Cry. That's what this story made me do. Rape has always been a facet of war, men confusing their guns and their machetes for their penises, penetrating women, penetrating land, spilling their seed of destruction and hatred before them.
It happened in Yugoslavia. The rape camps. The systematic use of rape to destroy these women's identities, force pregnancies on them, leave behind the permanent markers of these women's violations.
And what must we do? Tell these women that these children are their reward for violation? I do not pretend to understand those who would deny abortion to women who have been raped. And it's clear that for some of the women in this article, the children are their only consolation. But for others, getting pregnant from a rape has led to ostracism. "Insult to injury" doesn't even come close to covering it.
I was about to say something deeply cynical and snarky about all of this, but I think, instead, I will be quiet. And cry.
3 comments:
Well, I'm still working on Bird by Bird... but I don't know if I'm ready for a good cry or not. I will however keep this in mind. Like it or not, we need to know what goes on outside these red, white, and blue walls.
Maybe I have a perverse set of values, but I can't imagine that the product of a rape (that is, the children) would be a consolation to me (if it were me.)
I realize that the child would be innocent, but the idea of my DNA mixed with the DNA of the aggressor would always be at the back of my mind.
Something to perpetually remind you of a very ugly violation of your dignity. :(
Men who commit rape should be castrated.
Sheryl,
It astounds me that in the 21st century people would still call for castration as a response to rape, believing that the act is sexually driven by an over abundance of sperm and testosterone.
The Mad Male myth. At least 3 out of 10 acts of rape do not even involve a penis. The point in the cases Lorraine's sites is not sexual either - it's cultural and humanitarian. Sex is the tool of hate in the case of rape, not the point or the object.
Post a Comment