I have been thinking about this article for over a week now. After watching the music video 'Elastic Heart', I became aware that Shia LaBeouf (the main male actor in the Transformers movies) had turned to performing in art exhibitions. First I knew, I'm not very good at keeping up with what celebrities do.
LaBeouf, 28, lived in an L.A. gallery for five days in February 2014 and invited the public to sit with him in silence for his #IAMSORRY art show. He was in a room alone and the other artists involved in this project say they were unable to see Shia LaBeouf whilst he was in the room. From what I have gathered the public were able to line up to go into this room with LaBeouf, there were no directions or rules to what would happen in this room, or what to do.
LaBeouf was sat on a chair at a table with a paper bag over his head. One member of the public, at a time, were lead into the room with him and then left alone. There was no particular time limit given to each person and according to news reports there was one door into the room and another out of the room. From what I have read some people took pictures of him, removing the bag and others would talk to him etc. Not all the details are clear.
Since this exhibition the actor has said (I would say claimed but 'claimed' makes it sound like a lie in my opinion), that he was raped during the exhibition by a woman.
'[She] whipped my legs for 10 minutes and then stripped my clothing and proceeded to rape me.’
I have read a few articles on this particular incident and none of them add up, other than what Shia LaBeouf has said. The other two artists involved were unable to keep a story straight but it appears in the end both other artists 'claim' they put an end to the incident as soon as they were aware of what was happening.
A Tweet from Luke Turner, one of the other artists involved in this project, said,
'As soon as we were aware of the incident starting to occur, we put a stop to it and ensured that the woman left.'
In my opinion this is disgusting and what made me feel so strongly about writing this article.
If that was a male who had raped or attempted to rape a woman, do you really think they would have ensured that the perpetrator left? Would they heck! They would have attempted to detain the person and proceeded to phone to police, not let them go!!! It made me so mad reading this!
So we are living in a world where male rape isn't taken seriously, even when it comes to a celebrity. So what hope have we got in being able to make male rape victims comfortable in coming forward and reporting the crime?!
This NEEDS to change! And fast!
Back to my original point, male rape victims. I have always felt strongly about this, so felt it was time to air my opinion and where better to do it than my blog.
I began to research this particular subject and came across a few interesting bits of information, both from the UK and the USA. We are both westernized countries so I believe the information is relevant in both countries and throughout the world to be honest.
A CDC study found that, in the USA, 1 in 71 men had been raped or suffered an attempt within their lifetime. 1 in 71 men! And that's probably not even the true figure, it is probably higher as it is widely known that many male sexual assault or rape victims do not come forward.
Within that same study approximately 1 in 21 men had been made to penetrate someone else. To me that is a high enough figure to realize something is seriously wrong here.
Rape of males by other males, fewer than 1 in 10 are actually reported. So 90% of male by male rape victims do not come forward. These rapists are still roaming the streets people! How are we not in an uproar about this?! Also rape of males BY females isn't punished on the same level as a male raping a female. There are many examples of this in the US (unfortunately I struggled to find much in the UK). In the US a male who has raped a female can receive life imprisonment, unfortunately the opposite doesn't even receive half of that punishment. I thought we were meant to be fighting for equality?!
According to an article in the Guardian newspaper, here in the UK, back in January 2013. It stated that there are on average 9,000 male rape victims in the UK per year. The female number does appear to be higher at 69,000 per year. But is this because it is more accepted for a woman to come forward over rape? Either way, 9,000 is a very bad figure to me. Rape should be a big fat ZERO in any country!
Unfortunately little research has been done on male rape so we are unable to reveal many statistics for this subject, which is disgraceful.
Before I carry on I thought I best share what the UK Sexual Offences Act 2003 defines 'Rape' as;
Taken from people.com
LaBeouf, 28, lived in an L.A. gallery for five days in February 2014 and invited the public to sit with him in silence for his #IAMSORRY art show. He was in a room alone and the other artists involved in this project say they were unable to see Shia LaBeouf whilst he was in the room. From what I have gathered the public were able to line up to go into this room with LaBeouf, there were no directions or rules to what would happen in this room, or what to do.
LaBeouf was sat on a chair at a table with a paper bag over his head. One member of the public, at a time, were lead into the room with him and then left alone. There was no particular time limit given to each person and according to news reports there was one door into the room and another out of the room. From what I have read some people took pictures of him, removing the bag and others would talk to him etc. Not all the details are clear.
Since this exhibition the actor has said (I would say claimed but 'claimed' makes it sound like a lie in my opinion), that he was raped during the exhibition by a woman.
'[She] whipped my legs for 10 minutes and then stripped my clothing and proceeded to rape me.’
I have read a few articles on this particular incident and none of them add up, other than what Shia LaBeouf has said. The other two artists involved were unable to keep a story straight but it appears in the end both other artists 'claim' they put an end to the incident as soon as they were aware of what was happening.
A Tweet from Luke Turner, one of the other artists involved in this project, said,
'As soon as we were aware of the incident starting to occur, we put a stop to it and ensured that the woman left.'
In my opinion this is disgusting and what made me feel so strongly about writing this article.
If that was a male who had raped or attempted to rape a woman, do you really think they would have ensured that the perpetrator left? Would they heck! They would have attempted to detain the person and proceeded to phone to police, not let them go!!! It made me so mad reading this!
So we are living in a world where male rape isn't taken seriously, even when it comes to a celebrity. So what hope have we got in being able to make male rape victims comfortable in coming forward and reporting the crime?!
This NEEDS to change! And fast!
Back to my original point, male rape victims. I have always felt strongly about this, so felt it was time to air my opinion and where better to do it than my blog.
