August 12, 2013 - As stated above, many of the upcoming comics will deal with storylines regarding rape. I'm going to try my best to make note of any comics specifically in the archive (and I possibly should go back and amend some pages to include trigger warnings), but in the interest of finding a compromise that is both sensitive to survivors of rape and not spoiling future storylines, I've decided to put up a trigger warning at the top of the main page as well as place this paragraph at the top of the blog with considerable lead time before the comics depicting such situations are posted.
Obviously there are a lot of things going on in today's comic, and the trigger warning that's been at the top of the page probably applies to this comic more than any other.
Firstly I should address the obvious problems with mandating crime reports of rape to obtain an abortion as not only do such policies increase the potential for abuse as Mary indicates but they also don't take into account some of the other obstacles to reporting rape ranging from societal stigmas discouraging victims from coming forward to complicated policing procedures obstructing a victim's ability to report the crime. Finding the strength to come forward after an assault and then needing to locate the proper authorities and endure some preliminary evidence collection procedures can be somewhat overwhelming and unfortunately I don't even have resources to direct people towards because policies vary so wildly from state to state and county to county. What's worse is that not following such procedures in a timely and exact fashion may restrict a victim's access to abortion, even though the majority of Americans support abortion in cases of rape.
The other important thing to note is that rape doesn't strictly involve strangers and more frequently involves some sort of acquaintance who becomes one of only two witnesses to what occurred. Focus then shifts to the credibility of both "witnesses" with emphasis on somewhat irrelevant information such as what led to the two people involved ending up in the circumstances where they found themselves. The goal of such a trial then becomes proving both that sex occurred and it was non-consensual with one or both tasks extremely difficult to establish, especially without any concern for the alleged victim's emotional state.
And the real problem boils down to the beat I tried to end this comic on of what constitutes consent. I think most people generally understand that yes means yes and no means no, but there's much more uncertainty surrounding non-verbal cues. I'm not sure how many of my readers are familiar with Robert Bolt's A Man For All Seasons. The play concerns Sir Thomas More and his refusal to acknowledge Henry VIII's divorce which if vocalized would be viewed as an act of treason. By remaining silent he argues he is neither abandonning his personal beliefs on the matter nor committing treason as his silence implies he is okay with what's going on. This position obviously has some inherent problems to it, and ultimately he still ends up tried and executed for treason, but the play largely makes the argument his position is correct and noble. In the context of the comic the play creates a multitude of problems however, most notably the suggestion that More's argument should in any way be valid (and indeed the legal standing of his argument is never really questioned nor is More's own morality, everyone else is just insanely selfish and corrupt). By preventing the issuance of a definitive statement an aggressor can claim the interpretation most favorable to themselves. This hardly seems like a prudent way of interpretting someone's silence, and yet I can't help but feel it's an idea that selfish people can easily ascribe to.
When the court wishes to see things in simple terms of black and white, yes or no, a lack of response becomes very difficult to deal with. A Man For All Seasons is a well written very complex play that does show the failure of such a black and white system, but I can't guarantee any high school student understands such complexity. It's just as easy to take away from the play the idea that speaking up for oneself leads to reprisal or that "silence equates to consent" should be a good enough argument to justify a lack of compassion for others. Both of which are very dangerous beliefs as neither promotes conversation of others' feelings to ensure mutual understanding.
Someone who doesn't understand can be just as bad as someone who acts maliciously, and I believe teaching compassion and understanding is key to deterring rape. I don't see that theme in A Man For All Seasons which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but I worry about the themes that can be read into it. The play has nothing to do with rape, and yet it's the only discussion of non-responsiveness I really recall from my time in high school, meaning it can easily be taken to dangerous assumptions about non-responsiveness in other situations, especially among people whose hormones are kinda going out of control.
Sometimes small details have a huge impact on larger issues, and I think it's impossible to ignore that all aspects of society are very interconnected. The complexity of our perspective on rape is very difficult to examine, and I don't know what exactly shapes that perspective. I think it's important though to point out potentially problematic contributers working towards ways to improve how we view such issues. I'm sorry for all the text in both the blog and the comic, but I didn't want to present some of these ideas without including them as part of a larger discussion of trying to figure out what we can do, both big and small, to change. I'm not sure I have answers but hopefully I'm asking the right questions and encouraging others to do the same. I certainly framed Pam's description of her rape as a series of questions with this in mind, in case you didn't already notice.
