# So, which part of my life do I give up to avoid being raped?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-which-part-of-my-life-do-i-give-up-to-avoid-being-raped/285339>\
**Category:** The BBQ Pit\
**Created:** [January 18, 2005, 9:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-which-part-of-my-life-do-i-give-up-to-avoid-being-raped/285339 "2005-01-18T09:27:08Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 20\
**Page:** 10

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![FinnAgain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/finnagain/32/12500_2.png) [@FinnAgain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FinnAgain)\
**Post date:** [January 20, 2005, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-which-part-of-my-life-do-i-give-up-to-avoid-being-raped/285339/181 "2005-01-20T06:18:00Z")

</div>

> [@Maureen](#):
>
> **FInn** , I said most rapes are perpetrated by men. What would you have me do?

say “The phrase men-are-rapists is bigoted, inflamatory, and unfair to a large number of decent men.”

> [@Maureen](#):
>
> I am not saying that all men are rapists. I haven’t, and I won’t. Saying that the majority of rapes are committed by men is not the same thing as saying “all men are rapists.”

I’m well aware they’re not the same thing. But refusing to condemn (or supporting) the attitude that ‘men are rapists’ is bigoted. Now, I’m more than willing to admit that I read your post wrong, but, clear up my ignorance. say

“The phrase men-are-rapists is bigoted, inflamatory, and unfair to a large number of decent men.”

> [@Maureen](#):
>
> And if you continue to insist on seeing it that way, even though I’ve explained otherwise, then I’d say you’re looking for offense where none is intended.

I am just commenting on the meme “men are rapists”. I don’t disagree with the facts you’re citing, but you have to realize that ‘men are rapists’ is the same class of phrase as ‘women are crack whores’.

You wouldn’t like it if someone said that about women, and with good cause. Right? Women are crack whores. Totally cool? Women are sluts. Totally cool? Women are baby murdering electra-complex-inducing monsters." Totally cool?

Please join me in saying that being bigoted against men is just as bad as being bigoted against women.

Again, if I’ve misread let me know. But your responses to the fact that the men-are-rapists meme is bigoted are to cite that most rapes are commited by men. You can understand my confusion as to your real position I’m sure?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![SallyCan\_tDance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/50afbb/32.png) [@SallyCan\_tDance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SallyCan_tDance)\
**Post date:** [January 20, 2005, 6:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-which-part-of-my-life-do-i-give-up-to-avoid-being-raped/285339/182 "2005-01-20T06:39:26Z")

</div>

> [@margin](#):
>
> The attitude seems to be thus:
> 
> Women need to protect themselves.
> 
> Well, women already do that.
> 
> But rapes keep happening!
> 
> Women obviously aren’t protecting themselves well enough.  
> …Men who commit sexual assault aren’t like rain or thunder a woman can simply carry an umbrella against. They’re sentient beings; they make choices. Those choices should be held against them, not against women.

Sorta reminds me of something Indira Ghandi said in response to calls for Indian women in one of the major cities, in which there was a series of violent sexual assaults on random women after dark, to undergo curfew in order to be at less risk of being raped. She said something to the effect that it should be the **men** of the city that should be under a curfew; they’re the ones doing the raping, why should women automatically have their lives restricted?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Syntropy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/65b543/32.png) [@Syntropy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Syntropy)\
**Post date:** [January 20, 2005, 6:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-which-part-of-my-life-do-i-give-up-to-avoid-being-raped/285339/183 "2005-01-20T06:39:54Z")

</div>

No, I don’t understand your confusion. Because I have _never fucking said_ “all men are rapists.” Nor will I, because yes, it is sexist on top of being flat out wrong. And yes, sexism works both ways.

Yes. You misread what I said.

I realize this is a very inflammatory topic, for both sexes and for lots of different reasons. But please believe that I am just as interested as you in dispelling the bullshit (on all sides) of the rape issue.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![FinnAgain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/finnagain/32/12500_2.png) [@FinnAgain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FinnAgain)\
**Post date:** [January 20, 2005, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-which-part-of-my-life-do-i-give-up-to-avoid-being-raped/285339/184 "2005-01-20T06:42:20Z")

</div>

> [@Maureen](#):
>
> No, I don’t understand your confusion. Because I have _never fucking said_ “all men are rapists.” Nor will I, because yes, it is sexist on top of being flat out wrong. And yes, sexism works both ways.  
> Yes. You misread what I said.

