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On Being Raped
A personal and moral inquiry into the crime we do our best to the rape of adult men
When Raymond M. Douglas was an eighteen-year-old living in Europe, he was brutally raped by a Catholic priest. He eventually moved to the United States and became a highly regarded historian, writing with great care about the violent expulsion of Germans from Eastern Europe after the Second World War, and parsing the complicated moral questions of these actions. But until now, Douglas has been silent about his own experience of trauma.
In On Being Raped , Douglas recounts this painful event and his later attempts to seek help to lay bare the physical and psychological trauma of a crime we still don’t openly the rape of adult men by men. With eloquence and passion, he examines the requirements society implicitly places upon men who are victims of rape, examines the reasons for our resounding silence around this issue, and reveals how alarmingly prevalent this kind of sexual violence truly is.
An insightful and sensitive analysis of a type of bodily violation that we either joke about or ignore, On Being Raped promises to open an important dialogue about male rape and what needs to be done to provide adequate services and support for victims. “But before that can happen,” writes Douglas, “men who have been raped will have to come out of the shadows...A start has to be made somewhere. This is my attempt at one.”
When Raymond M. Douglas was an eighteen-year-old living in Europe, he was brutally raped by a Catholic priest. He eventually moved to the United States and became a highly regarded historian, writing with great care about the violent expulsion of Germans from Eastern Europe after the Second World War, and parsing the complicated moral questions of these actions. But until now, Douglas has been silent about his own experience of trauma.
In On Being Raped , Douglas recounts this painful event and his later attempts to seek help to lay bare the physical and psychological trauma of a crime we still don’t openly the rape of adult men by men. With eloquence and passion, he examines the requirements society implicitly places upon men who are victims of rape, examines the reasons for our resounding silence around this issue, and reveals how alarmingly prevalent this kind of sexual violence truly is.
An insightful and sensitive analysis of a type of bodily violation that we either joke about or ignore, On Being Raped promises to open an important dialogue about male rape and what needs to be done to provide adequate services and support for victims. “But before that can happen,” writes Douglas, “men who have been raped will have to come out of the shadows...A start has to be made somewhere. This is my attempt at one.”
111 pages, Hardcover
First published April 5, 2016
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 41 reviews
March 31, 2021
4.5
A very powerful book about rape. Not only it provides male victim’s perspective, something very often ignored (just a few months ago my 30-something and educated colleague said that men couldn’t be raped…) but also the author discusses the role and status of the victims of rape in general.
I devoured this little book and after finishing I bought my own copy to be able to come back to it and also make annotations. It’s so true about how people admire survivors but resent victims and how much is expected from victims after someone violates them. It’s on them if they don’t go to the police and the crime is repeated. Even when they are children, scared, without help. The society has expectations and apart from victim-blaming, they have all kind of ideas about what should be done by whom and when. Disgusting.
It’s not an easy read but I highly recommend you read it, among other books on rape culture.
A very powerful book about rape. Not only it provides male victim’s perspective, something very often ignored (just a few months ago my 30-something and educated colleague said that men couldn’t be raped…) but also the author discusses the role and status of the victims of rape in general.
I devoured this little book and after finishing I bought my own copy to be able to come back to it and also make annotations. It’s so true about how people admire survivors but resent victims and how much is expected from victims after someone violates them. It’s on them if they don’t go to the police and the crime is repeated. Even when they are children, scared, without help. The society has expectations and apart from victim-blaming, they have all kind of ideas about what should be done by whom and when. Disgusting.
It’s not an easy read but I highly recommend you read it, among other books on rape culture.
March 13, 2016
Picking this book up, I had expected it to be something quite different than what it is. The book is the personal account of the author's brutal sexual assault at the age of eighteen by a priest. The attack lasted four hours, in which he was in fear of his life. Initially after it having happened he thought to go to the police, but without enough physical evidence, and homosexuality being considered a crime in which he himself could serve time, he decided against the it, and instead reporting it to the archbishop of the diocese . The archbishop "declining to get involved", referring him rather to a senior diocesan official that went through the motions of writing a report, but very little after.
At a time when sexual assault on males was rarely reported at all, and no support groups available, Douglas attempted to deal with what he was going through on his own, until a few years later, having come face-to-face with his assailant, he suffers a breakdown and is committed to a mental institution where the doctors are convinced in able to be overcome what he is going through he needs to come to terms with his homosexuality (Douglas was/is in fact a heterosexual, but such was the "treatment" then).
