I saw Eve had posted, which made me think of Wang-Ka. I did a search for his threads, and that one came up.
I know this is not a pleasant subject, but it’s worth contemplation. There are probably currently active posters who have never seen it, and, y’know, maybe it’s something that should be read. I also wonder how certain threads earlier this year would have gone if I’d remembered it then and linked it. It’s upsetting, to be sure, but it’s something that AFAWK really happened, as opposed to a hypothetical situation, or a news item that no one posting was involved in.
On a tangent, I’m vaguely familiar with Eve, and am aware of her various endeavors, but had never heard of Wang-Ka until last night, when I saw that that thread had been revived.
What’s the connection between Wang-Ka and Eve? Just curious as to why Eve’s return made you think of the other.
I remember that thread. All the more disturbing for the fact that Master Wang-Ka’s threads of his childhood escapades or adulthood teaching were usually funny. I think he published a collection of his stories somewhere, and that’s why he stopped posting them for free here.
Can we get a summary, or at least a hint of what it’s about, beyond the title? I get that it’s important subject matter, and I don’t mean to sound dismissive, but it looks really long.
It’s a disturbing (very trigger-y) thread about a gang rape that the OP saw starting up, fled from, and didn’t report. I don’t care to read it again (and was confused to see reappear recently), so that’s all I can say for sure.
It’s about Master Wang Ka witnessing a terrible crime back in the day when he was a kid and the effects of that crime, on himself, the victim, and the perpetrators. Riveting read. It would be time well spent to read it all.
Riveting, yes. Disturbing, yes. Worth the time, absolutely yes. I’ve never forgotten it, especially as a mother of daughters, although it might be equally chilling to parents of boys, just in a different way.
And on a side note, I miss Wang-Ka, too. I wish he’d come back.
Yes, believe me, it is very chilling to this mom of a (nearly) teen boy.
I didn’t read this when it was first posted. As I was reading it just now, (until the poor girl arrives), I thought it was going to turn out that he was the victim. It scares me that anyone’s son could turn into a monster like the rapists in the story. It scares me that anyone’s child could be a victim.
And before anyone gets the idea that he simply cut and ran, he did make an attempt to turn the tide, and was told that they would simply beat the crap out of him, deny it, and beat the crap out of him some more. The main reason this resonates with me is because it shows that these things don’t “just happen”. A lot of entitlement and machismo led to what he describes. The guys really could do anything they wanted without consequences.
I told my kids about it the first time around, but I might just print it out for them this time. They’re all older than that now, but then, the next generation is coming up, too.
Ok, the original thread was linked by Zebra here. Since it’s closed, I figured I should respond here.
First response:
I disagree. It’s always useful to encourage people to intervene. We set the limits for acceptable behaviour and we can alter our own behaviour according to the memes which constitute our culture. If an action is lauded enough and non-compliance denigrated enough, we can even overcome our own sheer terror of death to pursue such a course. If we succumb to cynicism, society becomes tyranny.
I still feel guilty for not crossing the street to confront a man shouting at a woman, or for doing the same for some teens on bikes harassing some women, or for asking if a woman was alright when some guy was standing over her in a menacing fashion. The one unambiguous time I saw a man pushing a woman around, he was immediately cowed when I approached and simply asked if everything was alright. I was stupid enough to walk away afterwards instead of phoning the police.
After digging around online, I found that people are more likely to claim the victim deserves to be raped if they’re dressed provocatively, but no correlations between appearance and rape. I did remember the “doing her a favour” quote though. I read elsewhere that rapists rarely remember their victims clothing, but I can’t find a current cite. I remember reading the write up of a psychiatrist’s interview with a rapist, where he says something along the lines of “witch doctors always tell us we want power or want to have sex with our mothers”, or something like that, too. I don’t remember the name of the book I read it though.
Just randomly came across this, tangentially related.