Another question occurs to me. The *most extreme* estimates I've seen in the media suggest that one in five American women have experienced completed or attempted rape. See: washingtonpost.com/news/fact-chec…. That number is *very* contestable, but let's use it arguendo.
That means four in five women have *not* experienced this.
I'd like to see polling data indicating whether women are now more or less afraid of rape than they were in the 1980s, when (according to surveys using the same methodology) they were more at risk.
I'd like to see polling data indicating whether women are now more or less afraid of rape than they were in the 1980s, when (according to surveys using the same methodology) they were more at risk.
My guess is that they'd be more afraid of it, even though there's less reason to be. (But I'll wait to see some kind of data before drawing that conclusion--just a guess.)
If you break down the statistics, you'll find that the risk is not at all evenly distributed. It's just not true that every American is equally at risk. Overwhelmingly, the person most likely to rape you is your current or former intimate partner.
And you're far more likely to be raped if you're drunk or on drugs (or if you live in Oregon. No, I don't know why). For most women, it would be fairly silly to worry about being raped. It's not very likely.
Most of us can relax and trust the men around us.
But incessant media coverage makes people *very* frightened of certain crimes: terrorism, for example, which is actually very rare in the US. And very willing to sacrifice civil liberties to reduce the odds of those crimes.
But incessant media coverage makes people *very* frightened of certain crimes: terrorism, for example, which is actually very rare in the US. And very willing to sacrifice civil liberties to reduce the odds of those crimes.
I wish the media would spend more time reassuring women that they're not actually that likely to be raped. But that doesn't sell.
So the right will babble on about terrifying immigrants, Mexicans, and Muslims; the left will babble on about the terrifying Great White Phallus--
So the right will babble on about terrifying immigrants, Mexicans, and Muslims; the left will babble on about the terrifying Great White Phallus--
--and as each side tries to scare the living shit out of the other -- so better to acquire the levers of power -- we'll become less free and more stupid.
