Rape versus War

The emotions and motives for both rape and war are surprisingly similar. This may seem like a strange comparison, to compare forced intercourse to a war. While they are on massively different scales, the motives and emotions involved are almost identical.

            There are many reasons for a man to rape a woman or for a country to wage war on another. To keep my comparison simple, I will only focus on the major and most obvious motives of each.

            First lets look at the key motives for why a man would rape a woman. According to Lisa Vetten, from the Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation, “Men rape because they believe they have the right to control and to punish women who do not obey their rules of behaviour. Rape is an expression of unequal power relations between men and women. Such unequal power relations are not the result of nature or evolution but societies which, through legislation and social custom, have made women second-class citizens” (Vetten).

Many wars have been fought over desired power similar to rape. For example, when the United States was expanding they went to war because of Manifest Destiny. They believed they had the right to control all the land between the Atlantic and the Pacific. When countries did not submit to them and sell them land, the United States attacked. When the Native Americans did not obey the rules of America and behave the way American’s wanted them to, The U.S. began fighting with them and controlling them to move. The Native Americans were no less people than everyone else, but society made them second-class and figuratively raped them.

Other examples of waging war to control people into behaving the way one country wants are evident throughout history. To list a few: The many wars waged for Imperialism, Alexander the Great and Genghis Khan’s empires were both gained through these wars of power, and even the crusades.

            Now lets look into the emotions involved in rape and war. “Rape is not just physically damaging, it can be emotionally traumatic as well. Someone who has been raped might feel a lot of things: angry, degraded, frightened, numb, or confused. Some feel depressed, anxious or nervous” (Kingsley).  During a war people would generally feel such emotions as well. Uncertainty, anxiety and fear of what will happen next, is very common during a time of war. In Elie Wiesel’s book, Night, he explains that during the war he felt all of those emotions. He says he was angry at times, degraded, scared, numb and anxious. (Wiesel). Clearly the emotions felt after being raped and experiencing a war are very similar.

            In my opinion, rape and war are two of the most prominent evils in the world. They are on different scales, two people compared to multiple countries of people, but they are very similar. It is not always the case but most cases of rape and many cases of war are due to the want of power. They both make people feel and react the same way and they should both never happen in our world.

                       

                                                 Works Cited

Kingsley, Richard S.. "Rape." Teens Health. Sept 2007. Nemours Foundation. 17 Oct 2008 .

Vetten, Lisa. "Why Men Rape." Gender. Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation. 17 Oct 2008 .

Wiesel, Elie. Night. New York: Hill and Wang, 1960.