From then on, he never made it known even to those closest around him, until now. The author now tells in full detail the account of his rape, his attempt to deal with it on his own, and how the Church was to deal with it years later.
It is a painful and poignant memoir, an extraordinary read that will hopefully encourage society to promote more support programs for men, as well as women, that have been sexually assaulted, and stronger laws to prevent these crimes from happening.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 11, 2016
I just had to finish it once I started reading Douglas' words. I feel very changed having experienced his writing. I read a lot and watch more tv than I care to admit as a chronic insomniac and it occurred to me instantly that NO ONE talks about male rape victims outside of children.
so cliche to say how courageous Douglas is for putting into intelligible words and concepts and constructs the world in which victims navigate among the "unraped" people of the world for the rest if their lives. It is brave. many people write therapeutically through their lives, fewer share what they've written to trusted confidants and even fewer survivors are driven to affect greater change by their knowledge and publish their intimate life.
Thank you Raymond Douglas for taking the most earth shattering experience of your life and using it to impart valuable knowledge. I am blessed to have received this book in a giveaway and I know an incredibly important man in my life who had the courage to whisper about abuse he endured will find some understanding in Douglas' insight that I know he still seeks.
so cliche to say how courageous Douglas is for putting into intelligible words and concepts and constructs the world in which victims navigate among the "unraped" people of the world for the rest if their lives. It is brave. many people write therapeutically through their lives, fewer share what they've written to trusted confidants and even fewer survivors are driven to affect greater change by their knowledge and publish their intimate life.
Thank you Raymond Douglas for taking the most earth shattering experience of your life and using it to impart valuable knowledge. I am blessed to have received this book in a giveaway and I know an incredibly important man in my life who had the courage to whisper about abuse he endured will find some understanding in Douglas' insight that I know he still seeks.
June 5, 2016
Wow. A heavy, honest, incisive, insightful book about rape. Douglas sets clear parameters: he speaks for himself and no one else. This book is not prescriptive but criticizes societal inadequacy at helping the victims--truly helping them.
November 8, 2016
The author of this compact but powerful book was raped at the age of eighteen by a priest. Many years later he writes about how this horrible experience impacted his life. His story reminds us that society has a long way to go before we learn to react appropriately to reports of sexual violence. When he reported the rape the treatment he received was atrocious and included an involuntary admittance to a psychiatric hospital for refusing to recognize and accept his own homosexuality! I understand a bit of his experience, because at the age of 58 in 2006, I was subjected to an involuntary admittance to a psychiatric hospital for reporting bullying by a co-worker and management at my place of employment, St. Alphonsus Regional Medical Center in Boise, Idaho. The doctor who initiated the admission was fired from his job as medical director, but management never acknowledged the part they played in ordering the retaliation, and never offered me any safety from additional bullying and harassment.
However this book is not about me but about the author. He told his story and that always seems to help raise awareness, although no one should be forced to report such destructive treatment. In fact sexual violence seems to be getting more attention than psychological violence such a bullying in the workplace, but there is still a long way to go. I think we should all acknowledge the author's pain and courage, and add our impetus to the process of addressing and eliminating this awful crime by at least reading his story.
However this book is not about me but about the author. He told his story and that always seems to help raise awareness, although no one should be forced to report such destructive treatment. In fact sexual violence seems to be getting more attention than psychological violence such a bullying in the workplace, but there is still a long way to go. I think we should all acknowledge the author's pain and courage, and add our impetus to the process of addressing and eliminating this awful crime by at least reading his story.
August 9, 2016
“The Church, it transpires, has no fewer than six patron saints of rape victims: St. Agatha, St. Agnes of Rome, St. Dymphna, St. Potamiaena, St. Solange, and St. Maria Goretti. (Why so many, one might ask? but that question surely answers itself.) All of them are female, and none of them was raped. (26)”
The book was phenomenally clear, focused, and relentlessly thorough in dissecting the experience, but possessed a dry, sardonic wit that kept a heavy subject from becoming morose. I loved this book, and I am so grateful that Dr. Douglas told his story. This is actually the third book I’ve read this year that analyzed rape, the other two being “Missoula” by Jon Krakauer and “I Will Find You” by Joanna Connors.
I find myself continuing to return to this subject because two members of my family were raped--one in the 1950s and one in the last decade, and I’m struggling to gain some modicum of understanding into what they have thought, felt, and endured.
