Single Idea 20889

[catalogued under 25. Social Practice / F. Life Issues / 5. Sexual Morality]

Full Idea

We are taught that sexual desires are desires women ought not to have and men must have. This is the model which makes necessary an eternal battle of the sexes. It explains why rape is the prevalent model of sexuality.

Gist of Idea

If men should lust and women shouldn't, that makes rape the prevalent sexual model

Source

Pamela Foa (What's Wrong with Rape? [1977], 3)

Book Reference

'Ethics in Practice (2nd Ed)', ed/tr. LaFollette,Hugh [Blackwell 2002], p.217


A Reaction

A striking thought. See 'The Origins of Sex' by F.Dabhoiwala, which claims that women used to be seen as the sexual predators, and the balance shifted in the 18thC. Are women obliged to exhibit lust, in order to defuse rapacious desires?