Okay, you perhaps might want to rethink what you type… because to someone, like me, your response to **catsix** might indicate that you didn’t have any problem with the men are rapists meme. Just how it looked to me, do with that what you will.

> [@Maureen](#):
>
> I realize this is a very inflammatory topic, for both sexes and for lots of different reasons. But please believe that I am just as interested as you in dispelling the bullshit (on all sides) of the rape issue.

Roger 🙂

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![SallyCan\_tDance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/50afbb/32.png) [@SallyCan\_tDance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SallyCan_tDance)\
**Post date:** [January 20, 2005, 6:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-which-part-of-my-life-do-i-give-up-to-avoid-being-raped/285339/185 "2005-01-20T06:45:17Z")

</div>

> [@FinnAgain](#):
>
> I am just commenting on the meme “men are rapists”. I don’t disagree with the facts you’re citing, but you have to realize that ‘men are rapists’ is the same class of phrase as ‘women are crack whores’.
> 
> Again, if I’ve misread let me know. But your responses to the fact that the men-are-rapists meme is bigoted are to cite that most rapes are commited by men. You can understand my confusion as to your real position I’m sure?

Some men ARE rapists. Some women ARE crack whores. Those things are both facts. How is stating these things meant to be “bigoted”? How is this confusing? I think you’re looking for some big controversy that just isn’t there. Seriously.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![roger\_thornhill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d9b06d/32.png) [@roger\_thornhill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/roger_thornhill)\
**Post date:** [January 20, 2005, 6:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-which-part-of-my-life-do-i-give-up-to-avoid-being-raped/285339/186 "2005-01-20T06:50:28Z")

</div>

I think a lot of us men feel in the firing line when rape is discussed. We know that the vast majority of rapists are men, and we are men too. And however much a man believes that he would never commit a rape, he has this feeling at the back of his mind that women (or some women) think he’s essentially no different from other men, i.e. capable of rape.

Just a form of insecurity, maybe, that makes some of us lash out at times.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![FinnAgain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/finnagain/32/12500_2.png) [@FinnAgain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FinnAgain)\
**Post date:** [January 20, 2005, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-which-part-of-my-life-do-i-give-up-to-avoid-being-raped/285339/187 "2005-01-20T06:51:46Z")

</div>

> [@SallyCan'tDance](#):
>
> Some men ARE rapists. Some women ARE crack whores. Those things are both facts. How is stating these things meant to be “bigoted”?

Welcome to the Dope. (where reading comprehension counts)

Stating those facts isn’t bigoted, nor have I claimed that it is. Using those facts to say “Men are rapists” “Women are crack whores” is bigoted. Those phrases make groups fungible, and are false-to-facts.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![SallyCan\_tDance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/50afbb/32.png) [@SallyCan\_tDance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SallyCan_tDance)\
**Post date:** [January 20, 2005, 6:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-which-part-of-my-life-do-i-give-up-to-avoid-being-raped/285339/188 "2005-01-20T06:54:47Z")

</div>

> [@FinnAgain](#):
>
> Welcome to the Dope. (where reading comprehension counts)
> 
> Stating those facts isn’t bigoted, nor have I claimed that it is. Using those facts to say “Men are rapists” “Women are crack whores” is bigoted. Those phrases make groups fungible, and are false-to-facts.

Thanks. Care to point out my reading comprehension problems? Or are you just going to work on your own, mmm?  
Maureen never "used those facts to say “Men are rapists…” etc. etc. She just said that most rapists are men. Do you see the difference? If you don’t, well, what can I say. 😛

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Syntropy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/65b543/32.png) [@Syntropy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Syntropy)\
**Post date:** [January 20, 2005, 6:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-which-part-of-my-life-do-i-give-up-to-avoid-being-raped/285339/189 "2005-01-20T06:58:31Z")

</div>

> [@FinnAgain](#):
>
> Roger 🙂

Good, I didn’t want to go to bed til we got that straightened out.

