REAL WORLD EVENT DISCUSSIONS

The world thinks we're crazy

POSTED BY: NIKI2
UPDATED: Thursday, August 23, 2012 07:14
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Wednesday, August 22, 2012 5:55 AM

NIKI2

Gettin' old, but still a hippie at heart...


Apparently Akin's insanity has gotten notice worldwide:
Quote:

Hong Kong (CNN) -- In just a few days, a politician largely unknown outside the U.S. has earned the dubious reputation on the world stage as the "rape-gaffe congressman."

It's not an enviable title but one that has inspired column-writers worldwide to pick apart Todd Akin's comments -- their possible implications for the U.S. presidential election and what they say about an apparently civilized society's attitude towards rape.

The standard news story has been syndicated worldwide, stating the bare facts; that a Missouri congressman referred to "legitimate rape" when trying to explain, incorrectly, a woman's biological response to being raped.

Akin's comments echoed as far away as the Democratic Republic of Congo, where award-winning playwright Eve Ensler penned a powerful open letter titled, "Dear Mr. Akin, I Want You to Imagine..."

The U.S. author of "The Vagina Monologues" wrote that she was lying awake at 2 a.m. in Bukavu in the City of Joy in the Congo where she was working to support "thousands of women who have been raped and violated and tortured from this ceaseless war for minerals fought on their bodies."

"Mr. Akin, your words have kept me awake," she wrote, before explaining what it means for women who have been raped to hear him make the distinction between "legitimate" and "illegitimate" rape.

"The underlying assumption of your statement is that women and their experiences are not to be trusted. That their understanding of rape must be qualified by some higher, wiser authority," she wrote, before imploring him to imagine someone "violently, hatefully forcing themself into you so that you are ripped apart."

"Everyone's talking about rape," declared Hadley Freeman, writing in Britain's Guardian newspaper. "It is testament to the determination of some folk to bend reality to their preferred viewpoint that there are so many intriguing words around these days for rape to make it seem, I don't know, less rapey," she wrote.

The straight news story about Akin's comments and refusal to end his bid for the Senate was carried on several websites in China, and generated a sprinkling of discussion on the country's twitter-like micro-blogs.

Under a column entitled "Mistake of words and of the heart," the BBC's North America editor Mark Mardell asked why a U.S. politician was peddling pregnancy rape theories which dated back to the 13th century.

"Mr Akin may have many admirable qualities which recommend him to the voters of Missouri, but it seems strange that a 21st century politician is willing to legislate on the grounds of old wives' tales. Perhaps he should be explaining that, rather than his clumsy use of language," he wrote.

However, one of the most inventive and educational responses to Akin's comments came from an academic website in Australia, posted by a professor of evolution and ecology who specializes in the biology of sexual conduct.

"Like almost everybody else I spoke to today, I was staggered, this morning, to hear Todd Akin's comments about 'legitimate rape' and pregnancy," wrote Rob Brooks, from the University of New South Wales on The Conversation website.

Brooks questioned whether Akin was confusing human biology with that of Australian Black Field Crickets, a species for whom forced copulation is impossible.

"She has to mount him voluntarily and she is unlikely to do so unless he has a sexy song. But once she has mated him and he has attached a bag of his sperm (a spermatophore) to her abdomen, she often chooses to remove it before its entire contents enter her body," he wrote. "Perhaps this is the kind of thing Todd Akin had in mind?"

On a more serious note, Brooks wrote: "What strikes me about the anachronistic attitudes of evangelicals and their Republican puppets to abortion, contraception, family planning, female economic empowerment and feminism in general, is just how unambiguously male these attitudes are.

"An entire political party in one of the most advanced and educated countries on earth has become a caricature of the most basal evolved insecurities about masculinity. They seem terrified of losing control over the means of reproduction and petrified of cuckoldry," he said.

The world can see the insanity of all this; it's a shame so many Americans cannot.