I began to research this particular subject and came across a few interesting bits of information, both from the UK and the USA. We are both westernized countries so I believe the information is relevant in both countries and throughout the world to be honest.
A CDC study found that, in the USA, 1 in 71 men had been raped or suffered an attempt within their lifetime. 1 in 71 men! And that's probably not even the true figure, it is probably higher as it is widely known that many male sexual assault or rape victims do not come forward.
Within that same study approximately 1 in 21 men had been made to penetrate someone else. To me that is a high enough figure to realize something is seriously wrong here.
Rape of males by other males, fewer than 1 in 10 are actually reported. So 90% of male by male rape victims do not come forward. These rapists are still roaming the streets people! How are we not in an uproar about this?! Also rape of males BY females isn't punished on the same level as a male raping a female. There are many examples of this in the US (unfortunately I struggled to find much in the UK). In the US a male who has raped a female can receive life imprisonment, unfortunately the opposite doesn't even receive half of that punishment. I thought we were meant to be fighting for equality?!
According to an article in the Guardian newspaper, here in the UK, back in January 2013. It stated that there are on average 9,000 male rape victims in the UK per year. The female number does appear to be higher at 69,000 per year. But is this because it is more accepted for a woman to come forward over rape? Either way, 9,000 is a very bad figure to me. Rape should be a big fat ZERO in any country!
Unfortunately little research has been done on male rape so we are unable to reveal many statistics for this subject, which is disgraceful.
Before I carry on I thought I best share what the UK Sexual Offences Act 2003 defines 'Rape' as;
Rape
(1) A person (A) commits an offence if -
(a) he intentionally penetrates the vagina, anus or mouth of another person
(B) with his penis,
(b) B does not consent to the penetration, and
(c) A does not reasonably believe that B consents.
(2) Whether a belief is reasonable is to be determined having regard to all the circumstances, including any steps A has taken to ascertain whether B consents.
(3) Sections 75 and 76 apply to an offence under this section.
(4) A person guilty of an offence under this section is liable, on conviction on indictment, to imprisonment for life.
(This was taken from http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2003/42/section/1)
So lets have a look at this. To begin with 1 (a) already makes it sound like only a man can be a rapist by stating 'he'. Not too long ago there was a story where one female was raped by another female using a strap on penis. This female couldn't be convicted of rape as she didn't have a penis, so used a fake one. She was charged with the next most serious sexual crime on the list as it wasn't defined as rape. How disgusting is this? To any normal human being you would count that particular situation as rape wouldn't you?
Obviously I am no great legal mind, I am just an average person saying it how I see it. But to me it appears if a man is forced into having an erection in the UK and a female then going on to 'rape' the male, it isn't classed as rape under our UK laws. This needs to change!
Now I know many people will say, but if a male has an erection surely that means he is enjoying it so therefore consenting? Wrong, totally wrong!
Getting an erection is not always (or even usually ) a voluntary action. Stress, fear, anger and other strong emotions can lead to erections. Stimulating the penis can lead to ejaculation whether or not the man desires it. Just as a female can be forced to orgasm during rape even if she isn't enjoying it.
An erection does not equal consent!!!!!!!!
I should really get on with my point shouldn't I? My point to this article was to bring it to the public's attention that men can be rape victims too.
No person should ever have to suffer going through an ordeal as serious as rape. I would never wish it upon any female or male. We are constantly seeing articles, videos, photos in the media regarding female rape victims, all the blame being thrown onto men. We see images such as the below ones.
We need to stop this blame of the sexes and start working together. Pack it in with this feminist nonsense of equality and actually start fighting for equality.
We need to fight to get the law changed so that female rapists can receive the same punishment as male rapists.
That the definition of rape is changed so that it isn't regarded as only males being rapists.
We need to work together to help men feel comfortable about coming forward if they have been a victim of rape. Help them realize it isn't their fault, they are no less of a man because it has happened to them.
We need to start getting angry, if you can get angry you can start anything. Together we can make a difference (I'm aware that saying sounds super cheesy but has no less of a meaning).
Note - If you have been a victim of rape whether male or female, please know it is not your fault and please speak to someone about it. There are many organisations out there that can help you get through it, just look for them. I'm no expert but may be able to point people in the right direction for support so please feel free to e-mail me if you would like.
charlottedakota1989@gmail.com
I should really get on with my point shouldn't I? My point to this article was to bring it to the public's attention that men can be rape victims too.
No person should ever have to suffer going through an ordeal as serious as rape. I would never wish it upon any female or male. We are constantly seeing articles, videos, photos in the media regarding female rape victims, all the blame being thrown onto men. We see images such as the below ones.
Taken from zimbio.com 'Slutwalk Participants Protest Against Rape Culture'
Taken from huffingtonpost.com
We need to fight to get the law changed so that female rapists can receive the same punishment as male rapists.
That the definition of rape is changed so that it isn't regarded as only males being rapists.
We need to work together to help men feel comfortable about coming forward if they have been a victim of rape. Help them realize it isn't their fault, they are no less of a man because it has happened to them.
We need to start getting angry, if you can get angry you can start anything. Together we can make a difference (I'm aware that saying sounds super cheesy but has no less of a meaning).
Note - If you have been a victim of rape whether male or female, please know it is not your fault and please speak to someone about it. There are many organisations out there that can help you get through it, just look for them. I'm no expert but may be able to point people in the right direction for support so please feel free to e-mail me if you would like.
charlottedakota1989@gmail.com
An excellent presentation that I watched on the subject by Stefan Molyneux...https://youtu.be/k9s5H-RNjxY
ReplyDeletehow exactly can someone make you "penetrate someone?" the male anatomy is not a hard stick between the legs - it needs be aroused..
ReplyDelete