One of the many ways to cope is through the power of laughter. An old saying goes “Laughter is the best medicine,” useful in situations of grief and difficulties. Lately, however, laughter combines with politics and international news. While this is effective, is it right to do so? Not only do Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert pick-and-choose the stories they wish to cover in their TV shows, they choose them based on the comedic potential, blinding their viewers to the real problems the stories present. Known for her comedic approaches in literature, Margaret Atwood also uses humor in her short story “Rape Fantasies” to effectively warn her female readers about the dangers of desensitizing and underestimating the possibility of rape. The admonition worked, although it was a risky maneuver and Atwood could have used another method just as effectively to caution her female audience.
Published in 1975, right in the middle of the free love, hippie movement, Margaret Atwood’s “Rape Fantasies” evoked some extreme reactions from her readers. Some believed it to be too humorous to seriously study as a social critique, while others thought it just what society needed to wake up and consider this awful occurrence called “rape” (Tyler np). Focusing on gender studies, especially a woman’s role in the world, this story displays just how little women understand power. As a group, we consider ourselves powerful and strong; however, we do not understand exactly how powerless we are since we actually know so little about rape. For example, study the group of women in “Rape Fantasies” who eat and play bridge during their lunch break. One day Chrissy stops reading her magazine and asks if any of the group members have had a rape fantasy. ...
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...r the value of each life, the danger of not reacting to a horrific news story, the possibility that anything can happen, and the fact that nobody can be overly protective.
Works Cited
Disaster Center. “United States Crime Rates 1960-2009.” Disaster Center. Disaster Center, 2010. Web. 9 Dec 2010. http://www.disastercenter.com/crime/uscrime.htm.
Rape, Abuse, & Incest National Network. “Statistics.” Rape, Abuse, & Incest National Network. Rape, Abuse, & Incest National Network, 2009. Web. 9 Dec 2010. http://www.rainn.org/statistics.
Tyler, Lisa. “Rape Fantasies: ‘I Just Don’t Understand It’: Teaching Margaret Atwood’s ‘Rape Fantasies’.” Short Stories for Students. Ed. Marie Rose Napierkowski. Vol. 3. Detroit: Gale, 1998. eNotes.com. January 2006. 9 Dec 2010. http://www.enotes.com/rape-fantasies/just-dont-understand-teaching-margaret-atwoods.
Rape is a hidden epidemic that affects many lives world wide. It is a problem that is so terrifying and uncomfortable that people do not talk about it. John Krakauer, author of Missoula, focuses on this issue of rape in the college town of Missoula, Montana. His focus is specifically on the case of Allison Huguet and Beau Donaldson. As the progression of Allison 's case continues we learn of more and more rape cases that happened to women on this same campus. A majority of women do not report these cases, we later learn as Krakauer continues through Allison 's case, because reporting and pursuing the case would be giving their life away. [4] Of course Allison decides to go through the trails of Beau Donaldson, however it is obvious that it is extremely difficult to convict someone with little evidence. As hard of a read as Missoula
The very title of this mock- epic gives the audience a clue, the word "rape" and all its implications bring to mind a heinous crime of violation.
Many of the attitudes, beliefs, and mistaken ideas about rape have been with us for centuries. By looking at myths, such as “women ask for it,” and “it would do some women good to get raped,” from a historical perspective, lead us for better understanding how they evolved. Women are still seen as the property of men, are protected as such. Men and women are still taught to occupy very different roles in today’s world. Men are usually more aggressive, and women are seen as passive. (Vogelman) This socialization process is changing, but slowly.
Thesis: It is crucial to expose the “poisonous” consequences that are a direct result of a lenient society that allows rape culture to prevail.
Pearson, Patricia. When She Was Bad: Violent Women and the Myth of Innocence. New York: Viking, 1997
This book gives a great overview of what rape is and how it affects women. It mentions how rape is a crime of violence and not a crime of passion. It also talks about how women deal with rape and how to help them. It also goes through the politic...
Susan Griffin’s Rape: The All-American Crime touches on many issues within American society. She begins by recounting how she was taught to be afraid of strange men from such a young age that she had not yet learned what it was she was so afraid of, and then goes into her experience with harassment, an experience shared by every woman at some point in her life. Griffin recounts the belief that all rapists are insane and the proof that they are just normal men and dispels the myth that rape is normal activity that is prohibited by society. However, she goes on to clarify that our culture views rape: “as an illegal, but still understandable, form of behavior” (Griffin 514). It seems that the wrongness of rape is determined by the situation in
Oftentimes, the things individuals take for granted as preexisting facts are merely the products of social construction, which exert tremendous impacts on belief and action. Men and women are socially constructed categories inscribed by norms of masculinity and femininity that enables rape to occur. Catharine MacKinnon claims that rape is defined in a male perspective, which lacks the account of female experience. On the other hand, Sharon Marcus argues that rape is a constructed language that scripts the female body. As bell hooks points out, black men celebrate “rape culture” as a mean of expressing patriarchal dominance and endorsing female subordination. In order to redefine rape and to develop effective rape prevention, it is crucial to deconstruct the predetermined assumptions about men and women. Rape is socially constructed, through the ways how individuals possess misogynistic ideologies and endorse patriarchal power, turning the erotic fantasy of male dominance into “reality”.
Crampton, Caroline. "Why Crime Dramas Are Hooked On Rape." New Statesman (2014): 19. Galenet. Web. 13 Feb 2014.
In more recent years, however, things have begun to change. In the 1970s, the feminist movement began to draw attention to the plight of women who had been raped (Karmen, 2010). With the discovery of the victim’s plight, laws began to be put into place to help convict the offender and defend the victim. Today, rape is still a crime punished by death in some countries, and it is even scorned by other inmates within the walls of a prison (Macdonald, 1975).
"National Child Abuse Statistics | Childhelp." Prevention and Treatment of Child Abuse | Childhelp. N.p., n.d. Web. 7 Jan. 2014.
"Rape Fantasies" is written by Margaret Atwood in 1977. Basically this short story is about the narrator, named Estelle, recalling a conversation of several women during their lunch hour. It starts with one of Estelle's co-workers, asking the question 'How about it, girls, do you have rape fantasies?'(pg 72) The story goes on with each woman telling their supposed 'rape fantasy' to one another. As each is telling their fantasy, Estelle is doing her best to try to deflect the situation by making jokes about their fantasies. After all the women have told their fantasies, Estelle says, 'those aren't rape fantasies. I mean, you aren't getting raped, it's just some guy you haven't met formally who happens to be more attractive than Derek Cummins . . . and you have a good time. Rape is when they've got a knife or something and you don't want to.'(pg 74) Estelle then goes on to talk about her 'rape fantasies' from about to be raped by a short, ugly guy dieing from leukemia to squirting lemon juice in another attacker's eye.
The Web. 21 Nov. 2013. Young, Daphne. National Child Abuse Statistics - "The National Child Abuse Statistics Prevention and Treatment of Child Abuse. Child Help, 2013 -. Web.
Feeling down and depressed? Laugh all those troubles away. Laughter is a simple yet substantial way of putting that little spring back in the step. When people say “Laughter is the best medicine,” what are they referring to? Laughing acts as calorie burner, prevents heart disease or other illnesses, can increase learning abilities and focus, or even bring a more optimistic outlook on life.
Bayley, Alex. "Rape Culture." Geek Feminism Wiki. Wikia, 9 June 2009. Web. 24 Apr. 2014. .