I’m not sure what Missouri Republican candidate to the U.S. Senate Todd Akin and other social conservatives mean by the term “legitimate rape.”
When considering new terms or idiomatic expressions, the Urban Dictionary is sometimes useful. It just came out with a definition of legitimate rape: “Rape between one man and one woman who are not married or even acquainted; the only rape sanctioned by the Republican Party.” Since the Urban Dictionary uses crowd sourcing, that may not be the precise definition or exactly what social conservatives mean.
According to Katie J. M. Baker, who traces the history of this obnoxious concept on Jezebel.com, social conservatives have believed for many years what Akin recently declared: that it’s almost impossible for a woman to get pregnant from a “legitimate rape,” because the body produces secretions that suppress pregnancy when a woman is so violated. This absurd theory of course enables them to oppose abortion in all cases, since, by implication, if a woman gets pregnant it couldn’t be “legitimate rape.”
Abortion politics and false science aside, I have my own definition of legitimate rape that I hope becomes widely used.
Legitimate rape is when a woman says “no.” One time.
If she has said “yes” 50 times before during the evening, but says “no” one time, it’s a legitimate rape (unless the people involved have explicitly agreed to some kinky role-playing).
If the man—husband, fiancé or whatever—who wants to penetrate her has done so a thousand in the past and she says “no,” it’s legitimate rape.
If a woman of her own free will and not under the influence of foreign substances has decided to have sex with 8 men in a row, with the other males watching while she is engaged with each man (what is crudely called a “gang bang” or “pulling the chain”) and she has completed her business with 7 of the men and the 8th is about to take his turn and she changes her mind and says “no” and he continues, it’s legitimate rape.
Marital status doesn’t matter. A prior or ongoing relationship doesn’t matter. The fact that the woman in question has had many lovers doesn’t matter. The fact that the woman has engaged in heavy erotic teasing with the perpetrator doesn’t matter.
The only thing that matters is if a woman indicates that she does not want to engage in intercourse. If she says “no,” it’s rape.
If you want to add the word “legitimate,” fine.
But “no” means “no.”
That police departments, prosecutors, judges, juries, frat boys and social conservatives don’t always see it that way is a continuing travesty of justice and makes a mockery of our concepts of freedom and free will.
It is interesting that those who claim there is virtue in abortion do not believe that assault, battery and rape (legitimate rape?) may hinder conception.
When we step back and ask ourselves whether a battered woman is more or less likely to conceive, the answer should be obvious. Yet we are told that the obvious answer is wrong, that in as far as conception is concerned a little assault and battery is just fine.
The truth that there is no virtue in abortion and defending that which is without virtue leads to vice. In this case that vice is a tolerance toward assault and battery best expressed in the reaction toward Akin’s apparent view that assault and battery negatively affect woman.
So here we are with a man who rejects liberal vice but is being torn down by pro abortionists seeking to not only defend abortion but score points politically by feigning outrage over the recognition that assault may hinder conception.
legitimate was supposed to mean “No consent at the time”. Which meets all your definition above.
As opposed by, I had sex, mutually consented, 4 days later the pregnancy test shows positive, my state doesn’t allow abortion unless it’s rape, so let me go claim rape so I can get one.
Or two teens get it on, mutually consent, parents of the young woman don’t approve and file charges of statutory rape.
His wording was horrendous but this is the idea he was going for. Akin is completely with you on the idea that a rapist is a rapist and there is no two ways about that.
As for the magical uterus theory, he’s come out and said he was just completely wrong about that. But that information is pretty easy to find online.
This is My response to Congressman Todd Akin
http://tinyurl.com/cmxtmkw
Not sure you’ve adequately covered absence of consent in cases of intoxication, which is an important case of the absence of “no” not being enough (though not the only one).