I can’t really bring myself to look at a computer screen for too long due to an infection in both my eyes (yes, go me!). So short entry today.
In international news, a disturbing story from China. A court charged two police officers with the “temporary rape” of a high school grad.
The two policemen took two high school graduates, who had just completed their college entrance exams, out to eat and drink on June 19. They all drank a lot, and one of the students, Ms. Chen became heavily drunk, as told in a China News Service article of Oct. 29. The policemen took her to a hotel under the pretext of “helping her to come to,” but then raped her while she was passed out.
According to the court, the officers “committed a temporary and on-the-spot crime, without premeditation.”
It’s truly comforting to know that as long as a rape occurs on a whim, less harm is inflicted. What is so difficult to understand– the damage done to the survivor is the same whether or not the crime was pre-meditated or impulsive. What makes this even more disturbing are comments left on the NY Times “Schott’s Vocab Blog” that suggest that this type of categorization of assault is permissible.
The court has decided to take a second look at this case, because of public outrage. No surprise there.
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Jezebel writes about new tactics being used in college rape prevention programs. A new trend is switching the focus from women to men in an attempt to change prevailing attitudes and perceptions about rape. But does it actually work?
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Lastly, Twilight: A Feminist Nightmare and Vampire Love, two editorials that take a look at Twilight, and deem the depiction of male-female relationships to be troubling and predatory. To be fair, I’ve stayed as as far from the books and movies as much as possible, and can’t form an opinion on this. But the writers make some compelling points, such as:
What is disheartening about Meyer’s book is her reinstatement of this old promise: assume your status as prey, as object, and you will gain your freedom as subject, as the center of action and meaning. Seek your existence in the eyes of a sovereign masculine subject, and you will find it.
