Denial and Defense Systems in If Rape Were Legal
In the reading "If Rape Were Legal", the subject, Carlos, is deathly afraid of his own mortality and he is in denial about this mortality and about what kind of an effect it will have on the people he loves. For example, he is unaware of the impact his behavior will have on his kids and then subsequently on their kids, and their kid's friends, etc. Carlos's problem is that he is most concerned with the physical aspect of death, this is what he is most afraid of, and what he believes is the most important thing about death, the death of the physical being, something that is not quite true.
The story of Carlos begins when a young psychologist was concerned about his behavior and attitude towards other members in his therapy group. He was being insensitive to the problems of other's, especially of one woman's trauma after being raped. Already at the beginning we see signs of a fear of physical death. His own justification at saying these things is that what he is going through (chemotherapy, the knowledge that there is no question he will die within a few years) is much worse than what these women have gone through. His reasoning is that rape is something that happens to you and then it's over, that you can still go on living your life. According to Elisabeth Kubler-Ross there is no need to fear physical death, but there is reason to fear what kind of mark your personality, your self, will leave once your physical body is gone. "…You may view the eternal essence of your existence in terms of the impact your every mood and action has on those you touch, and then in turn, on those they touch, and on and on-even long after your life span is completed. (357)" This is exactly what Car...
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...ctly what Kubler-Ross was talking about when she described the part of you that made an impression, that lived on, it was his essence.
From this point on, Carlos became a different person. He realized that the things he was doing only served as a way to preoccupy his mind and settle his fears about death. He began to act as if every day were his last day alive and worked to better himself and to better the people around him, so that his essence would live, for generations to come, in a positive light. The reason he started off detaching himself was because of fear. This lead to denial, which led to the creation of his many defense systems against these kinds of emotions of fear and uncertainty. All of which he was able to come to terms with and face, so that he could start being compassionate and caring, and leaving his mark positive mark on the rest of the world.
A horrific aspect of life that many people have a difficult time dealing with is death. The thought of death scares people because as humans we do not have a way to comprehend something that we cannot test, see or even have a grasp of. When a person loses a loved one they get scared by this reality of that they do not know where they are going and when they make it there how will it be for them. In William Faulkner's book, As I Lay Dying, we go through the process at which a family loses a “loved” one and we follow the family all the way until the deceased, Addie Burden, is buried in Jefferson. In As I Lay Dying you see the steps of grieving are different for many people and some of the people will come out destroyed and others without a scratch. The character Cash goes through a process of grief, odd to most in his way of grief we do not see pain because of the pressure he puts on himself to finish the journey for the family. Cash’s brother, Jewel, seems to snap from the pain of losing his mother and he let the pain ingulf his life. Finally, the last
In the short story “The Reach,” Stephen King addresses the fact that in life there is a constant fear of death, but when confronted with it is easier to accept when someone has seen many deaths and knows that they are dying themselves. The narrator of the story knows that she is dying and, being an elder, has seen many deaths. We reach this conclusion when she questions the love she has for others and no longer cries when others die around her anymore. She has seen many deaths in the years and can only accept that death is inevitable and a part of life. Mostly everyone she grew up with has passed on already.
Is it possible to live without fear of death? If you can, does it change your life and who you are as a whole? Lindqvist believes so. Early in the book he proposes the idea that with fear of death life has a deeper meaning. That only with the fear of death do...
workers and the position of supervisor is instantly given an incredible amount more power taking
Unfortunately, rape is a traumatizing event to happen to an individual that can have lifelong effects on the individual physical, mental, and emotional state. Many victims elect not to report the crime to law enforcement in order to put the past behind them. Nonetheless, there are numerous explanations on why this crime is not heavily conveyed to the police. First, there is a sense of renunciation for the victim; particularly if the rape was brought on by someone they know (Burgess, Regehr, & Roberts, 2013, p. 375). In the event that this occurs, the victim could try to evade the topic of what has transpired to them to de-escalate their sense of embarrassment and shame. Second, the victim’s fear of the legal system could avert them from also reporting the crime (Burgess, Regehr, & Roberts, 2013, p.