**Sally** , apparently the way I worded my sentence led **Finn** to believe I was making the blanket statement that all men are rapists. Such is not the case, but I don’t like being grouped into a generalization, either, so I don’t take too much offense at his insistence that I explain myself.

Rick, I’m not sure if you saw my post earlier about men who have never and will never raped, but I think you just went a long way toward explaining it. Thank you. And with that; good night.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![FinnAgain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/finnagain/32/12500_2.png) [@FinnAgain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FinnAgain)\
**Post date:** [January 20, 2005, 6:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-which-part-of-my-life-do-i-give-up-to-avoid-being-raped/285339/190 "2005-01-20T06:58:31Z")

</div>

> [@SallyCan'tDance](#):
>
> Thanks. Care to point out my reading comprehension problems? Or are you just going to work on your own, mmm?  
> Maureen never "used those facts to say “Men are rapists…” etc. etc. She just said that most rapists are men. Do you see the difference? If you don’t, well, what can I say. 😛

Are you stupid or just acting the part?

If someone says “the phrase men are rapists is bigoted.” and someone else’s direct response to that is “men commit rape.” that doesn’t sound like a strong denunciationl, now does it?

Besides, **Maureen** and I are talking to each other like nice adults, why don’t you stop bothering the grown ups?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Syntropy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/65b543/32.png) [@Syntropy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Syntropy)\
**Post date:** [January 20, 2005, 7:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-which-part-of-my-life-do-i-give-up-to-avoid-being-raped/285339/191 "2005-01-20T07:10:18Z")

</div>

> [@Maureen](#):
>
> Rick, I’m not sure if you saw my post earlier about men who have never and will never raped, but I think you just went a long way toward explaining it. Thank you. And with that; good night.

Fuck, I did it again.  
Rick, I’m not sure if you saw my post earlier about **why** men who have never and will never rape **seem to feel that they are being accused when they are not** , but I think you just went a long way toward explaining it.

Okay. Now I really AM going to bed. For a change, I don’t have insomnia.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![roger\_thornhill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d9b06d/32.png) [@roger\_thornhill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/roger_thornhill)\
**Post date:** [January 20, 2005, 7:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-which-part-of-my-life-do-i-give-up-to-avoid-being-raped/285339/192 "2005-01-20T07:15:12Z")

</div>

> [@Maureen](#):
>
> Rick, I’m not sure if you saw my post earlier about **why** men who have never and will never rape **seem to feel that they are being accused when they are not** , but I think you just went a long way toward explaining it.

I must plead guilty - I read the first few posts, a few scattered posts about the place of sex in rape and most of the posts on this page, but not the lot.

At least you didn’t call me Dick!

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\
**Post date:** [January 20, 2005, 10:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-which-part-of-my-life-do-i-give-up-to-avoid-being-raped/285339/193 "2005-01-20T10:08:52Z")

</div>

**catsix** , can you give an example of a source that you would **not** say is biased and feminazi?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![catsix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e19b73/32.png) [@catsix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/catsix)\
**Post date:** [January 20, 2005, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-which-part-of-my-life-do-i-give-up-to-avoid-being-raped/285339/194 "2005-01-20T12:09:34Z")

</div>

> [@](#):
>
> **Maureen** said:  
> Well, I’m sorry, but the vast majority of rapes are not perpetrated by small furry beings from Alpha Centauri. They are perpetrated by males of the specie Homo Sapien. In other words: men. Whether or not you choose to believe that is entirely up to you.

There’s a difference between these two statements:

The majority of rapists are male.  
Men are rapists.

If you can’t see that, your bigotry is apparently more severe than I originally thought.

> [@](#):
>
> Yup. I believe we should prosecute rapists, educate as much as possible and, as eleanorigby said, find the underlying reasons for rape and work to fix them. Ain’t it awful?

Except that you presuppose conclusions, you and other feminists will use nearly any tactic including smearing half the population with a disgusting label, and insist that men be indoctrinated to your way of thinking from a very young age. This includes the massive effort made to get people to blindly believe your statistics without investigating the research methods from which they were created. Statements to the effect of ‘Just a wild assed guess here, but the numbers could be four times higher than we could even create with our survey.’ aren’t science and only make the rest of your so-called research look more bogus.

