Comments on: Using rape in genre fiction

By: Wendy

Wendy — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 00:08:42 +0000

Thank you too for your post – that clarified the way rape is used for me too. Especially this idea, pasted from your post: “Why is it that in order to appear stronger, a heroine is raped?”

By: kmont

kmont — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 16:14:43 +0000

I have to say – thank you for this post! I have been struggling with this topic a lot this year and have wanted to post on it for a while now. I’m glad it did because WordPress generated a link below my post to this one. Very helpful. Thanks again!

By: Rape as a Plot Device |

Rape as a Plot Device | — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 16:10:33 +0000

[...] this, I noticed that WordPress’s auto-generated links based on my post’s subject had a link that looked interesting. Click here if you want to see a great blog post on rape in genre fiction. I swear, it’s [...]

By: Wendy

Wendy — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 02:31:03 +0000

“That’s not true.”
All right (though perhaps we have different examples of rape in mind when we each make our differing claims). Let’s say then that there is no point having an event in a piece of good fiction that produces no change on the character – or that does not say something about the character when it produces no change.

I think my opinion of using rape for pure entertainment purposes is pretty clear. However, the term ‘bodice-ripper’ is some 20 or 30 years out of date in the romance novel industry, where they have become better have differentiating between outright rape and the alpha male domination rape fantasy many women enjoy. My post was not directed at such uses, whether within the romance genre for arousal or the crime genre for titillation, because the writers there at least had conscious intent, as much as I am personally not in the intended readership. As you say, it is the writers who use it thoughtlessly, especially in the fantasy genre, who I wish would make more an effort.

[Comment has been edited for clarity of thought]

By: Anka

Anka — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 07:38:15 +0000

“No-one walks away unchanged from rape.”
That’s not true.

But anyways, rape scenes are often thrown in for entertainment purposes- bodice rippers and whatnot. If the book isn’t intended to arouse then yes, I find rape is a lousy conflict to throw at the female lead.

By: Wendy

Wendy — Sun, 08 Feb 2009 03:12:32 +0000

Exactly – it’s not a topic that should be treated frivolously and it so often is.

By: JulieG

JulieG — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 00:32:08 +0000

Thanks for this very thoughtful post. I know I’ve rolled my eyes at many a rape scene – Diana Gabaldon in particular seems to be unable to get her heroine through an entire book without a rape or an escape from rape. By the third book it’s all a bit ho-hum. Eventually she has her male character get raped too, for a change, although it seems to affect him more than it does her heroine.

It’s not that it’s a taboo subject that must never be raised – it’s just that authors often handle it so flippantly, without any effort put into making the details ring true. Readers with some knowledge of the subject will be jolted right out of their suspension of disbelief if it’s not handled properly.