Chiming in to make three posters who thought of the dentata from Snow Crash.
Ow.
Aren’t rapists likely to be most especially fond of their genitalia? Punching or poking someone in the face and shoving a spike into his wienie aren’t equivalent acts. I suspect that many men (even those who are not rapists) would rather have a sharp object poked into their eyes rather than into their penises. The emotional impact is, I think, quite different.
Consider U.S. Patent #4237876, issued December 9, 1980:
http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=/netahtml/search-bool.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=ptxt&s1=4237876.WKU.&OS=PN/4237876&RS=PN/4237876
I’m pretty certain I’ve seen patents for several such anti-assault devices intended to be worn “inside”, dating back a century or more. (I’ve seen quite a few “crazy invention” collections) Nobody seems to be wiling to use them.
I think a lot of you guys missed this part from the website:
I just finished reading Snow Crash, when I saw this thread, it was the first thing I thought of, and I was right.
Well then you would be fighting back with a chance of debilitating and escaping the rapist. A sharp spike carried in your hand would be far more effective than one hidden away. Though it may be possible to use this device for surprise factor, it is likely that the victim is allready subdued before the rapist attempts penitration so the few moments in which they might have the initiative against him may be very difficult to take advantage of.
Realisticly unless his first penitration attempt was very hard the device would likely only scratch the tip of the penis. It would hurt, but nothing like a groin strike hurts. Damage to the penis is not nearly as painful as damage to the testes, the penis is made to take a lot of beating ( 
).
Okay, and then the rapist yanks it out…and uses it on you?
shudder Besides, I’m a klutz-I can’t imagine trying to put that thing in-if you get it in WRONG (hell, women have put tampons in wrong and then they’ve hurt)…
AAAAAHHH!!!
Looking at the picture in the first post’s link, I cannot imagine how that thing would not injure the wearer. Is it retractable or something? Does that spike thingy pop out on command? The device looks smooth and slippery, and I’m sure any of you tampon-wearing ladies will confirm that sometimes they slip around and slide down farther than they are supposed to. And then you can feel them. It’s uncomfortable enough feeling a piece of cotton up there - yet that lethal weapon is supposed to remain in place, unnoticed?
I certainly didn’t miss it, but the discussion is a lot more illuminating if we roll with it as if it’s real - which is the artist’s intent. The advertisements in magazines and bus stops certainly don’t let on that the product is not planned to be actually made. The point is to get people talking, and to note one’s own reaction to the idea of such a thing. Are you a “hell yeah!” person or a “I’d hurt myself” person or a “it’d make him hurt me more” person? Each one and countless others are valid reactions that speak volumes of how we see ourselves as victims (or not) and the power struggle between rapists and victims - the interesting thing is finding out which reactions we have and the discussion that ensues.
I for one definitely missed the “imaginary” part.
I missed it too. I saw the words “sharp pin, penetrate,” and “penis” and my brain sorta stopped.
Well, put me in the “It doesn’t matter how women try to defend themselves. Men can and will do whatever they want” camp. The only way the frequency of sexual assault will change is if men change.
Ignoring the imaginary nature of the product for a moment…
If it’s simply a matter of “making sure you see no string before you go to work” how is this in any way a defense? I would imagine that rapists can check too.
[treating the question as if the device existed]
Of course there’s a potential for misuse. A psychopathic female could pick men up with the sole intent of having them fall foul of her FemDefence. I don’t say it would be common, but it’s hardly out of the question.
The quote in the OP mentioned something about too many of those accused of rape going unpunished. This may be unfair, but in a civilised society we only punish those who are convicted, not accused - and given some of what I’ve seen called rape, no, I’m sorry, I don’t think women have carte blanche to go about armed with a concealed deadly weapon
(There was a case in the paper about a year ago, involving a snooker star and the complainant. They had consensually got naked and rolled around together, but penetration hadn’t been agreed on and when it occurred she told him to stop. He did, although not instantly, but she still dragged him into court. The court decided that he’d done nothing worthy of punishment. Tough bananas for the complainant, but tougher for him if she had been able to hand out summary mutilation without warning.)
Also I could see this falling under the heading of schlimbesserung, if I’ve got my German right - that which is intended to make things better, but only makes them worse. The rapists whom everyone will absolutely agree most deserve to meet this fate - the proverbial knife-wielding sickos - will be the ones to suffer the least. Force will rise to meet resistance. You have to be really, really intent on not being raped to stick to your guns when the k-w.s. has the blade to your throat and says “If I get a nasty shock, it’s bye-bye carotid artery. Anything you want to tell me?”.
:: really, really disappointed at seeing Rilchiam apparently lining up in the “All men are complicit in rape” camp ::
[/ttqaitde]
Does this brainwave emanate from the same Swedish woman who wanted to hit all men up with a “violence tax” to compensate women for the expectation of male violence?
This:
is why I said this:
Rilch, delete “men”, insert “rapists”, and I’ll have no quarrel with you.
Any woman can become a victim. As such, she has to consider that any man could be a rapist.
Oh boy… :smack:
Any woman could be armed with a gun, but I think it would be rather sad to go through life assuming all women are planning on shooting me.
So it’s sad.
There’s no one way to defend against rape. You can only be so careful. You can only run so fast, avoid so many people, learn so many defense skills, take so many precautions. What worked for one woman didn’t work for another. The one constant in rape is a male assailant.
BTW, I’ll be signing off soon, so don’t think I’m running away from this.