Unlike some I don’t find this a hard topic to read about. I feel it is vital to read about. Like Douglas writes, the aftermath of a rape leaves the victim knowing in a visceral, expectant way that, “the veil that separates normal life from barbarity and horror is tissue-paper thin, and can be torn aside with shocking ease and a complete lack of warning. Dreadful things can and do happen, and having once happened can do so again. (82)” I choose not to remain ignorant of those dreadful things.
The book was phenomenally clear, focused, and relentlessly thorough in dissecting the experience, but possessed a dry, sardonic wit that kept a heavy subject from becoming morose. I loved this book, and I am so grateful that Dr. Douglas told his story. This is actually the third book I’ve read this year that analyzed rape, the other two being “Missoula” by Jon Krakauer and “I Will Find You” by Joanna Connors.
I find myself continuing to return to this subject because two members of my family were raped--one in the 1950s and one in the last decade, and I’m struggling to gain some modicum of understanding into what they have thought, felt, and endured.
Unlike some I don’t find this a hard topic to read about. I feel it is vital to read about. Like Douglas writes, the aftermath of a rape leaves the victim knowing in a visceral, expectant way that, “the veil that separates normal life from barbarity and horror is tissue-paper thin, and can be torn aside with shocking ease and a complete lack of warning. Dreadful things can and do happen, and having once happened can do so again. (82)” I choose not to remain ignorant of those dreadful things.
March 10, 2016
Douglas has given us a book that can be written by only a few. A male who was raped by another male, a Catholic Priest. He gives his expereince, how that experience has affected his life, what the Church did about it (almost nothing), and the convluted and wrong headed ways therapy and counseling have sought to help those who have been victims. This is an excellent book, well worth reading and thinking about.
J.Robert Ewbank author "John Wesley, Natural Man, and the Isms" "Wesley's Wars" "To Whom It May Concern" and "Tell Me About the United Methodist Church"
J.Robert Ewbank author "John Wesley, Natural Man, and the Isms" "Wesley's Wars" "To Whom It May Concern" and "Tell Me About the United Methodist Church"
September 10, 2023
One of the most important books you will ever read. I read it in one sitting. Douglas, a WWII historian, with the sparest prose, opens our hearts to male victims. By lyrically and beautifully recounting his own experience, he shows how shamefully institutions from the Catholic Church, to the antirape movement treat male victims. One of the bravest books I have ever read. God Bless Ray Douglas.
Every bit as poignant and disturbing, and yes, funny, as I remember. So damning of second-wave feminist anti-rape movement.
Every bit as poignant and disturbing, and yes, funny, as I remember. So damning of second-wave feminist anti-rape movement.
February 27, 2017
i first saw this book in elliot bay bookstore and i decided to read it. i was heartwrenching and i just feel like my hear is pouring for him. i felt angry and sad for him. i believe his book is definitely a book everyone must read.it's absolutely devestating that we live in a day and age where male victims are unimportant. rape is a human issue, not a gender issue.
June 20, 2016
Content warning: This review discusses a book that goes into detail about rape, sexual assault, rape culture, victim blaming, homophobia and sexual violence.
Raymond M. Douglas is a successful author. He teaches at a prestigious university. He has a wife and two daughters. He has won awards for his work. At the age of 18, a priest raped him. It is the latter that defines Douglas’ latest book, bluntly titled “On Being Raped.” As the title suggests, part of the book is a broad examination of the culture of rape, specifically the fact that men are victims of rape as much as women, but it is also the specific story of a man and four horrific hours of his life that he will never get back.
You can read my full review of ON BEING RAPED at the Current independent student newspaper website. A reviewer copy of the book was provided for free by the Goodreads giveaway program and Beacon Press; no other compensation was offered for this review, nor was a review required to receive the book.
Raymond M. Douglas is a successful author. He teaches at a prestigious university. He has a wife and two daughters. He has won awards for his work. At the age of 18, a priest raped him. It is the latter that defines Douglas’ latest book, bluntly titled “On Being Raped.” As the title suggests, part of the book is a broad examination of the culture of rape, specifically the fact that men are victims of rape as much as women, but it is also the specific story of a man and four horrific hours of his life that he will never get back.
You can read my full review of ON BEING RAPED at the Current independent student newspaper website. A reviewer copy of the book was provided for free by the Goodreads giveaway program and Beacon Press; no other compensation was offered for this review, nor was a review required to receive the book.