> [@](#):
>
> I don’t know what you’ve read to lead you to these ridiculous conclusions. That’s why I keep asking for cites.

I’ve read the feminist tripe, ya dipshit. My eyes have seen enough Koss, Brownmiller, et al, to show me that these people are not interested in honest scholarship. They are interested in prepetual victimhood and will guard it fiercely because to have women believe they are not victims would be the end of their purpose in life.

I don’t need cites of my own to know when someone’s research methodology was flawed. I can actually tell if a survey is misleading or is slanted to create a particular response. And I know when a sample size was too small, or just not representative of the population as a whole, as it’s been in _many_ feminist ‘studies.’

> [@](#):
>
> As far as I can tell, you’re just an angry little girl who thinks that everyone else is on the same experience and intellectual level as one of the freshman classes you apparently T.A.

I’m the head of my department, but nice try on the T.A. quip. I’m telling you that I see these feminist proclamations as flawed. I’m not out to prove a set of numbers. I have no _interest_ in proving a set of numbers. What I do have an interest in is the misandrist attitude of society today and the lies put forth by ‘women’s studies’ departments and feminist organizations.

> [@](#):
>
> **SallyCan’tDance** said:  
> Some men ARE rapists. Some women ARE crack whores. Those things are both facts. How is stating these things meant to be “bigoted”?

Those sentences look a hell of a lot different without the word ‘some’ in them. A fact that feminists don’t seem to care about when they state ‘Men are rapists.’ Note the awful lack of any specification that they don’t mean men, in general, as a gender, all of them.

> [@](#):
>
> **Rilchiam** said:  
> catsix, can you give an example of a source that you would not say is biased and feminazi?

I don’t honestly know of one. I have to look at them and find out how they did their research to tell for sure what their bias is.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\
**Post date:** [January 20, 2005, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-which-part-of-my-life-do-i-give-up-to-avoid-being-raped/285339/195 "2005-01-20T12:24:33Z")

</div>

For crissakes, **catsix** , if you’re taking it for granted that every study **has** a bias, of course you’re always going to find one.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![SentientMeat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/43a26b/32.png) [@SentientMeat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SentientMeat)\
**Post date:** [January 20, 2005, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-which-part-of-my-life-do-i-give-up-to-avoid-being-raped/285339/196 "2005-01-20T12:33:11Z")

</div>

> [@Rilchiam](#):
>
> For crissakes, **catsix** , if you’re taking it for granted that every study **has** a bias, of course you’re always going to find one.

Perhaps this explains why she confuses claiming that rape avoidance is propounded more prevalently than other-crime avoidance with _asking_ whether it is or not?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\
**Post date:** [January 20, 2005, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-which-part-of-my-life-do-i-give-up-to-avoid-being-raped/285339/197 "2005-01-20T15:07:33Z")

</div>

**Maureen** , maybe I can explain it in a different way. You’re a smart and wise lady, so I know that you can understand this.

Sally went to a frat party, and thus became a victim of rape. Let’s assume that’s a fact. If she’d stayed home that night, she never would have been a victim of that unfortunate act. Now, if I phrase it as “Sally should never have gone to that party. She could have protected herself from rape, and yet she chose not to”, I’m still stating a fact, but I phrased it in a way that could easily be interpreted as inflamatory, casting blame, and ill-timed.

Would you agree with that? Might I have exercised more tact and phrased it in a non-offensive way? Yes.

When you say “Men are rapists”, you are also stating a fact. No one disputes the truth of your statement. However, the way it is phrased has inflamed, cast blame, and was ill-timed. All we are asking is for it to be phrased in a less offensive way. “X are Y”, because of the structure of our language, implies that there is a 1 to 1 relationship between X and Y. In fact, Y is a small subset of X. Y \< X.

Had **Chotii** proclaimed “_Some_ men are rapists”, or “Most rapists are men”, or even “A small but significant number of men are rapists”, then we could have saved ourselves 2 pages of grief. It was the deliberately inflamatory and provocative way she said it, and the unwillingness of many people to try to understand the difference between provocative and coldy factual statements that have contributed in large part to the bad feelings in this thread. (And to some extent, in the other thread as well.)

