Men Are Pigs Hyenas

I've been reading Why Gender Matters by Leonard Sax. Dr. Sax affirms gender equality while acknowledging important differences in how males and females learn and react to different situations. It's a good book that debunks many common gender stereotypes, while helping parents and teachers more effectively meet the educational and social needs of boys and girls.

Anyway, Sax provides the following disturbing information:

In one carefully designed study, a surprisingly high percentage—35 percent—of "normal" college men said that they not only fantasized about rape, they would actually rape a woman if they were assured of not being punished. . . .

Even more troubling: for many teenage boys, the idea of inflicting pain on a woman is sexually arousing. Psychologist Neil Malamuth, who has specialized in studying the responses of "normal" college men to rape fantasies, has found that most young men experience greater sexual arousal when the imaginary rapist deliberately hurts the woman he is raping. The greater the victim's pain, the greater the sexual excitement. (pages 123, 124)

Goo! (For the record, I have never fantasized about rape or inflicting pain.)

Upon reading about these studies, I felt only shame toward my gender. While Sax's book was published this year, the studies he cites were done in 1981 and 1980, both by Neil Malamuth. I wonder if men have changed in the past 25 years—I hope we have changed for the better. But considering that the Internet and a new breed of video games have given men several more opportunities to be exposed to and to participate in rape fantasies, I can only assume the problem has gotten worse.

Check out Why Gender Matters. It's a fascinating read for anyone who has or works with kids. And most of it has nothing to do with rape.