“Rape is JUST About Sex”

I have encountered trolls on feminist blogs that say rape is simply about sex.  They refuse to believe rape is about power, control, aggression, and patriarchy.  I challenge, that if rape is truely about sex then the places that have legalized prostitution should have lower rates of rape.  Because by all intensive purposes, no one should have to force sex, because they can just buy it.

My home state of Nevada, for instance, has legal brothels that “sell” sex.  Yet, Nevada’s rape rate is consistently higher than the national rate.  The large counties (cities within include Las Vegas, Reno, Sparks, & Carson City) in Nevada disallow prostitution, but many of the more rural counties have legalized it for economic reasons.

“Among the rural counties in the state, those with legalized prostitution have rape rates in 2007 that are over 5 times larger than rural counties without legalized prostitution. The average rape rate in rural counties with legalized prostitution (46 per 100,000 population) is also higher than rape rates in the urban counties within the state (42 per 100,000 population).”

Click to access Rape%20in%20Nevada%20v4.pdf

Let’s not even go into the situation in Asian countries such as Thailand, where prostitution is prevalent.  I think we can all recognize women (transsexuals) are not treated with respect there and rape is a massive problem.

Don’t get me wrong–I think legalized prostitution is the best way.  Those women are STD tested regularly, they have regulations that condoms must be used, they are safer then females working the streets, and the ranches pay the women really, really nice wages.

My mom had a student bring his mom’s W2 in for show and tell and the women at the Moundhouse brothels garner wages that exponentially exceed a teacher’s salary.  And the prostitute I knew lived on the Arnold Palmer Golf Course, drove a BMW, and had three pure-bred Bengals as well as a prominently displayed boob-job pic of herself on her fridge.  The Moonlight BunnyRanch gals are not hurting for money–that’s for sure.

And who am I to say they shouldn’t pursue that line of work.  If the women end up there (b/c NObody WANTS to become a prostitute) they have the right to stay there if it is profitable for them and if they can live with it.  I think the problem lies with the men who support those businesses.  The women wouldn’t do it if there was no money in it (and if they didn’t have other emotional, self-esteem, or addiction problems).  Society should look down at the men who go into brothels, pay for sex illegally, or rape women to get sex.  That is the problem.  And it’s a societal one.