Brownmiller

Question 1

Brownmiller’s View on Rape

Answer 1

• rape is an act of violence, not sex
• rape is political
• rape does not correlate with sexual attractiveness
• motivations to rape are a desire to dominate and degrade
• rape is not individualistic; it is a mechanism to uphold patriarchal political structures

Question 2

Political Functions of Rape

Answer 2

• to uphold women’s dependence on men by ensuring that women need the continued protection of men
• as a tool for men to assert domination over other men

Question 3

Rape and Female Dependence

Answer 3

• female fear of rape underlines a set of institutions that serve to keep women dependent on men
• assigns women to men as their property
• marriage is best understood as a contract that women gain protection against rape (shield)
• men who rape are asserting their dominant identity as men

Question 4

Rape as a Tool for Men to Assert Dominance Over Other Men

Answer 4

• rape of women is common in war
• rape as a tool of war directed against men (the male enemy) by showing him that one can take his possessions
• asserting dominance over men by raping their women

Question 5

Problems with Brownmiller’s Account

Answer 5

• focuses on “stranger rape” rather than sexual assault by family, friends, or acquaintances

(her account of female dependency and marriage as motivated by fear of an open season of rape is directed towards stranger rape)

• her account does not allow for female agency (Brownmiller seems to endorse rather than challenge the female passivity)