Answer 3

Think of feminism as a politic or a political action group that rose to secure legal protections for women's rights.  One of those rights was Equal Credit opportunity.  Women / feminists had to fight for the right to have credit cards and to get bank loans without a man's signature.  Having then won the legal protections for equal credit opportunities regardless of genitalia, feminism is not then also "obligated" to participate in, say, the plight of Patagonians to end their unfair credit interest rates.   Another example would be Title IX which feminists fought for to secure women's rights to equal educational access.  Prior to feminism and Title IX in the U.S., many schools locked women out and many fields of study locked women out.  Having then been funded through donations as a political action group to specifically win those legal protections for equal educational opportunities, feminism is not "obligated" to participate in efforts to fund, say, a national educational program to transition immigrants into U.S. society.  Although many feminist organizations DO participate and sister-support other causes, they are not "mommy" organizations like full of "giving nuns".  They are exactly political action groups with paid agendas and tight budgets.  In the matter of rape, feminism fought for marital rape laws, for example, and other laws and legal procedure changes and rape education, rape forensics, etc.  Prior to feminism, men were allowed to brutally rape their wives, even after they divorced them. It wasn't until the 1990's, for crying out loud, that women in the U.S. had any legal protections related to marital rape, so, at least in that regard I know for myself I haven't so much a "lack of interest" in male rape victims as men apparently traditionally have had in female or child rape victims as clearly evidence by their demographic record of not bothering to participate in securing legal protections for women and children in this matter. I think women still need my donations and support full-time because it would be unwise to count on men helping us if we spread ourselves too thin, especially financially in what we contribute and invest in.  Male victim rape is a matter of focus in criminology, justice, psychology, sociology, community health care, etc., but not in feminism directly. Although feminism may study male victim rape, it remains up to other "political action" groups to do what needs to be done to keep men, especially heterosexual men, the largest demographic male-victim rapists, from making victims out of other men.  There are actually numerous such organizations, especially related to researching / reducing prison rape, and battered men's shelters are becoming better funded.

Answer 4

acknowledging these things would be a serious blow to the ideology.

Answer 5

Rape is by definition a criminal act in which there must be some kind of unwanted penetration endured by the victim. Thus, I don't know if males can be "raped" by women (unless it's with an object -_-"), but they sure can be sexually assaulted/harassed.

Now I can't really answer your question about how the feminists deal with it :/

Answer 6

Why did you waste so many years taking those classes. An they are full of hate if its not about women then it does not concern them.

Answer 7

I'm sorry to hear that you're dealing with people who don't see violence against men and women as equally important. I worked for years with NOW and other activist groups and we organized many events concerning violence against women and men-we tried to find male speakers for events to speak out against violence against men-whether rape or battering or assault against men (whether the abuser was male or female-its violence). Feminist groups should include statistics about male victims and provide resources for male victims if at all possible-most domestic violence and rape centers and web sites do this. I actually did a web search recently and found dozens of domestic violence shelters across the US who made a point to highlight their support of male and female victims. It sounds to me like the academic group you're dealing with is more than a bit behind the times...

I don't think violence in our society can be abated until we deal with the violence against both male and female children as well as adults-whether it is bullying; molestation; physical attacks or rape. Children are learning in their homes and/or schools that violence is the most effective way to deal with differences-until men and women speak up for all victims-our society will continue on its destructive path.    

btw: I was in a women's studies program in the 1970's and even then I don't recall my instructors minimizing the effects of violence against men. Frankly-it doesn't make any sense to deny it-of course violence of any kind is damaging-regardless of the perpetuator or victim.

Answer 8

Then you should have no problems providing evidence of this, right?  Otherwise I shall be tempted to think you dreamed it all up.

You are the one doing a Women's Studies degree, so why on earth wouldn't you ask the subject scholars you have access to on a daily basis?  Why are you posting this here, if not to troll?

*Fine.  Try the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy at http://plato.stanford.edu/search/searche...

1-10 of 156 entries found

*And now here's one for you:

Why aren't more men fighting for paternity leave?

http://ca.answers.yahoo.com/question/ind...

Answer 9

This is a really good question. Because I've had experience dealing with male victims and I feel that when these statics are being reported they should include the male victims. During my training as an advocate, a small portion of it was dedicated to the male victims, and I personally made it my point to add more information to the course curriculum for the male victims that go unreported. I will admit, it is sad that such information is not made as public as the information pertaining to women. But I do know that the hot-lines and shelters that deal with the female victims also assist the male victims equally. It's just that most men don't come forward and seek assistance, or report the crime. All in all, it's just as bad when it happens to a man as it is when it happens to a woman or child.