Initially, the mens rea of rape prior to the case of DPP v Morgan a defendant cannot be found liable for rape if he had the reasonable belief that consent was formed between them and the victim. Which leads to an unfairness to those victims that have been violated, and also that any person accused of rape could say they had belief in consent. Although, it was shown not to matter how unreasonable that belief may have been, in concerning the knowledge or lack of knowledge of consent. Needless to say, the current law has attempted to improve and develop upon this concept, though it may not be completely satisfactory. The 21st century initiated a new state of trying to improve the current laws and precedents on the definition of rape, the prior precedent simply not suitable for the 21st century. Various cases after Morgan , prior to the act that redrew and reformed the Mens rea of rape, came to court and illustrated how the principle of Morgan operates. In Kimber the defendant (D) was charged with sexually assaulting a mentally disordered woman. It had to be determined whether his interference was in fact an assault, even with the D’s claim of consent to his actions, though she claimed otherwise. The court came to find that the mens rea for assault is intentionally touching a Victim (V), unlawfully, i.e. without consent. However, due to the fact that the D believed the consent was there, however unreasonably, he therefore lacked the mens rea of the assault and therefore not guilty.
It is inevitable that we will all die it is a fact that everyone must come to terms with. There comes a time in everyone’s life that they must face death; a friend’s tragic accident, a family member’s passing or their own battles with diseases. When faced with the idea of death people will act in different ways some may find it therapeutic to apologize for the negative they have done, some may want to spend time with loved ones to ease the future pain, and others may decide that their life was not what they believed. The story Death Constant Beyond Love tells us about a man named Senator Sanchez who is living a happy life with his wife and five kids. That is until he is told by doctors that he only has a short time to live. Death is unknown much like love, we do not know or understand when love will find us, and it is the same with death. In Death Constant Beyond Love is not your typical love or death story. After told about his pending doom Senator Sanchez wants to keep his life as constant as normal, until his desires for a young woman change his plans, and then he dies.
One of Canada's foremost contemporary writers, Margaret Atwood is an internationally renowned poet, literary critic, novelist, humanitarian and political activist. Born in Ottawa, Ontario, in 1939, she spent most of her childhood in the Canadian wilderness. She has won praise and acclaim for her ability to incorporate humor, biting wit, irony and symbolism into her writing style. Her themes usually depict the very nature of human behavior and issues of power between men and women as it relates to society ("The Writer." New York Times). Her very first novel, The Edible Women, published in 1970, explored issues of oppression, self-identity and power, as it relates to the broader social content of contemporary urban life and the sexual politics involved. She further explores those issues in "Rape Fantasies" first published in Canada in 1979 in her book The Dancing Girls and Other Stories. "Rape Fantasies" has become one of Atwood's best known works as it explores the issues of power between men and women, highlighting women's fears of crime and victimization, where safety depends on the ability to find a medium between trust, suspicion, fear, and isolation ("I Just Don't Understand It." Gale).
