Re: "It's funny about MAN's attitude toward rape in war"

On Nov 15, 5:04 pm, "Grizzlie Antagonist" <lloydsofhanf...@xxxxxxxxx>
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“It’s funny about MAN’s attitude toward rape in war”
By Denise Noe

The title of this essay is taken from the opening statement in the
chapter on rape in war in Susan Brownmiller’s book, “Against Our Will:
Men, Women, and Rape.”

Her sentence in turn follows an excerpt from “War As I Knew It,” the
memoirs of General George S. Patton (“Old Blood and Guts). Patton
writes, “I told him that although I would do my best to keep such
incidents to a minimum there would unquestionably be some raping. I
told him that he should forward the details of all such incidents to
me so that I could have the offenders properly hanged.”

Brownmiller in turn writes, “It’s funny about MAN’s attitude toward
rape in war. UNQUESTIONABLY there will be some raping. Unconscionable
but unquestionable. When men are men, slugging it out, unquestionably
there will be some raping.”

In war, men must “slug it out” in squalor, filth, sustained panic, and
horror. They are immersed in brutality, killing and getting killed,
watching as their best buddies are torn to pieces and living every
second with the knowledge that they could be next.

“Unquestionably,” under the hideous and maddening conditions of war,
some men who might live inoffensively in civilian life commit the
atrocity of rape.

There are multiple reasons for this but two stand out in my mind.

One is that the conditions of war cause law and order to inevitably
collapse. Thus, those men who are the least moral and well-socialized
to begin with take advantage of the situation to commit this crime
even though they might not have done so within the tighter structure
of civilian society.

Another reason is that, under the enforced brutality and terror of
war, the aggressive and sexual impulses of some men become confused.
Their brutality “spills over” from its officially designated targets –
other men in ground combat and specifically other men who are soldiers
– onto women and takes a sexualized form.

Susan Brownmiller’s biases blind her to what is extraordinary about
the attitude of men to rape in war, at least when we limit it to those
men of the modern West who possess official power within its
military.

It is truly something to make one pause to realize that the modern
American military punished men who raped women with the death
sentence. This is especially remarkable when one recalls that at the
time Patton wrote -- and at the present time -- we American women
enjoy an exemption from the military draft.

Does this mean that, as far as the male leadership in the modern West
are concerned, we women are so very privileged as to enjoy an across-
the-board exemption from all horrors of war? Not quite. Women have
been injured and killed in every war in which bombs are dropped as
nothing is more eminently non-discriminatory than a bomb.

However, rape, unlike bombing, is not something that military leaders
in the modern West regard as a horror that is necessary to advance the
war effort. Thus, in this one-on-one intimate level, women’s privilege
is supposed to hold and the violation of that privilege punished in
the most extreme manner.

The true question that Brownmiller completely misses in her fervor to
indict all men for the actions of a minority of men, is why would male
officials punish men so severely for committing this intimate atrocity
against women while at the same time DEMANDING that men participate in
the horrors of combat?

Interestingly, and significantly, the very same General Patton who
asked to be sent details of rape cases so that he could “have the
offenders properly hanged,” possessed not the slightest degree of
patience with those men who could not face combat. Patton famously
became furious at a male soldier who said he had been sent to the
hospital because of his “nerves.” Patton swore at the man, screamed
“coward” at him and obscenities, slapped him, and demanded that he be
sent to the front lines. (Later, doctors discovered that one reason
the man’s “nerves” were so bad was that he had malaria.)

The Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces in Europe, General Dwight
D. (“Ike”) Eisenhower, demanded that Patton apologize for this
outburst of rage and Patton did so.

Nevertheless, General Eisenhower also demanded that men, regardless of
their individual temperaments or psychological make-up, must be
subjected to the horrors of combat. Eisenhower confirmed the order of
execution for desertion of the skinny and timid Pvt. Eddie Slovik.

The modern West has demanded that men expose themselves to the horrors
of battle. It has punished with the most extreme severity men who
commit rape.

“It’s funny about MAN’s attitude toward rape in war.”

It really is.
_________________________________________________

My father is a WW2 vet.  He served in WW2 before he met my mother.

He saw action in Europe, though he hardly ever talks about it.  I understand
that he was wounded in action and that he was awarded a Purple Heart for it.
He lost his Purple Heart -- so I have never actually seen what one looks
like, other than in Google images -- because he did not feel that he had
earned it, so he took no pains to preserve it.

I don't know if he was ever part of any conquering division, but it would be
very difficult to imagine my father raping anyone, no matter how horny and
exhilarated he might be.

More likely than not, he would try to use reason with the woman and explain
to her that it was really in her best interest to submit to him.  He would
likely ask her what she really thought that she was trying to prove by
refusing him.  On at least one juncture, he would use reverse psychology by
attempting to confirm her refusal ("So, in other words, you're not sleeping
with me?  So, in other words, no matter what I promised you or no matter
what I did to improve my appearance, you're not sleeping with me?  Is that
it?  Am I accurately stating your position?")

One of two things would happen -- either she would submit to him out of
sheer boredom or desire to end the argument.  Or she would hold out, and he
would end the conversation with, "You know, you REALLY ARE out of your
mind!" and then storm off.

Thanks GA for that humorous description of how your father operates
with the opposite sex. It was more interesting than rape in war.

Smitty
.

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