In addition, her ridiculous theory that men are uncomfortable with an accusation of rape being due to guilt over something that never happened just added insult to injury.

If this makes sense, then good. If not, blame it on the fact that I’ve spent the last 16 hours swallowing painkillers and blood.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![catsix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e19b73/32.png) [@catsix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/catsix)\
**Post date:** [January 20, 2005, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-which-part-of-my-life-do-i-give-up-to-avoid-being-raped/285339/198 "2005-01-20T15:45:42Z")

</div>

> [@](#):
>
> **Rilchaim** said:  
> For crissakes, catsix, if you’re taking it for granted that every study has a bias, of course you’re always going to find one.

I said that I have to look at a study to determine what bias it has. If it’s created by a human being, it has bias. I did not say that I believe _every_ study has feminist bias before looking at it.

That’s why I’d have to look at it. To see if it has a feminist bias.

> [@](#):
>
> **Sentient Meat** said:  
> Perhaps this explains why she confuses claiming that rape avoidance is propounded more prevalently than other-crime avoidance with asking whether it is or not?

I’m not confused. People have asked _why_ rape avoidance is ‘propounded more prevalently’, not _if_ it is. There is a difference between the two questions. The first was asked in this thread, the second was not.

> [@](#):
>
> **tdn** said:  
> Sally went to a frat party, and thus became a victim of rape.

How does the second half of that sentence necessarily follow the first half? I think your use of the word ‘thus’ is misplaced because it presupposes that the sole reason Sally was raped was that she went to a frat party, or that one _expects_ a woman at a frat party will be raped.

It would be far less inflammatory and you could eliminate the logical fallacy if you phrase this as ‘Sally went to a frat party and at some time during that party, she was raped.’

> [@](#):
>
> It was the deliberately inflamatory and provocative way she said it, and the unwillingness of many people to try to understand the difference between provocative and coldy factual statements that have contributed in large part to the bad feelings in this thread. (And to some extent, in the other thread as well.)

Right, it’s the difference between saying ‘Some women are child abusers.’ and using the fact that the vast majority of child abuse and neglect happens at the hands of the mother to say ‘Women are child abusers.’ The addition of the word ‘some’, or even being more careful and saying ‘A small minority of women are child abusers, while the majority of child abuse is committed by this group.’

‘A small minority of men are rapists, while the majority of rape is committed by this group.’ It’s much less inflammatory that way.

> [@](#):
>
> In addition, her ridiculous theory that men are uncomfortable with an accusation of rape being due to guilt over something that never happened just added insult to injury.

I agree here also. It’s very insulting to tell someone that they are upset about being categorized with very nasty and criminal individuals purely because of their gender or their race. It’s even worse when you’re told that your upset feelings are caused by guilt, especially when you know that you are _not_ one of those criminals.

This is something that many feminists have done, though. They’ve claimed that men feel guilt over rape, even when they are themselves not rapists, or have even gone so far as to say that they feel guilt because they _benefit_ from a ‘culture of rape’ although they themselves may have never raped anyone, nor did they take part in any ‘culture of rape.’

It’s kind of like saying ‘White people are racist.’ and then when a white person gets upset about that, telling them they’re upset because they feel guilty. To make matters worse, there are those who even say that the guilt comes from participating in a ‘culture of racism’ and taking benefit from that culture, despite any work they’ve ever done to counter racism.

Something feminists have argued for years and years is that it’s insulting to be pigeonholed because of your gender. This is what they wish society to stop doing to them. In return, it would be nice if feminists could do the same for men.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\
**Post date:** [January 20, 2005, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-which-part-of-my-life-do-i-give-up-to-avoid-being-raped/285339/199 "2005-01-20T15:57:30Z")

