It's no secret that there is plenty of rape scenes in your typical dime store romance novels too. Should that be banned also? Why is it OK for women to fantasize about rape, but not OK for men?

You've never actually read a Harlequin romance, have you? Or at least one written past the 1970's. I'm not going to lie; I read them as a guilty pleasure. I have never once read a rape scene in a romance novel. I would be totally shocked if something like that showed up in any romance novel I was reading. So no, there are not "plenty of rape scenes" in romance novels, because modern women don't care to read about rape and really don't fantasize about rape. Sorry to burst your fantasy there.

Cady:

modern women don't care to read about rape and really don't fantasize about rape.

These unmodern women may disagree. <link>

And maybe not all women think like you.

 

...Gone with the Wind? Rhett carrying Scarlette up the staircase?

BTW, I don't know if anyone does this anymore, but remember the tradition of grooms carrying brides across the threshold? That's a ritualized recreation of rape (from the Latin rapere -- to sieze). Back in the day, older men married much younger women who didn't necessarily want to leave Mommy and Daddy's house.

Badbone:

Cady:

modern women don't care to read about rape and really don't fantasize about rape.

These unmodern women may disagree. <link>

And maybe not all women think like you.

Because it's published it's true? I know that my sister in-law, who read thousands of Harlequin romance books, had zero experiences of rape in any of them. So the assertion that these books contain that in any way is wrong. That is what the first focus of debate should be.

Then you ad something with relevance, but has no basis in fact. Theory and writing about it does not make it truth. The claim in that article about fantasy rape is ludicrous. The author might have sexually repressed rape fantasies, but that doesn't equate to a large percentage of women having them. It's stupid to consider that so many women have such fantasies without very aggressive analysis. Otherwise it's hearsay and worthless.

nelson46:

Badbone:

Cady:

modern women don't care to read about rape and really don't fantasize about rape.

These unmodern women may disagree. <link>

And maybe not all women think like you.

Because it's published it's true? I know that my sister in-law, who read thousands of Harlequin romance books, had zero experiences of rape in any of them. So the assertion that these books contain that in any way is wrong. That is what the first focus of debate should be.

Then you ad something with relevance, but has no basis in fact. Theory and writing about it does not make it truth. The claim in that article about fantasy rape is ludicrous. The author might have sexually repressed rape fantasies, but that doesn't equate to a large percentage of women having them. It's stupid to consider that so many women have such fantasies without very aggressive analysis. Otherwise it's hearsay and worthless.

Um, he did post a link to a journal article supporting his POV. You have not. Why not post a link of some study showing that women do NOT have these fantasies? That would be a much more powerful argument than saying your sister doesn't remember reading any.

Bad argument nelson. You are stating that because your sister in law read lots of those books, that means that there are no rape scenes. Maybe the books that would feature such scenes do not catch the interest of your s-i-l. Regardless, it is a ludicrous position. I would be more willing to accept the support of a psychological journal that has been critiqued by peers in the profession over your assumption that the writer has a rape fantasy.

Reread the article. It is clear from the article that women who entertain rape fantasies do not really want to be raped.

Rape fantasies used to be standard fare in romance novels until about thirty years ago, when someone finally noticed that readers preferred books without them than with. So whether or not they are "normal" depends on the age of your book collection.

Nowadays you'll still find a lot of scenes where the woman "gives in to her desires" against her better judgment, but usually that's because of a conflict between her lust and the belief that the guy she's hot for isn't the right guy for some reason (which then drives the rest of the book).