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Wednesday, August 22, 2012 10:36 PM

MAGONSDAUGHTER


yeah, this has got coverage here as well. Both for the appalling concept of 'legitimate rape' and for the nutty ideas around conception.

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Wednesday, August 22, 2012 10:50 PM

PEACEKEEPER

Keeping order in every verse


I'm confused. What the hell is "legitimate rape"??? Can somebody please explain the difference???

With the grace of age, commander, we learn to accept.

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Wednesday, August 22, 2012 10:55 PM

OONJERAH



Legitimate rape?
Does the phrase mean that rape could be OK, acceptable? I doubt it.
I interpret this to mean, "It was a real rape." Her assailant restrained
her with ropes or chains, & held a knife to her throat as he had his way
with her. She was actually forced. (A very rare occurance.)

Illegitimate rape, OTOH, means she willingly agreed to sex, clearly
had a good time. Perhaps she even came back for more the next day;
but he was busy and said no. She reacted to the snub by accusing him
of rape; she filed charges.

In my long ago youth, I met a few guys who adamantly denied even the
possibility of rape. And such were their notions about it.

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Wednesday, August 22, 2012 10:59 PM

MAGONSDAUGHTER


Hero thinks that rape can't occur if you've made marriage vows.

There is a lot of misogyny around. Much of it from the right.

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Thursday, August 23, 2012 12:24 AM

PEACEKEEPER

Keeping order in every verse


Quote:

Originally posted by Oonjerah:

Legitimate rape?
Does the phrase mean that rape could be OK, acceptable? I doubt it.
I interpret this to mean, "It was a real rape." Her assailant restrained
her with ropes or chains, & held a knife to her throat as he had his way
with her. She was actually forced. (A very rare occurance.)

Illegitimate rape, OTOH, means she willingly agreed to sex, clearly
had a good time. Perhaps she even came back for more the next day;
but he was busy and said no. She reacted to the snub by accusing him
of rape; she filed charges.

In my long ago youth, I met a few guys who adamantly denied even the
possibility of rape. And such were their notions about it.

So Illegitimate rape is a complete misnomer. Rape is rape is rape.Or is Illegitimate rape the same as Constitutional rape.Dont understand the concept or its usage. Total bollocks. And if there is such a distinction in the US legislature, then yes, you are all fucking mad.

With the grace of age, commander, we learn to accept.

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Thursday, August 23, 2012 12:24 AM

PEACEKEEPER

Keeping order in every verse


Quote:

Originally posted by Oonjerah:

Legitimate rape?
Does the phrase mean that rape could be OK, acceptable? I doubt it.
I interpret this to mean, "It was a real rape." Her assailant restrained
her with ropes or chains, & held a knife to her throat as he had his way
with her. She was actually forced. (A very rare occurance.)

Illegitimate rape, OTOH, means she willingly agreed to sex, clearly
had a good time. Perhaps she even came back for more the next day;
but he was busy and said no. She reacted to the snub by accusing him
of rape; she filed charges.

In my long ago youth, I met a few guys who adamantly denied even the
possibility of rape. And such were their notions about it.

So Illegitimate rape is a complete misnomer. Rape is rape is rape.Or is Illegitimate rape the same as Constitutional rape.Dont understand the concept or its usage. Total bollocks. And if there is such a distinction in the US legislature, then yes, you are all fucking mad.

With the grace of age, commander, we learn to accept.

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Thursday, August 23, 2012 1:10 AM

AURAPTOR

America loves a winner!


Quote:

Originally posted by peacekeeper:
I'm confused. What the hell is "legitimate rape"??? Can somebody please explain the difference???

With the grace of age, commander, we learn to accept.



First, your asking someone else to explain the words of an idiot. That's a tough task.

Second, I'm GUESSING ( since he won't even try to elaborate ) that he meant FORCIBLE rape ? As opposed to statutory rape, or claims of rape, when in fact there was no rape, just regret on the girl's part. Either way, he was unbelievably inartful in talking about this, as he's politician, words are suppose to be his 'thing'.

