Rape And Radical Feminism In The Military Research Paper

The War Within:
Rape and Radical Feminism in the Military

Maya Angelou is quoted to have said, “If you don’t like something, change it. If you can’t change it, change your attitude”. Viktor E. Frankl similarly states, “When we are no longer able to change a situation – we are challenged to change ourselves” . This notion of complacency for the wrongdoings of another person or group is unacceptable. There are some situations that are unable to be changed but that does not mean that the disenfranchised person or group should back down and accept their fate. Had the race movement never occurred, Black men and women would still be in chains and be sworn to a master. Sometimes it takes something
This power struggle occurs not just between male and female but also between males as well. Rape occurs because the abuser manipulates the victim into a dominant-subservient position in order to deliberately display their authority over the oppressed party. In a male-female position, this is obviously a promotion of heteronormative gender roles. The male assaults the woman to assert himself and effectively ‘put her in her place’ to show that he is the masculine, dominant entity. A male-to-male assault is essentially the same concept. One male attacks another male to assert himself and debase the other male. While male-to-male is very rarely reported in the military, by the sheer numbers of men in the military, it is only natural to assume that male-to-male assault is astronomically more prevalent than male-to-female assault. Although the genders taking the assault may be different, the system is still the same. It is ineffective in allowing any type of change because of the structure of the
In radicalism, it is a common notion that women must overtake men and that “every social form of hierarchy and abuse is modeled on male-over-female domination” While male-over-female domination is a large part of rape within the military, the overwhelming numbers of rapes occur between men, not male to female. Radicalism seems to fall short in including men with their viewpoints on feminism. However, if the radicalists slightly change the view from strictly women to also encompass disenfranchised parties, then it is able to include men as well as women. Men in the military are experiencing the same type of sexual abuse as women. While the experience may elicit different emotional responses on a person to person basis, the damage is the same, and the men must stand up and fight against their oppressors. If done through the system, it is likely that the victimized man’s claims will be dismissed or never heard because he could not contact any officer not involved. Thus, liberal feminisms idea that all problems can worked through the already made system is