I have always thought that rape is seriously over-used in the fantasy book genre as a means to develop a female character, and it's rarely done well. This trope doesn't just appear in the fantasy genre, but in almost every writing genre. However, for some bizarre reason, it's popularly used trope in fantasy books, so I'll stick to that.
And before you start screaming NOT ALL MENZ THO, I'd like to mention that female authors are just as guilty of perpertrating this trope. Actually, most authors generally depict the spardonic "stranger rape" in their novels, instead of the much more "realistic" and sadly, more common, "friend or spousal rape."
So, is rape really about the "gritty" realism, if the rapes that are depicted in fantasy books are often the ones that statistcally happen the least in the real world? Hmm.
Here's a thought. Try and find a fantasy book in which a female character hasn't experienced rape or at least sexual assault, or the threat of rape in her backstory.
..............................
It's hard isn't it?
In fact, one of the main arguments poised by fantasy enthusiasts is that a woman not getting raped is UNREALISTIC, within a super-duper serious, ahem, FANTASY story (yes, I'm looking at you, Game of Thrones fans).
Yet male-on-male rape can be pretty much ignored, or left out entirely, unless it is being used as a "humorous" threat. Banter, amirite?
But in all seriousness, I do find this particularly interesting in relation to George R.R Martin's Game of Thrones series. Think about it. Game of Thrones devotes a significant amount of time and effort into narratives which are all about degrading, humiliating and tormenting male characters.
Strangely, George R.R Martin goes ahead and leaves all of the raping inside the pink, flowery narrative toolbox that's only ever to be used against his female characters. So what gives?
People everywhere seem absolutely fine (and some even seem quite eager) to see buxom, sweaty women getting brutally or callously raped. As a result, we have a truck-load of that going on.
But go ahead and ask a Game of Thrones fan to switch all of these women who get raped with little boys instead.
Suddenly, everybody don't like reading about rape. Yikes, not at all. In fact, little boys getting raped takes things too far.
Despite the fact that child molestation is (sadly) a common fact of "gritty, realistic life."
Which begs the question. Why do people accept one sexual violation in George R.R Martin's fantasy literature, but often shudder at the though of the other? The only conclusion I can come to is that generally, the audience derives some sort of lurid enjoyment from seeing sexually attractive women getting violently raped. Rape has become fetishised to the point where people seem to completely forget that rape is actually a traumatic crime (and rape has been a crime historically too, contrary to popular fan-boy/girl belief. Ergo, it wasn't any more "forgivable" in a medieval setting either).
We're so desensitized to women getting raped in the fantasy world that we're pretty much all content to let artists use it as a tool. It's ho-hum, standard operating procedure.
But what about all of the murderz and flayingz that happen in GOT? Aren't they both horrid crimez too? Shouldn't authorz also treat those crimez with careful consideration by your anti-rape standardz?
I guess? But stop and think again about how many people you personally know who have been murdered, or flayed alive.
I highly doubt that majority of people know of anybody who has been murdered.
And I mean, c'mon, I doubt there are any flayed victims walkin' around out there...
But ask any women you know if they have been sexually assaulted at some point in there life.
And since sexual assault and rape often get mixed up and thrown together by same sort of terminology, it broadens the scope of sexual violence that women have faced.
For example, it may not be necessarily be traditional "full-on, stranger rape" you'll be hearing about.
It could be a situation where a girl get her breasts roughly grabbed at by her brother behind her parent's back.
It could be a situation where a trusted authority figure forces a kiss or a grope on your mother whenever possible.
It could be a hard slap on the arse of your girlfriend in a nightclub, who then proceeds to get stalked all night by this creep she knew a college.
It could be a conversation in a quiet hallway between your sister with her best-male buddy that suddenly becomes extremely sexual, to the point where she starts feeling nervous.
At any rate, rape (or, at the very least, the threat of sexual violence) is a very real, very tangible fear that women often confront in the real world. And it is not sexy.
To treat rape as a primary means to tittilate an audience is appalling, as it starts to normalise sexual violence and desensitise us to the nastiness of rape.
Hiding behind the excuse that rape is only used for "character/story development" is absolute, complete bullshit.
A large breasted, skinny-waisted women getting raped is supposed to be a turn-on for us. Period.