Third, and imo even worse, was his comment that women's bodies will 'shut down' a pregnancy that's the result of a rape.

Fourth, who the frak cares what the rest of the world thinks, when we're taking about the idiotic blitherings of ONE moron ? We , as a country, don't stone women to death for trumped up charges of adultery, or hang gays for being gay, or saw off the heads of those who refuse to accept Islam.
Hell, they probably don't believe we're on Mars again.

Fathom the hypocrisy of a government that requires every citizen to prove they are insured... but not everyone must prove they are a citizen
" We're all just folk. " - Mal

" AU, that was great, LOL!! " - Chrisisall

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Thursday, August 23, 2012 3:26 AM

CANTTAKESKY


In statutory rape, there may not even be regret on the girl's part. He may be 18 and she 17. And the parents file charges of rape just to break them up.

That, to me, would be "illegitimate" rape--rape defined solely by a legal artifact abused by vindictive third parties and not by the woman.




-----
So many gods, so many creeds,
So many paths that wind and wind,
While just the art of being kind
is all the sad world needs.
- Ella Wheeler Wilcox, poet (1850-1919)

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Thursday, August 23, 2012 4:53 AM

HKCAVALIER


Hey peacekeeper,

You may find this little ditty helpful:



HKCavalier

Hey, hey, hey, don't be mean. We don't have to be mean, because, remember, no matter where you go, there you are.

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Thursday, August 23, 2012 7:14 AM

NIKI2

Gettin' old, but still a hippie at heart...


"Legitimate" rape is the same as "forceable rape", which both Ryan and Akin attempted to put in one of their bills. None of them will explain it specifically, but I'm guessing it has to do with some of what's been guessed here...possibly including someone whose boss, say, demanded they have sex with them or lose their job--I would guess they'd consider that not "legitimate" rape. Maybe also rape of a wife by his husband. We'll never know, as, when asked to clarify, they won't. When the question was posed to Ryan, he said "rape is rape is rape", so obviously he's not willing to say what he meant by "legitimate" OR "forceable" rape.

And, one more time, it's NOT just one person saying a woman can't get pregnant from rape--Akin said it recently and publicly and it was picked up on, but other Republicans, as I posted the facts concerning them, have said it before, and it has been around for a LONG time within pro-life circles. It's not new or that unusual, Akin just made the mistake of saying it out loud at a time when it's a big issue, and the media picked up on it. Nor has he taken it back; his "apology" was about using the "wrong word"--I don't know specifically to which "word" he is referring, but he has never taken back his statement that womens' bodies reject a rapist's sperm so she can't get pregnant, to the best of my knowledge. Again, AKIN IS NOT THE ONLY PERSON WHO BELIEVES THIS, NOR is he the only person to say it publicly; it's just not been picked up on before.

The world HAS to be laughing at us, watching the descent into 18th-century mysoginistic mentality by our politicians on the right. And rightfully so. Diminish the respect the world has for us, you diminish our ability to get the world to work with us, simple as that. I'm sure many politicians in the rest of the world recognize the stupidity of what's happening and dismiss it, but diplomatically, it doesn't help.

ETA: The question about "legitimate rape", as answered by Dr. Willke:
Quote:

Dr. Willke said he thinks it would be “absolute absurdity” for Akin to quit the race over the rape flap. “We’re in a political campaign season, and if you’re a Democrat, you’re gonna take advantage of this,” he said. He added that Akin “made one big mistake—a factual error. That’s what blew this up. He said if it’s a ‘legitimate’ rape. That’s a contradiction. There’s actual rape and there’s attempted rape. Nothing’s legitimate about it.” He believes Akin meant to say “forcible rape.”
Willke is the 87-year-old "doctor" who wrote extensively about how women can't get pregnant from rape, which is who Akin based his belief on when he said "doctors". See Mike's initial post on this; Willke is connected to both Ryan and Romney; this is no fluke.


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