In the aftermath of the Eliot Spitzer scandal, the New York Times ran an article about how rare true monogamy appears in nature. Fair enough; most of us wouldn’t argue with that. What was appalling was the way the article seemed to justify sleeping around and paying for sex, based on the premise that “everybody else is doing it.”

I think the theory has several holes in it, both scientific and moral.

One of the article’s arguments was centered on the findings of paternity tests given to animals: Evidently, even animals that supposedly mate for life have been found to be unfaithful. How do scientists know this? Because paternity tests show the children in the nest don’t always belong to the male.

The biggest flaw I see in this argument is that it says nothing about having followed the animals around for several months prior to the paternity test. If you are going to accuse a female of sleeping around, you have to have some proof other than a failed paternity test, right? I mean, if promiscuity can exist in nature, then what’s to say rape isn’t a possibility as well?

The article also argues that certain species have mating rituals equivalent to paying for sex. It then goes on to cite a type of male bird that gives females (other than his mate) treats, apparently in the hopes of getting laid: The bigger his offering, the more likely he’ll get some. Another example was macaque (a type of primate) culture: Although all macaques groom one another, it was once again assumed that the males are looking for sex, whereas the females are doing it for social and maternal reasons. Read More »

The “problem” with Dakota Fanning, in my opinion, is that she’s a REAL actress who happens to still be very young. This, of course, shouldn’t be a problem, but because Dakota’s abilities often overpower her actual age, people have a hard time figuring out what to do with her.

Dakota has always been able to bring to life realities in characters that I sincerely doubt most other actresses her age–or even older–could do. However, her desire to do more than simple ’sweet and innocent’ roles have caused some people to cringe.

Her much talked about film that will be released this summer, “Hounddog“, has had most of the acting community biting their lips since it first showed up at Sundance last year. The controversy surrounding this film has been building, and in case you haven’t already heard, here’s why: Read More »

The man in this picture is a piece of shit rapist.

And now, the whole world knows it.

When Morgan Shaw-Fox forced oral sex on fellow Lewis & Clark University student Helen Hunter, she had the option of staying silent. After all, he was a popular and well-regarded student. They were alone when he did it. And criminal rape cases - especially cases of date rape, or cases where the victim consented to a certain degree of sexual activity before saying the word “no” - are notoriously brutal and hard to win.

The burden of proof is always on the accuser, who is frequently subjected to vicious assaults on her character by defense attorneys and the media. Prosecuting a rapist can be nearly as traumatic as the experience of sexual assault.

So, yeah. For understandable reasons, many, if not most survivors don’t report being assaulted. Many, if not most rapists are never brought to justice.

But Helen Hunter did not choose silence.
Read More »

Does anything this guy does shock anyone anymore??

David Copperfield, cheesy magician extraordinaire and island owner, can now add two more titles to his resume; possible rapist and certifiably crazy guy.

A Seattle woman is claiming Copperfield raped her in the Bahamas (perhaps on one of the 5 private islands he currently owns?), and last Thursday, FBI officials searched Copperfield’s Last Vegas warehouse of tricks in connection with the claim.

The magician’s attorney explained to Fox News that his client is aware of the charges, stating, “unfortunately false allegations are all too often made against famous individuals” and going on to say both he and Copperfield are “confident” everything will “conclude favorably.”

There’s something else Copperfield is confident about, however, that makes me wonder just how sane he actually is. Aside from being confident that he’s not going to jail for rape, the wacky magician is also confident that he’s found the Fountain of Youth on one of his tropical islands.

“I’ve discovered a true phenomenon,” Copperfield told Reuters last August. “You can take dead leaves, they come in contact with the water, they become full of life again. … Bugs or insects that are near death, come in contact with the water, they’ll fly away. It’s an amazing thing, very, very exciting.”

Finding the Fountain of Youth is certainly something a guy should be congratulated on—that is, if the damn thing was actually plausible. Read More »

Hold on your barf bags, girls. This is gonna get disgusting.

A 5-foot tall, 42-year-old mother of five from Sussex, England was recently arrested and charged with sexually assaulting a 6-foot tall acquaintance.

Tanya Hutchinson claims that when she and her friend (who can’t be named for legal reasons…and the possibility that women all over the world might want to kill him) climbed into bed at 11 AM on a Thursday afternoon last June, the sex was completely consensual. The man she slept with claimed that Hutchinson dropped date-rape drugs into his wine and molested him.

After cops barged into her house and arrested her in front of her 7-year-old son, they took her back to the station and interrogated her for hours, asking mortifying questions about her sexual escapades with the man in question.

Hutchinson claimed that she had grown close to the man, an old business acquaintance of her husband’s, after her divorce, and a few dates into their relationship came to believe that even though the man was still married, he was separated from his wife.

“He told me that he thought ours would be a special, long-lasting relationship and he spoke of taking me on a trip to Portugal.” Hutchinson said, “I began to believe we had a future together.”

Which was why, when he appeared at her door at 11 AM on that June afternoon with two bottles of wine, she thought it was okay that it was “very clear he was there for sex.” Read More »

Ladies, take note: the magazine that we love to hate, Cosmopolitan, is touting the sex trend du jour. It seems that gray-rape is the new date rape!

What is gray-rape? It’s the type of rape that happens after you protest having sex with someone but they go ahead anyway after you black out after one too many Smirnoff shots and cheep beer at your local frat’s beer pong competition.

Sigh. Who knew I would yearn for the days that Cosmo published articles that merely warned us that we are most likely to get attacked and raped in the summertime because of flimsy outfits?

Until winter rolls around, when we’re most vulnerable because we’re less on guard, or something. And on vacation, because we leave our inhibitions and tasers at the door.

Oh, and on any old day, coming home from work, because we’re less paranoid of attackers lurking in the bushes when we’re close to home.

And now they’re telling us we have not-quite-rape to worry about?

I don’t know about you, but I think that saying “no” and promptly passing out sends a pretty clear message: “Even if I wanted to sleep with you, which I don’t, I would not be physically able to participate in intercourse as evidenced by the fact that I am not awake for it.” Read More »

I am as cautious as the next girl walking around campus at night- I carry mace, walk on well lit paths and pay attention to the things around me- I even took a self-defense class last semester. That’s about all a girl can do to keep herself safe from potential sexual preditors, right?

Apparantly not. A new female condom-type device called RapeX is set to hit the market soon and is causing quite a stir. This medieval device has fish like teeth that attach to the penis upon penetration.

Yikes, call me crazy, but I am not about to stick a foreign object with fish-like teeth inside me. Mace is just fine with me.

Read the article.

What do you think about RapeX?