why do people imagine we need analogies for rape?

[WillieWaggledagger]

why do you think people feel the need to compare rape to anything else (particularly things which perpetuate the idea of a woman or woman's body as property)?

is it so hard to understand that rape is wrong without trite and reductionist analogies?

things rape is not like:
stealing jewellery
taking milk (or something similar i heard on a trailer for R4's PM today)
breaking into someone's house
running a red light

haven't you?

I've read/heard at least two of those in the last couple of days.

as in, 'if you've got some expensive jewellery you should keep it locked away otherwise you've only ogt yourself to blame if someone steals it' [in reference to women wearing short skirts etc]

Those analogies are all about taking things, rape is about damaging a person.

How can anyone think these analogies are OK unless they are rape apologists (think that's the correct term - am still learning)

I think people compare rape to a property crime because historically it was a property crime. Old habits die hard.

I just have to add- on the iPhone app the title of this thread reads 'why do people imagine we need anal'

As you were.

But funnily enough, the analogies are only ever used regarding the victim.

Tehy never say: if a burglar takes a car that's not his when the keys have been left in, surely he can honestly claim that he thought the car owner wanted him to take it? How can he possibly know that the car owner didn't want him to take it, what is he, a mind reader? It would be ridiculous and cruel to send him to prison, what a terrible punishment for an honest mistake...

There are some crackers in the comments of this blogpost. (And be warned - there are some horrible comments as well which are likely to be upsetting and/or rage-inducing. TOKEN FUCKING RESISTANCE????)

including: "An insurance company may demands precautions such as smoke detectors be installed in a house before insuring it, as one of the responsibilities of a would-be victim may have."

WTF? Oh sorry, did I totally miss the invention of the new rapist-detectors? I'd quite like one of those, could come in handy.

And yes, exactly what HerBeX said too.

The jewellery one creeps me out - it's a reaaaaly old metaphor in Western culture, women's virginity as a 'jewel', therefore something precious to be owned, something decorative to be shown off by owners. Using that as an analogy for rape is particularly disgusting.

Yes, "rape" means theft doesn't it. Nice to see some people are still happily dwelling in the era of Queen Anne.

Good thread, and love the car burglar analogy.

There's an article here about a couple who found a winning lottery ticket and claimed the cash and were given suspended sentences because it's a crime to take something even if it's lying on the floor of a supermarket.

OP I AGREE.