Answer 10

I took a women's studies class as well, a couple of years ago.  I am glad to say that my experience with my fellow students was, with one or two disreputable exceptions, better than yours on this issue.  There was willing discourse on the things that women can do wrong (such as rape committed by women against anyone else), as well as actions to protect women from assaults from any source.

There was an idea, held by a few, that "rape" is a male act only, and any women committing rape is somehow not a "true" female, and that any man who is raped by a woman is somehow at fault, or is deserving of the rape.  Silly, vapid and hypocritical: I did not waste myself on suck bollocks!

As for including a self-reflective (as a gender) section to a WS course, where women have to consider that they can be rapists too: very unlikely.

Whether feminists should include male (as victim) statistics is problematic: as much as some of us might want feminists to admit their failings, or accept the crimes of some women, this is is not the place for it.  I know that many feminists advocate (egregiously and in deplorable error) that men must always carry the shame and guilt of those men who commit such crimes.  I do not choose to because of my faith: I will seek forgiveness for my own sins, but I will not bear guilt as a man for the rapes committed by other men.  Having compassion and bearing responsibility are not the same thing.  Similarly, any attempt to insist that feminist literature include the stats on male (as victims of women) rape or DV is going to be challenged.

EDIT:

Sassy, I rather hope that you are not suggesting that a man who is forced to have s*x with a woman is complicit in the act just because he gets an erection?  It is a well known biological fact that males are subject to "contact arousal", whereby we can gain an erection in times of stress, despite not being sexually aroused in the least.  

Few juristictions accept the idea that rape requires penetration by the rapist, penile or otherwise, and hence a woman can be a rapist despite being the rapist AND being penetrated herself.

Answer 11

EDIT: sassy and others ~ please do not play down the event of male rape, it is very damaging for the ONE IN SIX men who are raped, many before they are 16. These guys need to know they are NOT to blame, rape is the fault of the rapist not the victim.

EDIT TWO: Most male rape is male on male rape. Women perps are about two per cent of the incidence of reported male rapes. This isn't about hating men, it's about men hating men. Men need to address this up front and centre, and stop squirming around it.

EDIT THREE: Mo has a point. If your 'Professor' is making these claims, you need to confront him or her, and air your evidence and concerns.

~*~*~*~

By providing support for male rape victims and by mentoring groups organised by men to support male rape victims.

I've posted quite a lot on this here in recent weeks, unfortunately a lot of those answers have been deleted, so I find myself having to say it over again and again, which is a little wearying.

However, for your own information, you may wish to peruse the links below, which are NOT exhaustive but which provide an excellent start point in answering your question.

You might also like to consider, that the first rape crisis centres (for example) were founded in the 1970s by women on an unpaid, volunteer basis, in repsonse to a perceived need, often after local women had organised 'speakouts' or meetings about rape and public safety.

Men chose not to direct their own efforts to establishing rape crisis centres for men, or to researching and reporting data, statistics and other information, all of which could have contributed to a better understanding of the mechanics of male rape.

Nevertheless, for many years, women's organisations have been supporting male rape victims exactly as they have female rape victims, and have also mentored men's organisations which aim to support male victims.

It remains a mystery to me why men do not recognise and celebrate the work of the wonderful men involved in these organisations, who have done so much to help other men through a difficult and traumatic time.

It undervalues the work and struggle of these fantastic human beings when the organisations they have founded, and which do such wonderful work, are consistently ignored by so-called "male rights advocates" because they do not fit the 'poor men with no rights' agenda.

I don't usually link to blogs, but because it is such a good an useful one, the final link below is a great blog specifically aimed to help male rape survivors, but useful for anyone who has been raped and needs some direction.

Best wishes :-)

Answer 12

male rape is just as horrendous as female specially if there is penetration, which is again usually perpetuated by a male. biologically females cant rape a man and for unwanted s*x to have occured there has to be some male participation.This excludes all cases where objects have been used which does not require discussion.I think any rape is wrong and should be punished severely as it is the same theory of assertion of power

Answer 13

I think it depends on the particular organization and what their mission is.  In working at a rape crisis center, we are trained to provide services for either gender.  There are many women's shelters that cannot accommodate men but are known to give referrals to other places that can deal with male or transgender victims.

This would be different from say, a political policy type organization that was working to specifically change laws that have been neglecting to specify women's generally unique situations.  

All that being said, male sexual assault (regardless of the nature of the assault or the gender of the perpetrator) falls more under psychology, sociology, general gender studies, or criminal justice studies, rather than feminist theory.  It's just that many service organizations grew out of a need to provide support for women and then began to provide services to male survivors as well that perhaps it seems like it should be housed under feminist theory.