Have you noticed how many of the campus accusations of rape/sexual misconduct are reported after the 3rd, 4th, or 5th sexual encounter? It’s possible, of course that rape-minded males on campus like to let a relationship proceed a while before forcing themselves on a woman. Or it could be that something happens in the midst of a sexual relationship (or a series of hook-ups) that sours the female on a sexual partner. For instance, she may see him with another woman, or she may run into a female from the campus gender lobby and learn that all men are pigs and all disappointing sex can be counted as rape. After all, the famous Catharine MacKinnon said as much:
“Politically, I call it rape whenever a woman has sex and feels violated.” (Feminism Unmodified, 1987). Of course, she may feel violated by his rudeness, promiscuity or failure to call the next day. Whatever. It’s all rape. Or so says a leading voice in the feminist canon.
This meditation is prompted by a victory of sorts by one of the railroaded males. “John Doe,” a student at James Madison University, was cleared of sexual misconduct, but convicted on appeal and expelled under a blizzard of Kafkaesque procedures (no notice of the meeting, no names of judges provided, no copy of the new charges—though he was allowed to read it and take notes). Elizabeth K. Wilson, an Obama-appointed federal judge, ruled that Doe’s suit alleging lack of due process can proceed. Accounts of the case are provided by Robby Soave of Reason (“The accusation is among the more dubious ones I‘ve ever read about.”) and Ashe Schow of the Washington Examiner.
On appeal, the accuser was supported by statements from her residential advisor and her Title IX representative. Both say that the first of five sexual encounters between accuser and accused was not consensual. (The accuser’s roommate said it was consensual). The pair exchanged friendly messages after the first encounter, and she took the initiative in other sexual meetings. After the third, however, she showed up at his dorm carrying her pillow, but left when she saw another woman sitting on his bed. Hmmm. Could this have been a MacKinnonian violation?
All part of Concept Creep…
Since the State owes me a life free of upset, angst, discomfort, anger, frustration or offense….if/when I feel such things it is always SOMEONE ELSE’S FAULT — NOT MINE — and they should be punished.
When the casual superficiality of a hook-up (or series of hook-ups) is finally revealed to be as empty & devoid of meaning as it always is & will be, the resulting pain becomes the key indicator of Sexual Assault: an unwanted, uninvited, non-consensual sexual contact. And how do we know it was non-consensual (despite the fact that it was ‘enjoyed’ 5 or 6 times prior to the accusation? Because it yielded pain, offense, anger, and discomfort. Since no one would rationally consent to such trauma, the very fact of this trauma tells us clearly that a non-consensual event occurred. How could it be otherwise?
The problem is not that people indulge in such silly fantasies, but that we have created/are creating a social/political culture which grants such irrationalities credence & weight. We embrace their enthusiastic victimhood; we endorse their weakness; we grant them their illogic; and we rush to find our tar & feathers. This is not just idiotic & pathetic; it is tragic.
If recent history is any guide, the “X number of sexual encounters were consensual, but X were not”, claims are almost invariably motivated by revenge; generally resulting from infidelity; real or imagined; anger at lack of emotional reciprocity, or simply spite.
Mattressgirl is a prime example, her texts indicate that she was utterly infatuated with Nungesser, right up until he failed to display adequate reciprocal emotional attachment.