Like I said earlier, if rape was used purely in terms of realism, or to push the story/characterisation ahead, then why do we not see more "nitty-gritty, realistic" male-on-male rape, or "nitty-gritty, realistic" pedophilia, within the fantasy genre?
And before you start screaming NOT ALL MENZ THO, I'd like to mention that female authors are just as guilty of perpertrating this trope. Actually, most authors generally depict the spardonic "stranger rape" in their novels, instead of the much more "realistic" and sadly, more common, "friend or spousal rape."
So, is rape really about the "gritty" realism, if the rapes that are depicted in fantasy books are often the ones that statistcally happen the least in the real world? Hmm.
Here's a thought. Try and find a fantasy book in which a female character hasn't experienced rape or at least sexual assault, or the threat of rape in her backstory.
..............................
It's hard isn't it?
In fact, one of the main arguments poised by fantasy enthusiasts is that a woman not getting raped is UNREALISTIC, within a super-duper serious, ahem, FANTASY story (yes, I'm looking at you, Game of Thrones fans).
Yet male-on-male rape can be pretty much ignored, or left out entirely, unless it is being used as a "humorous" threat. Banter, amirite?
But in all seriousness, I do find this particularly interesting in relation to George R.R Martin's Game of Thrones series. Think about it. Game of Thrones devotes a significant amount of time and effort into narratives which are all about degrading, humiliating and tormenting male characters.
Strangely, George R.R Martin goes ahead and leaves all of the raping inside the pink, flowery narrative toolbox that's only ever to be used against his female characters. So what gives?
People everywhere seem absolutely fine (and some even seem quite eager) to see buxom, sweaty women getting brutally or callously raped. As a result, we have a truck-load of that going on.
But go ahead and ask a Game of Thrones fan to switch all of these women who get raped with little boys instead.
Suddenly, everybody don't like reading about rape. Yikes, not at all. In fact, little boys getting raped takes things too far.
Despite the fact that child molestation is (sadly) a common fact of "gritty, realistic life."
Which begs the question. Why do people accept one sexual violation in George R.R Martin's fantasy literature, but often shudder at the though of the other? The only conclusion I can come to is that generally, the audience derives some sort of lurid enjoyment from seeing sexually attractive women getting violently raped. Rape has become fetishised to the point where people seem to completely forget that rape is actually a traumatic crime (and rape has been a crime historically too, contrary to popular fan-boy/girl belief. Ergo, it wasn't any more "forgivable" in a medieval setting either).
We're so desensitized to women getting raped in the fantasy world that we're pretty much all content to let artists use it as a tool. It's ho-hum, standard operating procedure.
But what about all of the murderz and flayingz that happen in GOT? Aren't they both horrid crimez too? Shouldn't authorz also treat those crimez with careful consideration by your anti-rape standardz?
I guess? But stop and think again about how many people you personally know who have been murdered, or flayed alive.
I highly doubt that majority of people know of anybody who has been murdered.
And I mean, c'mon, I doubt there are any flayed victims walkin' around out there...
But ask any women you know if they have been sexually assaulted at some point in there life.
And since sexual assault and rape often get mixed up and thrown together by same sort of terminology, it broadens the scope of sexual violence that women have faced.
For example, it may not be necessarily be traditional "full-on, stranger rape" you'll be hearing about.
It could be a situation where a girl get her breasts roughly grabbed at by her brother behind her parent's back.
It could be a situation where a trusted authority figure forces a kiss or a grope on your mother whenever possible.
It could be a hard slap on the arse of your girlfriend in a nightclub, who then proceeds to get stalked all night by this creep she knew a college.
It could be a conversation in a quiet hallway between your sister with her best-male buddy that suddenly becomes extremely sexual, to the point where she starts feeling nervous.
At any rate, rape (or, at the very least, the threat of sexual violence) is a very real, very tangible fear that women often confront in the real world. And it is not sexy.
To treat rape as a primary means to tittilate an audience is appalling, as it starts to normalise sexual violence and desensitise us to the nastiness of rape.
Hiding behind the excuse that rape is only used for "character/story development" is absolute, complete bullshit.
A large breasted, skinny-waisted women getting raped is supposed to be a turn-on for us. Period.
Like I said earlier, if rape was used purely in terms of realism, or to push the story/characterisation ahead, then why do we not see more "nitty-gritty, realistic" male-on-male rape, or "nitty-gritty, realistic" pedophilia, within the fantasy genre?
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