Another Myth Punctured By Data

[roo_ster]

Relative Risks of Rape by Age, and Is Rape “About Control … Not About Sex”?
http://volokh.com/2012/03/07/relative-risks-of-rape-by-age-and-is-rape-about-control-not-about-sex/

A commenter on an earlier gun license thread writes:

It isn’t just young, pretty women who get raped, by a long shot. Middle-aged women do get attacked, and elderly women are even more vulnerable. Rape is about control (just like disarmament) not about sex.

Yes and no. It’s true that middle-aged women do sometimes get attacked, but according to the National Crime Victimization Survey (2007 data), the rate of attempted or completed rape or sexual assault is:

Age   Rate per 1000
16-19      4.9
20-24      5.9
25-34      2.4
35-49      1.8
50-64      0.3
65+      0.2

And while other crimes, such as assault and robbery, tend to affect younger women more than older women as well, the drop-off is much less sharp than with rape. [UPDATE: This is my rough way to control for some possible confounding factors, such as the possibility that younger women are more likely to be out alone in dangerous places at night, or less likely to have acquired more cautious habits.]

It thus seems to me that sexual attacks on women are pretty strongly correlated with their being in the years of maximum sexual attractiveness. (Naturally, the question whether “pretty women” are more vulnerable is much harder to study than the question whether young women are more vulnerable.) This suggests to me that rape is generally both about sex and about violence and control, not just about one or the other.

If there is one thing that grates on my nerves, it is the mindless parroting of bullshinola pushed by the media and lefties.  "Rape is about control, not sex," being only one example(1).  When a female recent college grad is 30x more likely to be raped than a female who collects social security and has 20x the net worth of the grad, sexual violence just might have something to do with sex.







(1) "Diversity is our strength" is another currently popular load of manure.  Uh, no it isn't.  Diversity leads to lowered social trust, more crime, more laws, and the like.

[Balog]

Interestingly, I read a study recently that concluded that due to the size of the prison ppopulation more men than women are raped in the US per annum.

[lee n. field]

Interestingly, I read a study recently that concluded that due to the size of the prison ppopulation more men than women are raped in the US per anum.

I saw what you did there.

[Balog]

Data, it's a two edged sword.

Have you examined the rate of commission of rape by age group? Honest question, I haven't.

[BridgeRunner]

If there is one thing that grates on my nerves, it is the mindless parroting of bullshinola pushed by the media and lefties.  "Rape is about control, not sex," being only one example(1).  When a female recent college grad is 30x more likely to be raped than a female who collects social security and has 20x the net worth of the grad, sexual violence just might have something to do with sex.

Possibly, sex in general has something to do with violence, and control, and some people wanting to be in control, or at least powerful, and other people wanting to be controlled.  And those people are mostly split clearly along gender lines.  

Sure rape is about control.  Wouldn't just about anyone prefer to control a hot twenty-something than 65 year old dumpy grandma?  The exceptions mostly happen when the desire for control exceeds the ready supply of hot twenty-somethings, or is directed at a particular person.  

I get the original point of that assertion in removing blame for having been raped from the victim, and that's a fine goal.  But I agree it's been perverted pretty effectively though the aforementioned mindless parroting of bullshinola.







(1) "Diversity is our strength" is another currently popular load of manure.  Uh, no it isn't.  Diversity leads to lowered social trust, more crime, more laws, and the like.
[/quote]

[roo_ster]

Possibly, sex in general has something to do with violence, and control, and some people wanting to be in control, or at least powerful, and other people wanting to be controlled.  And those people are mostly split clearly along gender lines.  

Sure rape is about control.  Wouldn't just about anyone prefer to control a hot twenty-something than 65 year old dumpy grandma?  The exceptions mostly happen when the desire for control exceeds the ready supply of hot twenty-somethings, or is directed at a particular person.  

I get the original point of that assertion in removing blame for having been raped from the victim, and that's a fine goal.  But I agree it's been perverted pretty effectively though the aforementioned mindless parroting of bullshinola.