Sexual violence can happen to anyone. In fact, one out of every six women has been the victim of an attempted or completed rape in her lifetime. Although, it is women who are targeted most often, it is important to understand that rape can occur to any person, regardless of various factors such as age, race, sex, ethnicity, and sexual orientation. What many people do not ponder is that most of the time when a woman is raped, she is actually blamed for the assault. As Aosved mentions in her article titled, ‘Co-occurrence of Rape Myth Acceptance, Sexism, Racism, Homophobia, Ageism, Classism, and Religious Intolerance’, she states
What do you think and feel when you hear the word rape? Do you feel uncomfortable? Maybe even angry? Your certain feelings and emotions towards this word is a result of rape culture. Rape culture, essentially, is how a society as a whole sees and reacts towards rape or instances of rape. In 2013 rape was defined by the FBI as, “Penetration… of the vagina or anus with any body part or object, or oral penetration by a sex organ of another person, without the consent of the victim.” (Division’s Crime Statistics Management Unit 1). The definition was finally changed after the old definition deemed inappropriate by today’s standards, which beforehand, stated that physical force needed to be used for rape to be considered rape. This is good news for men and women who have been fighting for the definition to be changed, but unfortunately this does not mean that state laws are being changed the same way. Even though the FBI may acknowledge the older inappropriate definition, most states do not. Sexual assault is a commonly unreported crime, where only an average of 36% of sexual abuse is actually reported to the authorities (Planty 7). Some forms of rape can include physical harm, threats, and even death of the victim, and most victims do not want to tell others for fear of criticism, self-blame, or even the fear that their attackers will carry out on their threats. In many cases, victims do have a reason to be afraid. When someone is brave enough to come forward and say they were sexually assaulted, they are putting themselves in the position of being in not only a long legal process, but also having their motives questioned and misunderstood, which is the last thing they want after their experience. The legal system in the United States...
Obama defines rape culture as, “[a] culture that normalizes, trivializes, and quietly condones male sexual assault against women, blaming victims while subtly celebrating male predators” (Wilhelm). It’s all about the hype of the word rape culture. It’s seeped into the conscious minds of our supple brains. And, “once it’s settled in, it’s hard to pry it out,” or so Wilhelm admits. She also says that the one in five statistic is entirely false, as said by several other sources. “Speaking of culture, what does it say about ours when such clearly preposterous statistics are so easily believed?” Wilhelm proclaims while referring to the one in five statistic. This question was used to make readers stop, and consider what she is claiming; essentially
Intro : Introduce the concept of death, and how the concept of death is shown to be something to be feared
Statutory rape is when an adult has sexual intercourse with a minor. Every two minutes someone in the U.S is sexually assaulted. There are also many cases of statutory rape, but how many of these statutory rape cases are legitimate? Some people say statutory rape laws are discriminating to males, and in some cases it is, just because they are the adult. Should laws concerning statutory rape be changed depending on the backstory of the case? Or should they continue the same way, and keep punishing the males when it may not be their fault, or if they’ve been tricked by the girl?
Deviant behavior is defined as a behavior or action that is against the social norms of society. Rape is a deviant behavior that is a type of sexual assaults that usually involving sexual intercourse. This happens when one person or more initiates sexual acts against another person without that person's consent. The act can be sometimes carried out by physical force, coercion, or a person not being able to give valid consent. Someone who is unconscious, incapacitated, or below the legal age of consent would fall under that category. The term rape is sometimes used interchangeably with the term sexual assault. According to R.A.I.N (Rape, Abuse and Incet National Network, 2009) 44% of rape victims are under age 18 and 80% are under age 30. It is sad to report that every 2 minutes another American is assaulted which leaves an average of 237,868 victims, age 12 or older of sexual assault each year (R.A.I.N 2009). So who is to blame for this growing problem? It would be surprising to hear that many times people blame the victims. This is a growing concern for us all because it has led to a tremendous amount of unreported incidents which leads to the perpetrator roaming the streets waiting to strike again. Rape can lead to have severe traumatization and victim can suffer from posttraumatic stress disorder along with causing psychological harm and has been shown to cause physical injury, or have additional effects on the victim, such as acquiring of a sexually transmitted infection or becoming pregnant. Sadly following a rape, a victim may face violence or threats thereafter from the rapist.
Is anyone truly a stranger to nightmares? Has anyone not woken up in a feverish sweat with a racing pulse or pounding heart? Whose eyes have never wildly searched their room for the phantoms of a dream? Now, what if the familiar consolation of learning it was all in your head never came? How do you wake up from a nightmare that is, in fact, a reality? I think I’m getting ahead of myself. What I mean to say is, I was raped, and rape is a nightmare.