Article
Asking What Before We Ask Why: Taxonomy, Etiology and Rape
Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences
(2003)
Abstract
This article presents a spectrum of sexual coersion. By looking at the social meaning of the different acts of coercion along the spectrum, the author suggests that most acts of sexual coercion can be classified as either rape (a sexual act with intent to do harm to the victim) or sex (a sexual act engaged in without any intent to harm the victim). Ironically, though, the author suggests that the most and least egregious acts of sexual aggression, that is, the acts we most readily identify as rape and the acts we are most reluctant to label rape are the ones that most easily evade explanation as either rape or sex.
Keywords
- taxonomy,
- etiology,
- rape,
- sexual coercion,
- prostitution,
- social meaning,
- impersonal sex
Disciplines
Publication Date
February, 2003
Citation Information
Asking What Before We Ask Why: Taxonomy, Etiology and Rape, 989 Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 288 (2003).