July 17, 2016
I can only begin to imagine how much bravery played a role into writing this book, because rape is never an easy subject, and male rape is not something that is dealt with well in our society. But Douglas tries to make a start, and as far as I'm concerned, he succeeds.
I cannot give this book any less than five stars as a result. Douglas writes about his experience with a very distant, academic writing style, which is probably partially his historian background and partially a way for him to distance himself of what has happened. It's a fascinating outlook into how society views male rape victims - because again, yes, they do exist, and there are more of them than you think, though I've been fortunate enough to not be one myself - through the eyes of one. A particularly sad example of this was how Douglas was told by a nurse in a rape clinic that he had to shut up and keep silent in order to give the real victims(women) some room. No. Rape is rape, and rape is bad, no matter the gender of the rapist or rapee.
The end is very gripping and makes you want to change things. I highly recommend reading this book to everyone because of it. It'll change your perspective.
I cannot give this book any less than five stars as a result. Douglas writes about his experience with a very distant, academic writing style, which is probably partially his historian background and partially a way for him to distance himself of what has happened. It's a fascinating outlook into how society views male rape victims - because again, yes, they do exist, and there are more of them than you think, though I've been fortunate enough to not be one myself - through the eyes of one. A particularly sad example of this was how Douglas was told by a nurse in a rape clinic that he had to shut up and keep silent in order to give the real victims(women) some room. No. Rape is rape, and rape is bad, no matter the gender of the rapist or rapee.
The end is very gripping and makes you want to change things. I highly recommend reading this book to everyone because of it. It'll change your perspective.
March 20, 2016
I commend the author, Raymond M Douglas, for bringing exposure to a very sensitive topic for the men in our and many other societies. Male rape has been taking place for centuries and throughout the world. Support for the victims is limited and only now beginning to be available for them. The disappointment he experienced when he thought he was bringing the issue to the clergy to seek help and bring conviction to the perpetrator and only to be blamed and "forgiven" for his sin. It took a lot of courage to write and publish this book, and I hope it will help set the stage for improved treatment for male rape victims. I hope this catharsis helps to heal the author.
March 11, 2016
On Being Raped is an autobiographical account of what happens when you experience something so terrible that it changes the foundation of who you are. As someone who has not gone through something so scarring, I can not begin to imagine how horrible Douglas' experience actually was. However, Douglas eloquently recounts his story in an all-immersive insight into what he has experienced - and continues to experience years later. On Being Raped haunts you long after it's 120 pages are over, and begs you to consider how society treats those who have gone through this and find enough strength to tell about it.
October 25, 2016
I received this book through Goodreads. This is a small book that deserves a big discussion. A young man is raped at the age of 18 by someone who is a man of the cloth. I have never read a book on male rape and I admire the author for writing something so personal and horrible. Thank you for letting us in to what you have been through and how this has affected the rest of your life. We need to realize that rape is happening to every age and gender of human beings. Let's start talking about this crime against humanity.
January 4, 2017
First of all, and least importantly, this book has some of the finest prose and thought that I have ever read. And about a topic that is practically taboo.
Secondly, I became interested in this book because of the author's fine historical work about the eradication and rape of Eastern Germany in the wake of the Second World War. To see how his own experiences as a rape victim underpinned his scholarship - and how it haunted his whole life - are a rare glimpse into the making of a scholar - and a man.
Highly recommended.
Secondly, I became interested in this book because of the author's fine historical work about the eradication and rape of Eastern Germany in the wake of the Second World War. To see how his own experiences as a rape victim underpinned his scholarship - and how it haunted his whole life - are a rare glimpse into the making of a scholar - and a man.
Highly recommended.
June 12, 2016
....Where to even start? I just want to scream "F*** EVERYTHING!".
This was truly heartbreaking.
The book should be required reading for everyone. A subject that definitely needs more attention and I hope this books helps propel this important conversation.
This was truly heartbreaking.
The book should be required reading for everyone. A subject that definitely needs more attention and I hope this books helps propel this important conversation.
April 1, 2017
Simply put, as I have shelved this book, this is one that everyone MUST read. In fact, I insist that this is a work of required reading for all students of sociology and "gender studies" majors. Perhaps it will change minds that only men are perpetrators and only women victims of rape of any kind.
March 19, 2025
I wrote a review right after reading this book, it was interesting understanding these side of rape. I gave the book to a friend who is going into social work.
