A good discussion

I was very pleased that the majority of the contributions on the “Is this rape?” were constructive and thought out. I was very hesitant to post on the issue out of concern it would lead to some big finger pointing session, but instead we got sensible suggestions such as that scenario should be used in education more often so both guys and girls can communicate better on issues of consent. Regardless of whether the scenario described is legally rape, everyone would agree that you always wants to avoid a situation where someone has sex that they don’t want.

What I found interesting was looking at the variety of responses and how they differed by gender. 18 males and seven females gave an opinion and I have roughly classified them into four categories, being:

Definitely Rape
Likely Rape
Likely Not Rape
Definitely Not Rape

The percentage responses (note very small sample size and very unsicentific sample) were:

Males:

Definitely Rape 28%
Likely Rape 6%
Likely Not Rape 33%
Definitely Not Rape 33%

Females:

Definitely Rape 14%
Likely Rape 0%
Likely Not Rape 43%
Definitely Not Rape 43%

I found it interesting the more men than women said it was definitely or probable rape. Again not at all scientific and can’t be judged conclusive of anything, but interesting.