(1) "Diversity is our strength" is another currently popular load of manure.  Uh, no it isn't.  Diversity leads to lowered social trust, more crime, more laws, and the like.

Ayup. 

Reading some of the old-tyme stories where the defense was raking the gal over the coals was creepifying and made me want to take a shower.  But, I think that is what one ought to expect in an adversarial system.  Especially when a terribly large minority of accusations are bunk.  An orgy of psychological horror where rapists inflict it on their victims and false accusers inflict it on their victims is what I see. 

I think some of the more apt comments at the piece went something like this:
Neither bank robbery nor rape is about control.  Someone robbing a bank uses force/control as a means to get what they want: money.  Someone raping another person uses force/control to get what they want: sexual gratification.

Will to Power (FN) or Will to Pleasure (SF) set free from the bonds of morality are not a pretty sight.

[MicroBalrog]

Rape of course is about control. Perhaps not to the rapist, but to the victim.

In the same way, if someone breaks into your home and steals a small sum of money from your night stand, the crime isn't about the money, it's about the invasion of your property and personal space.

And armed robberies may be about the small change in your pocket to the robber - but that's not what they're about, to you. Which is why people shoot armed robbers, and rapists, and burglars.

[roo_ster]

Rape of course is about control. Perhaps not to the rapist, but to the victim.

In the same way, if someone breaks into your home and steals a small sum of money from your night stand, the crime isn't about the money, it's about the invasion of your property and personal space.

And armed robberies may be about the small change in your pocket to the robber - but that's not what they're about, to you. Which is why people shoot armed robbers, and rapists, and burglars.

Says you.  I am more than willing to shoot them for the change in my pocket.  Period.

[Jamisjockey]

Rape of course is about control. Perhaps not to the rapist, but to the victim.

QFT. 

Regardless of why rapes occur, the victim loses control of their own personal space. 

[Jamie B]

QFT. 

Regardless of why rapes occur, the victim loses control of their own personal space. 

God made men (and women). Sam Colt made them equal.

A couple of well-placed rounds will cover the control issues.

[Perd Hapley]

Rape of course is about control. Perhaps not to the rapist, but to the victim.

I thought the motivation of the rapist was the point under discussion.    

If rape is about getting some, then far fewer rapes would occur. Buying it is easier than getting it through coercion. Maybe rape is mainly done for the thrill of forcing someone to give you sexual "favors." Crazy, but it could be true.

[Matthew Carberry]

My current frustration is the lumping in of all sexual assaults together under the "rape" rubric and, on a larger scale, equivocating all "violence against women".

Except in the sense all forms are wrong and bad, the lack of precision in defining the distinctions among different "types" of violation makes any attempt to actually address the issues in an intelligent and effective manner impossible.  Ironically(?) this is not a sex/gender specific problem.

For instance, stranger rape is different in process than acquaintance rape and thus the concrete steps to prevent/deter/avoid either, beyond gross generalities like "awareness", differ greatly.

Of course, if we started looking at details, we'd run into questions of systematic personal choices and responsibility, which is of course, exactly the same as "blaming the victim."   

[zxcvbob]

Says you.  I am more than willing to shoot them for the change in my pocket.  Period.

Sure, just don't say that to the cops that investigate it.  Take a cue from what they do when involved in a shooting; practice saying "I feared for my life".  Extra points if you soil yourself (whether you need to or not) before they get there, so you look and smell your best.

[Lee]

Buying it is easier than getting it through coercion

I never understood why it isn't made even easier to buy...something to do with tens of thousands of out of work cops I guess.

Saw the story on the news last night about the soccer mom madame, or whatever they are calling her.  The taxpayers ought to revolt over money being spent on crap like that.
To the semi-logical, semi-insane rapist, it might be better to be in a "he said - she said" defensive position, than in a "he said - 8 detectives, audio /video tape, and internet searches said" position.  Some things are so f'd up in this world, it boggles the mind. That said, real rapists deserve a bullet at minimum....old lady rapists...a full mag, starting at the groin and working up.