Power, fear, and Abuse. RE: recent threads here on DU
One often hears that rape is not about sex, but about power.
I concur. It is not a 'man' thing. It has nothing to do with sex or if I find some woman attractive (cheerleader, playboy model, et al). I can look at a woman and find her attractive and not think about sex, same as I can look at the Sierra Nevada mountains as beautiful and take pictures of it. Women can look at the guys from 300 and find them 'hot' and look at me and find me not. We all have ideals of beauty.
Rape is about power and fear, and that is something I think we can all relate to.
I fear those in government and their power over my life, I fear when is cop is behind me and that they might pull me over and tow my car for some reason or other (and the poorer you are the worse it is - can't afford insurance this month cause you needed meds? Well, you could your lose your car and job just by driving to work).
I have feared those I have worked for - and seen engineers that at one time I managed buying homes, cars, and planning their lives...only to have their jobs ripped from them because some director/vp wanted to save money by hiring temps. Come work for us, we are a good company, people plan their lives out, work hard, and then those in power rip it all away. Next thing you know you lose your house, you and the kids are homeless, etc.
It does not matter if it is a man in power or a woman, it is about power over others and how you use it.
We, as liberals, speak out often against abuse of power. We get it. Whether it is rape, health care, wars, etc - we stand up together for those without power and long for a place where we are all not under the power of others and work together instead for each other.
Those in power have no problem abusing that power and us as long as they get what they desire. Men, women, children are all victims of such people. Men are not the problem, women are not, we are not enemies of each other but enemies of all those who use their power to self gratify themselves at our expense.
I may not agree all the time with those here who take what some would called the 'feminist' side of issues - but I have listened and understand that people not in a position of power often worry about those with it and use their voices to speak out in an effort to shed light on the problem.
As a man I don't have the same fears you do. As a straight man I don't have the same fears as a gay man. As a white man I don't have the same fears as an American Indian - but I share the same fears that those who do have power will use it at my expense. Just as you do.
Here is an example of someone with power and how they used it. The perp was a teen female, the victim was a young girl. Their sex is not important though, what is important is how someone in power abused that power towards someone else.
And I think that is something we can all relate to.
Teen Pleads Guilty to Strangling Young Girl
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (CN) - A teenager confessed Tuesday that she strangled her 9-year-old neighbor to know what it would feel like.
Alyssa Bustamante's confession is part of plea deal to second-degree murder entered in Cole County court.
Elizabeth Olten, 9, was strangled, cut and stabbed to death in St. Martins, a small rural town just west of Jefferson City, on Oct. 21, 2009. Police initially charged Bustamante, who was 15 at the time, with first-degree murder. She was scheduled to be tried as an adult later this month.
Prosecutors said Bustamante plotted the killing and had even dug two holes to serve as her victim's grave. Over the next week, the teenager attended school and waited for the perfect time to kill Elizabeth. Prosecutors said Bustamante strangled Elizabeth without provocation, cut her throat and stabbed her.
A Missouri State Highway Patrol sergeant reportedly testified at a November 2009 hearing that Bustamante admitted to the killing, led officers to Elizabeth's body and she said she "wanted to know what it felt like" to kill someone.
http://www.courthousenews.com/2012/01/10/42927.htm
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Sometimes it appears this country has gone insane as we are dispossessed. 