</div>

> [@catsix](#):
>
> It’s my opinion of the people who buy into the prepetual victimhood statements of feminazis (aka misandrists) such as Koss, Brownmiller, Dworkin, MacKinnon, Warshaw, Gandy, Greer, Friedan, Steinem, et al.
> 
> If you have a problem with my demand for something better than a survey designed to create a desired statistic and an ability for those who claim to have a genuine interest in violent crimes to see through it, then you are no better than those who created it.  
> So, you’re going to have to prove that every day civilian women who are not in prison are under some kind of ‘restriction’. You can’t just claim they are and have me believe it.  
> Actually, I don’t listen to Rush. I don’t do talk radio, ever. I listen to Jim & Randy on WDVE 102.5 in the mornings and then either WRRK’s classic rock or WDVE’s mix of classic and modern the rest of the time that I’m in the car. When not in the car, I don’t do radio.
> 
> I believe I stated that already, but just to make it really clear for you, I’ll say it again. Anyone who states that ‘Men are rapists.’ and/or believes that a man who feels that he has been demonized or unfairly labeled by this statement is doing so out of guilt that he might become a rapist is a bigot.
> 
> Progress for people like you will only come when you’ve converted everyone to your ideology.
> 
> Learning that I didn’t eat up the shit ‘touchy feely’ soft-on-research crap that passes for ‘women’s studies’ but instead opted for the hard and definitive proof of something like engineering? I could see how that’d frustrate someone who did opt for feelings over proof.

Thank you, **catsix** for my first laugh of the morning. I think I could say the same for you–that you think that “progress” will only come when we share your ideology. And what would that be? Calling people with opposing POV’s names? Splattering invective all over–what a mess! Yes, it’s the Pit, but surely you are an adult and can speak your truth w/o foaming at the mouth?

You are so blinded my your own rage (unless you use phrases such as I quoted previously in everday conversation), that you didn’t even notice my point.

I don’t care if you agree with the research findings/assumptions/facts/conclusions on any subject, even this one. You are entitled to your opinion, a grace you are unwilling to extend to other’s here.

I was amazed at the vitriol, anger and invective–such intensity usually only comes from great pain. I hope you are addressing this in RL.

You persuasive technique could use a bit of fine tuning. I am not sure what false idol you desire to knock down here-women’s fears of rape or feminist theory in general, but the most frequent posters in this thread have repeated time and again that they do not believe the all men are rapists. There are probably women out there who do believe this whole-heartedly. Is it bigotry? No, it’s prejudiced and sexist–hardly a realm unknown to either sex.  
The American Association of Forensic Scientists is a bigoted, “feminazi” organization? Who knew? But if **catsix** says it is so, it must be true–afterall, we have all her anger at sociological research techniques and studies that don’t enter into her school of thought to prove it! The AAFS! I’ll have to tell my Dad(OB/Neonatal pathologist, member of AAFS and also a midwife). He’ll be so excited!  
And lastly, because I found this so funny–I don’t need to know your radio listening habits. “Feminazi” is a Limbaugh phrase–as ignorant and bigoted as he is. Your use of it colors your entire “argument” for me and drives home the point that all the while you are pointing fingers and crying, “Misandrist! Misandrist!”–you are denigrating this topic and the women who are discussing it, in misogynistic terms.  
Pot and kettle, indeed. Ah, the irony!  
Why should we listen to an angry, bigoted rant(s) from you?

On preview:  
**catsix** says:  
"Except that you presuppose conclusions, you and other feminists will use nearly any tactic including smearing half the population with a disgusting label, and insist that men be indoctrinated to your way of thinking from a very young age.

I don’t need cites of my own to know when someone’s research methodology was flawed. I can actually tell if a survey is misleading or is slanted to create a particular response. And I know when a sample size was too small, or just not representative of the population as a whole, as it’s been in many feminist 'studies."

Well, guess what? I am very glad I am not in your department–and what would that be? You have made any number of sweeping statements above–I would like to see some of those cites that you say you don’t need. You get to be judge and jury while slinging verbal abuse–say, now there’s uni level teaching for ya! Most impressive. I hope you get tenure.

I am off to start the “indoctrination of my sons to my way of thinking at a very young age” now. I dunno, the older one is 13; I may already be too late!

