Unnecessary rape
I watched the most recent episode of Game of Thrones yesterday. Those who say the rape of Sansa Stark was gratuitous and unnecessary are only partly right.
All rape is gratuitous and unnecessary.
I have written one story about the aftermath of a rape/murder; the rape was over before the story began. I wrote one song about a woman who foils an attempted rape. Both were written thirty years ago. It was a good story and an okay song. But I’d do it differently today.
I can’t issue prescriptions or proscriptions for others’ work. I can tell you my own thoughts on the matter: rape is gratuitous, unnecessary, and wrong, in life and in art.
ETA: More thoughts below.
ETA 2: I’ve edited the comment below, brought it up here, and made a couple of additions:
In my opinion, women and men in our culture know rape* is wrong—morally and legally. No one needs to experience rape, in person or through art, to be aware of this. The law is very clear. Potential abusers don’t need to understand it on a visceral level, they need to fucking behave.
That rape is physically and emotionally harmful is no more a secret than the horrors of child rape or animal torture. We don’t show child rape or animal torture in art and/or entertainment. Why? Because many acknowledge that it’s not suitable for entertainment.
The constant experience of rape in art and/or entertainment does not, in my opinion, prevent or reduce rape. The experience of rape, in life and art, increases its weight and effectiveness as a tool of intimidation.
I am not saying we should stop talking about rape, I am saying we should stop showing it. I haven’t made up my mind yet about showing the consequences of rape.
Every artist must make up their own mind. But I will no longer be an audience for rape.
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* For the sake of argument: “Our culture“: those who are most likely to be an audience for my writing or Game of Thrones. “Rape”: mostly of women by men (common in all art and entertainment), sometimes of men by men (rare in art or entertainment, particularly visual media), and very rarely of women or men by women (very, very rare in any art or entertainment).
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Virginia wrote: "Well said. I have felt this way for years- Law and order SVU is a prime example of rape as entertainment. And then there is the ghastly Criminal Minds- I wonder what kind of mind enjoys watching sh..."I have mixed feelings about most trigger warnings. I understand this is paradoxical but there you are.
I do, too. On the one hand i would like to have more information about what to expect inside a book, but on the other hand, it feels close to censorship.
I am also quite horrified to open a book only to find my eyes on some horrible torture scene- once the words are read they can not be unread. Books need disclaimers, same as movies, tv and music do, so we can choose what is appropriate and desirable, and not be exposed to horrors we would otherwise never know.