January 27, 2022
On Being Raped
By: Raymond M. Douglas
This book is logical and straightforward, yet heartbreaking and written beautifully. It is important in the worst way possible.
I picked up this book hoping to understand more. It served me well for that purpose. It’s short, it doesn’t make many arguments or thesis statements or try to convince you of much of anything. Douglas just simply states his honest truth and explains how four hours when he was 18 completely changed the course of his entire life. If that’s something you have trouble understanding, or want to know more of, read this book.
“Not the least embarrassing aspect of this entire episode is that my life should have been so deeply affected in so many ways by so entirely mundane an individual.”
“I’ve experienced other crimes, as most people have. [Robbery, petty theft, etc.] There one can speak of a ‘before’ and ‘after’. The baddie was identified and prosecuted, or not…. Through the intervention of some inexplicable chronological constant, rape is always now.”
“the nearest thing to a universal law. Regardless of one’s sex, age, or race: when a person is raped, everybody else knows better than the victim why it happens and what it really means. [It’s just that no two people will tell you the same thing.]”
“Rape victims are not ‘broken’ individuals who need fixing, or sick persons who need ‘healing’. They are hurt women and men who need compassion in the face of grievous misfortune. Some of them won’t ever get over it, no matter how hard they try. I don’t know what compelling reason exists to make them feel that they have to.”
By: Raymond M. Douglas
This book is logical and straightforward, yet heartbreaking and written beautifully. It is important in the worst way possible.
I picked up this book hoping to understand more. It served me well for that purpose. It’s short, it doesn’t make many arguments or thesis statements or try to convince you of much of anything. Douglas just simply states his honest truth and explains how four hours when he was 18 completely changed the course of his entire life. If that’s something you have trouble understanding, or want to know more of, read this book.
“Not the least embarrassing aspect of this entire episode is that my life should have been so deeply affected in so many ways by so entirely mundane an individual.”
“I’ve experienced other crimes, as most people have. [Robbery, petty theft, etc.] There one can speak of a ‘before’ and ‘after’. The baddie was identified and prosecuted, or not…. Through the intervention of some inexplicable chronological constant, rape is always now.”
“the nearest thing to a universal law. Regardless of one’s sex, age, or race: when a person is raped, everybody else knows better than the victim why it happens and what it really means. [It’s just that no two people will tell you the same thing.]”
“Rape victims are not ‘broken’ individuals who need fixing, or sick persons who need ‘healing’. They are hurt women and men who need compassion in the face of grievous misfortune. Some of them won’t ever get over it, no matter how hard they try. I don’t know what compelling reason exists to make them feel that they have to.”
March 2, 2018
On Being Raped by Raymond M. Douglas is a powerful, important, and very much needed book.
More rape victims need to be able to tell their stories and know that they will be heard and believed. This is true across the board but perhaps even more important in the case of male-on-male rape. Men experience the same sense of helplessness that women do except theirs is coupled with the distorted view of masculinity that might imply the victim is somehow less a man in the victim's own eyes. There are certainly equivalencies in a woman's experience with doubting herself also. I don't want to pretend the differences in any way makes one worse experience than the other, they are horrific no matter.
Douglas' experiences with the Church and with therapy highlight many of the problems with how the survivor is helped, or hindered, in making as much of a recovery as possible. This is in addition to all of the judicial and legal problems they also have to negotiate.
This might not be anyone's idea of a fun read but it would help many of us to better understand and hopefully empathize with rape victims, so I would recommend this to everyone.
Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via Edelweiss.
More rape victims need to be able to tell their stories and know that they will be heard and believed. This is true across the board but perhaps even more important in the case of male-on-male rape. Men experience the same sense of helplessness that women do except theirs is coupled with the distorted view of masculinity that might imply the victim is somehow less a man in the victim's own eyes. There are certainly equivalencies in a woman's experience with doubting herself also. I don't want to pretend the differences in any way makes one worse experience than the other, they are horrific no matter.
Douglas' experiences with the Church and with therapy highlight many of the problems with how the survivor is helped, or hindered, in making as much of a recovery as possible. This is in addition to all of the judicial and legal problems they also have to negotiate.
This might not be anyone's idea of a fun read but it would help many of us to better understand and hopefully empathize with rape victims, so I would recommend this to everyone.
Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via Edelweiss.
