GOP Rape Obsession

Far too many state and federal representatives in the Republican Party have been engaged in a war on women that makes Iraq seem like a minor tussle. These are often the same group so appalled by the non-existent “war on Christmas,” the “war on conservatives,” the “liberal media monopoly,” “the war on religion,” etc. This is nothing new for a party that prides itself on its desire to return us to a pre-New Deal, 50s inspired-Utopia, but the level of vitriol has certainly escalated in the past few years, often manifesting itself in slut-shaming, abortion-shaming, contraception-use-shaming and the like. But the most troubling among these trends may be the countless ways that right-wing GOPers try to justify rape as a backlash strategy against the successes of feminism – and their apparent sense that, together with affirmative action, government intervention and taking “God out of schools and society,” it has led the moral and somehow economic collapse of the country (particularly for white, working class males).

A perfect example of this comes from Republican Maine State representative Lawrence Lockman, who loves to make offensive comments to the media about rape, abortion and homosexuality. As pointed out by Daily Kos (who also provided the funny infographic below), the most inflammatory of these comments came in 1995, when he claimed: ““If a woman has (the right to an abortion), why shouldn’t a man be free to use his superior strength to force himself on a woman? At least the rapist’s pursuit of sexual freedom doesn’t (in most cases) result in anyone’s death.” Sure, and if a policeman tries to arrest me, shouldn’t I be able to shoot him before he gets the handcuffs out? If a girlfriend tries to sleep with me when I’m not in the mood, shouldn’t I be able to beat her senseless? If a women I asks to marry me says no, shouldn’t I be able to club her over the head and drag her to the altar? I assume you get the point, namely the fact that we have far too many politicians with low IQs and the ethics of prehistoric man. Of course the GOP is well aware of these huffing and puffing men, but like to use them as part of their continued attack on women and the liberal policies that actually gave them some freedom and power. Back to the Middle Ages they appear to say, while really just engaging in more Realpolitik maneuvering. So here is the aforementioned chart, providing a nice summary of this strategy in action: