Why do people think that rape is act of power, and power only ?

Question

I strongly disagree with the people that alway's asume that rape is a act of power, yes power is part of it i'm sure, but not all of it, since there has been many accurances in history where there was masses of rape, could we say every man that took part in a act of rape was looking just to over power someone, and surely they must get some sexual gratification out of it, from most victim's point of view rape is about power, but from the perpetrator's point of veiw i,d imagene it would be some what different.

Answer 1

I agree with you. Those who come up with such theories must be trying to envision why they themselves would commit such an act. Since they are not compelled personally by a high sex drive, they create a more emotion driven motive.

Answer 2

Some rape is an act of power. Some men, that feel powerless feel like they need rape in order to feel like they are the powerful person they wish they could be. If you think about it, raping a women actually weekens a man. It weekens them because it shows they are not strong enough to defeat their anger.

There are also men who rape women they know for revenge, doing it mainly to hurt the women and not nessicarily power themselves. A lot of rape cases happen for revenge. And that revenge is usually because of an affair the an exgirlfriend had or if the girl broke up with the man.

There are some men who are so messed up they don't know they are hurting the women. They do it for sexual gratificaiton because they are addicted to sexual intercourse. Men like this don't take into consideration how the women might feel or what physical pain they indure.

Then you have the molesters, who know that they are hurting the victim but only care to get their own sexual gradification fulfilled. These men are driven by fantasies, these fantasies can be having sex with an underaged female, underaged male, an elderly female, and the list goes on.

It's hard to say what goes on in convicted rapists mind. Whether their insanity is to blame or their own sexual drive is to blame, there is no excuse for what they do. There is also no way to tell exactly what they are thinking, or even IF they are thinking when they commit this crime.

Answer 3

I agree, I think they want to just use "power" as generalization for many other types of things, I would put control on that list, as well pure desperation, the act itself, i'm sure to some is like an adrenaline rush, they may have a fetish with rape, that's a fairly common fantasy. I assume they may do out of spite, maybe the girl turned him down, and he wanted to get back at her. Power sounds like a generalization of all the different reasons. But not everyone that rapes, should be considered on a power trip. I think it may be farther from power. I've never raped anyone so I don't know the reasons, but I know it can happen out of spite.

Answer 4

At the root of it is a domination, domination is an act of power. For sexual gratification the mind can produce the stimuli for that. It only takes one thought for a man to get an erection, it takes brutal instincts to force sex onto another human.
The willing one cannot be raped. That is the power point of it, one cannot rape the willing, so it has to be a forced issue, that is where it becomes a criminal act.

Answer 5

I am sure that you will find that most people do not regard rape as purely an act of power alone. Many criminoligists, psychologists, and psychiatrists etc, believe that there is a diverse range of factors underlying the act of rape. For instance, sexual gratification, hate for women, hate for men, abnormal relationships with parents, sadism, and feelings of inadequacy, to name but a few.

Answer 6

i think only rapist or people who have interviewed rapist could accurately answer this query. However I think that rape is an act of power in the sense that the route of it is to overpower and force one into submission. The secondly to have sexual gratification in the perosn to whom has just been conquered if i could describe it like that. For if it was just sexual pervesion along then I feel prostitutes would do the job or sum porn channel etc. (however i dnt speak from my experiences)

Answer 7

Well, yes it is about power and control over another person twisted together with getting off sexually over the use of force and actually enjoying sexually hurting someone else. These perps dont think about the victim as another person, they think of them as an object. They often don't think of the other person's feelings at all, some of them have absolutely no empathy, they do not care about anyone else, only they themselves are important. Their sex outlook is so twisted you could not even understand it - you wouldn't want to - its like they think so differently from "normal" people that we cant even relate to it - it's that sick. What might seem completely innocent to you they see as sexually attractive and it could be something that 90% of people would not even rate as being sexual at all.
I work with juvenile offenders. Working with these type of people can be very difficult, I try not to think about what they have done, and just treat them as normal people, but when I read stuff they have done it can be really difficult. I hope that some of them change through the therapy and education they are given, but know that most will not.
I was also previously the victim of an assault - and I felt it was not about sex at all really - he was just trying to hurt me in the most horrible ways he could. This was someone I knew, I he was trying to hurt me, kill me, insult me, whatever.

Answer 8

dunno, first of all i am not a rapist. just thought i should make that clear.


i am guessing that in the past i have been drunk and i touch 1st base with a women and then i would assume that i am in for the full session. should i take the bird back to my house and she would not let off. then i would be dissopointed but i would just ask her to leave.

there again someone with out any morals might take advantage of the fact he is home alone let the drink take over, get affend by the girl and force himself on her.

such things are wrong but in that situation i don't know what the women would expet. i little bit of ignorance from the lady and a bit of bad luck also.

of coarse every situation is different

Answer 9

it's about power and cowardice, which is why not all rape victims are beautiful young women. some are elderly people in hospitals or care homes, some are kids, some are developmentally diabled, and some are homeless. even a man who rapes for sexual gratification is still being oppressive and power hungry.

Answer 10

It is only about power. They get sexual gratification from it obviously, but rapists only target women they think they will be able to over-power.

Think about it, if it was only a case of sex then why not go and see a prostitute or go to a club on any Friday or Saturday where are any number of willing women?

Answer 11

It is a act of forcing yourself on a weaker unwilling helpless human being the scars of which last a life time.This is truly the most uncivic behaviour one could imagine along with Murder.No wonder in many cultures it is considered equal to killing some one.