July 26, 2021
This is an important book that every man should read. Raymond M. Douglas took great personal and professional risk in writing this. He was raped by a Catholic priest in Ireland when he was 18. Without being overly emotional, he examined the impact that his rape had on his life, and why. Among the most enlightening ideas he explores is the way that being raped or sexually assaulted destroys forever, one's ability to be carefree. He likens it to "knowing" something about evil and humanity that one should never have to know.
He also explores the idea of "forgiveness" and how society right now lays the responsibility primarily on the victim to restore the perpetrator to his/her rightful place in society. Instead, he places the responsibility on the perpetrator to restore the victim...- which he says is, of course, not possible.
It is a short book, you can read it easily in one setting.
He also explores the idea of "forgiveness" and how society right now lays the responsibility primarily on the victim to restore the perpetrator to his/her rightful place in society. Instead, he places the responsibility on the perpetrator to restore the victim...- which he says is, of course, not possible.
It is a short book, you can read it easily in one setting.
August 31, 2025
Harrowing and recognizable from afar
In the event that my friends or family note this coming up in the feed I want to clarify, I do not have personal experience with the title of this book.
So why read it? I had read about it years ago, in very very different circumstances, and it had been rattling around in my head ever since. It’s simply true that every tragedy is singular and common, and so from trying to make sense of it, different perspectives are valuable.
It’s also very well written, lucid and clear and often quite heartbreaking. It’s not a book I can say I have enjoyed reading. But I’m really glad I did. You might to.
In the event that my friends or family note this coming up in the feed I want to clarify, I do not have personal experience with the title of this book.
So why read it? I had read about it years ago, in very very different circumstances, and it had been rattling around in my head ever since. It’s simply true that every tragedy is singular and common, and so from trying to make sense of it, different perspectives are valuable.
It’s also very well written, lucid and clear and often quite heartbreaking. It’s not a book I can say I have enjoyed reading. But I’m really glad I did. You might to.
December 14, 2018
This is a powerful reflection on victimhood, rape, faith, forgiveness, and so much more. The world needs more books like this. Again, a quick read, just 108 pages. I have a feeling that many people relate to what this author has to say and those who don't can learn so much. Thanks to the author for his vulnerability and honesty.
October 23, 2020
Vitally important reading for anyone trying to process their own experiences of this nature but also for those fighting to end such abuse against others, and trying to support those who have suffered it.
Massive gratitude to the author for having written it.
Massive gratitude to the author for having written it.
January 23, 2022
Somehow Douglas has written a both heartfelt and analytic account of a serious trauma. This book made me cry, and yet I was also rapt throughout and read it in one night. A vital book, and we should all feel indebted to the author for opening up about such a horrific incident.
December 2, 2018
This book changed the way that I think about sexual assault. In this beautifully-written book, Douglas prompts us to reckon with the ripple effects of trauma and loss.
Read
April 14, 2020Bez oceny, bo trudno ocenić mi ocenić tą książkę.
Ale myślę, że warto ją przeczytać.
Ale myślę, że warto ją przeczytać.
Want to read
March 31, 2021Note: I accessed a digital review copy of this book through Edelweiss.
August 23, 2021
One of the most courageous books ever written
May 1, 2016
"The first step in dealing with the problem is to acknowledge its existence."
I hope in some small way, my reading this has helped. This was incredibly powerful, and helped me realize that I've never truly acknowledged the existence of the rape of men. It's not a story that I hear told in real life, and one I've only rarely encountered in my reading. The most powerful was in A Little Life and this was my first non-fictionalized encounter.
I feel like everyone should read this, at least to shed light on a topic that has lived in the shadows for too long. And I hope that in the future, more people will be brave enough to hear other's stories, as it's the only way for change to occur. If nothing else (and there is so much more here), this account makes it clear that change must happen. All people need to feel the ability for their story to be heard before they can be willing to tell it.
I hope in some small way, my reading this has helped. This was incredibly powerful, and helped me realize that I've never truly acknowledged the existence of the rape of men. It's not a story that I hear told in real life, and one I've only rarely encountered in my reading. The most powerful was in A Little Life and this was my first non-fictionalized encounter.
I feel like everyone should read this, at least to shed light on a topic that has lived in the shadows for too long. And I hope that in the future, more people will be brave enough to hear other's stories, as it's the only way for change to occur. If nothing else (and there is so much more here), this account makes it clear that change must happen. All people need to feel the ability for their story to be heard before they can be willing to tell it.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 41 reviews