-D
Obviously there are a lot of things going on in today's comic, and the trigger warning that's been at the top of the page probably applies to this comic more than any other.
Firstly I should address the obvious problems with mandating crime reports of rape to obtain an abortion as not only do such policies increase the potential for abuse as Mary indicates but they also don't take into account some of the other obstacles to reporting rape ranging from societal stigmas discouraging victims from coming forward to complicated policing procedures obstructing a victim's ability to report the crime. Finding the strength to come forward after an assault and then needing to locate the proper authorities and endure some preliminary evidence collection procedures can be somewhat overwhelming and unfortunately I don't even have resources to direct people towards because policies vary so wildly from state to state and county to county. What's worse is that not following such procedures in a timely and exact fashion may restrict a victim's access to abortion, even though the majority of Americans support abortion in cases of rape.
The other important thing to note is that rape doesn't strictly involve strangers and more frequently involves some sort of acquaintance who becomes one of only two witnesses to what occurred. Focus then shifts to the credibility of both "witnesses" with emphasis on somewhat irrelevant information such as what led to the two people involved ending up in the circumstances where they found themselves. The goal of such a trial then becomes proving both that sex occurred and it was non-consensual with one or both tasks extremely difficult to establish, especially without any concern for the alleged victim's emotional state.
And the real problem boils down to the beat I tried to end this comic on of what constitutes consent. I think most people generally understand that yes means yes and no means no, but there's much more uncertainty surrounding non-verbal cues. I'm not sure how many of my readers are familiar with Robert Bolt's A Man For All Seasons. The play concerns Sir Thomas More and his refusal to acknowledge Henry VIII's divorce which if vocalized would be viewed as an act of treason. By remaining silent he argues he is neither abandonning his personal beliefs on the matter nor committing treason as his silence implies he is okay with what's going on. This position obviously has some inherent problems to it, and ultimately he still ends up tried and executed for treason, but the play largely makes the argument his position is correct and noble. In the context of the comic the play creates a multitude of problems however, most notably the suggestion that More's argument should in any way be valid (and indeed the legal standing of his argument is never really questioned nor is More's own morality, everyone else is just insanely selfish and corrupt). By preventing the issuance of a definitive statement an aggressor can claim the interpretation most favorable to themselves. This hardly seems like a prudent way of interpretting someone's silence, and yet I can't help but feel it's an idea that selfish people can easily ascribe to.
When the court wishes to see things in simple terms of black and white, yes or no, a lack of response becomes very difficult to deal with. A Man For All Seasons is a well written very complex play that does show the failure of such a black and white system, but I can't guarantee any high school student understands such complexity. It's just as easy to take away from the play the idea that speaking up for oneself leads to reprisal or that "silence equates to consent" should be a good enough argument to justify a lack of compassion for others. Both of which are very dangerous beliefs as neither promotes conversation of others' feelings to ensure mutual understanding.
Someone who doesn't understand can be just as bad as someone who acts maliciously, and I believe teaching compassion and understanding is key to deterring rape. I don't see that theme in A Man For All Seasons which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but I worry about the themes that can be read into it. The play has nothing to do with rape, and yet it's the only discussion of non-responsiveness I really recall from my time in high school, meaning it can easily be taken to dangerous assumptions about non-responsiveness in other situations, especially among people whose hormones are kinda going out of control.
Sometimes small details have a huge impact on larger issues, and I think it's impossible to ignore that all aspects of society are very interconnected. The complexity of our perspective on rape is very difficult to examine, and I don't know what exactly shapes that perspective. I think it's important though to point out potentially problematic contributers working towards ways to improve how we view such issues. I'm sorry for all the text in both the blog and the comic, but I didn't want to present some of these ideas without including them as part of a larger discussion of trying to figure out what we can do, both big and small, to change. I'm not sure I have answers but hopefully I'm asking the right questions and encouraging others to do the same. I certainly framed Pam's description of her rape as a series of questions with this in mind, in case you didn't already notice.
-D
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