I'll start with the old classic. Is raping a prostitute considered theft? According to one (FEMALE) Philadelphia judge, it is.
The line of reasoning is interesting, though irrelevant to what happened here. The judge essentially argued that the order of affairs would have been as followed:
1. Prostitute consents
2. Prostitute acts
3. Prostitute is not paid.
3. Prostitute is not paid.
4. Rape?
She has already rendered the "service" but then isn't paid. It's treated as "She consented, and then she didn't." Course, in this particular case the hooker was forced to do so at gunpoint, which was...definitely not the same as consenting and then being angry about not being paid. And for that matter, why a hooker would consent to the act prior to being paid I'm not sure. Stuff like this is why I think we need to legalize prostitution. These are just a few examples of cases that make being a hooker so incredibly dangerous in this society. And when stuff like this happens, it is really hard to want to go to the police for help. Not only is all of your dirty laundry being poured out for the rest of the world to hear, and not only will the defense probably trot out your "dirty" and "illegal" lifestyle out to basically degrade you into an animal more than a human being, but the fact of the matter is that this particular area is so incredibly legally gray that settling it from a purely law-based stand point is very difficult. Besides which, legalizing prostitution would really cut into the power of organized crime, who are major abusers of call-girls and hookers anyways. And in any case, legalizing prostitution definitely makes tracking STD pandemics much easier to do. But what do I know. The moral majority clearly knows better than I do, and have proven that their guardianship has eliminated prostitution completely. Oh...wait...
Equally interesting is social views of men being raped. Traditionally, men are not seen as victims of "rape" because raping a man just is not possible. This idea is prevalent even today.
It's hard for me to qualify because I think given a situation like this one, legal justice isn't the first thing that comes to mind. I realize this isn't something I should advocate via internet, but I do feel that a lot of times crimes are not best handled by the authority. They are cold and impersonal. They aren't a part of the involvement, and there's a lot that goes into certain crimes that the police can't undo. When a woman is raped, for example, the rapist often lives in the head of the victim. Put the victim away in prison, and regardless the woman will be victimized in her mind by the trauma. In situations like this, I do advocate going above the law and seeking out one's own justice. I guess what I'm saying is that in a situation like this, if a stripper decided to...use a sex object in such a manner against my permission, I would probably just beat the shit out of her on the spot. I'd advocate the same thing if a woman were forcibly violated. If she could, beat the ever-loving Hell out of the bastard, no holds barred. But I don't know, even with my common sense telling me there isn't much of a difference between the two cases, it's just...weird to me to think of men getting raped.
Another example.
A unique and interesting story, to be sure. Not somewhere I'd want to travel without weapons at my disposal. And another example:
Though she is getting charged, that is quite frankly some straight up "Saw" movie type of perversion. But still, somehow I don't see this as bad as raping women. And I've thought long and hard about why, and I think I do sort of have an answer. It has a lot to do with the ass-beating I mentioned earlier that I'd have given that stripper on the spot. Rape is about power, as the saying usually goes. And I think for me, the simple ability to beat my rapist to death is a symbol of regaining that power. But on average, it's easier for a man to beat a woman to death than vice-versa. In traditional depictions of rape between a man and a woman, it ends with the woman on the floor, humiliated, and in tears. I will admit I've never been in the situation, but as a generally very angry person, I find it likely that my first response would be to inflict as much bodily harm as possible. And if I can maintain enough of my mental poise, to prolong that beat down for as long as possible.
But I dunno, maybe my perspective is flawed. It's not something I'd thought about prior to reading up TVTropes. What do you guys think?