Just one last note-you have already shown thru your posts how little you value dialogue here. The most valuable contribution you have made (and I had to wade thru the crap to get to it) was that many “feminist” studies have flaws.  
I can see your point–research studies are carefully planned and subjected to rigorous discipline in order to weed out bias etc. I have no trouble accepting that some studies are flawed, even many–but many is NOT all.  
But I have trouble giving you any credence at all–you, yourself, are incredibly biased.

to the guys here– **tdn** , **Finn** , etc–I want to thank you for sticking with this. This is a difficult convo for all concerned. Just for the reccord, I do not consider all men rapists or potential rapists. Just wanted to clear that up.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![catsix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e19b73/32.png) [@catsix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/catsix)\
**Post date:** [January 20, 2005, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-which-part-of-my-life-do-i-give-up-to-avoid-being-raped/285339/200 "2005-01-20T16:20:24Z")

</div>

> [@](#):
>
> **elanorigby** said:  
> Yes, it’s the Pit, but surely you are an adult and can speak your truth w/o foaming at the mouth?

I speak the way I speak. I don’t ‘foam at the mouth’, and any belief that I do is your perception of a reality that doesn’t exist.

> [@](#):
>
> You are so blinded my your own rage (unless you use phrases such as I quoted previously in everday conversation), that you didn’t even notice my point.

Actually I do use such phrases in every day conversation. It’s the way I talk. Rage has nothing to do with it, nor does blindness. I noticed what you said, I don’t _agree_ with it.

> [@](#):
>
> I was amazed at the vitriol, anger and invective–such intensity usually only comes from great pain. I hope you are addressing this in RL.

Pain? Huh?

> [@](#):
>
> I am not sure what false idol you desire to knock down here-women’s fears of rape or feminist theory in general, but the most frequent posters in this thread have repeated time and again that they do not believe the all men are rapists.

Then they need to stop using the sentence ‘Men are rapists.’ If, after all, it falsely conveys a belief they don’t have, why use it?

> [@](#):
>
> There are probably women out there who do believe this whole-heartedly. Is it bigotry? No, it’s prejudiced and sexist–hardly a realm unknown to either sex.

Yes, it is bigotry to steadfastly cling to a sexist belief.

> [@](#):
>
> big·ot Audio pronunciation of “bigot” ( P ) Pronunciation Key (bgt)  
> n.
> 
> ```
> One who is strongly partial to one's own group, religion, race, or politics and is intolerant of those who differ.
> 
> ```

See? Sexism counts as bigotry because one who is sexist is a bigot.

> [@](#):
>
> “Feminazi” is a Limbaugh phrase–as ignorant and bigoted as he is. Your use of it colors your entire “argument” for me and drives home the point that all the while you are pointing fingers and crying, “Misandrist! Misandrist!”–you are denigrating this topic and the women who are discussing it, in misogynistic terms.

So accusing me of being a misogynist is fine because I disagree with feminist misinformation and the pervasiveness of it, and because I have called the classification of men as people who either are rapists of feeling guilt that they might be a rapist as ‘misandrist’?

That’s funny. I don’t usually laugh before noon, but I am now.

You brought up my radio listening habits. You were wrong. Can you admit that?

> [@](#):
>
> Well, guess what? I am very glad I am not in your department–and what would that be?

Information technology. I’m a computer engineer. I deal in science, not in feelings.

> [@](#):
>
> Just one last note-you have already shown thru your posts how little you value dialogue here.

It depends on the dialogue. If it’s just going to be more reptition of the false claims made daily in feminist organizations and women’s studies classes (such as the ‘Super Bowl Sunday’ myth), then no, I don’t value it.

> [@](#):
>
> But I have trouble giving you any credence at all–you, yourself, are incredibly biased.

My study of law and feminism gave me the bias I have against feminism and feminists. I’m still waiting to be proven wrong.

> [@](#):
>
> to the guys here–tdn , Finn , etc–I want to thank you for sticking with this. This is a difficult convo for all concerned. Just for the reccord, I do not consider all men rapists or potential rapists. Just wanted to clear that up.

I’ve found that a woman who vehemently disagrees with feminist theory is often treated far worse by those who are feminists than men who disagree with it. This appears to be yet another case in point of that theory.

[Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-which-part-of-my-life-do-i-give-up-to-avoid-being-raped/285339.md?page=9)

[Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-which-part-of-my-life-do-i-give-up-to-avoid-being-raped/285339.md?page=11)
