why nature smiles on

RAPE by

ROBERT J. LEWIS ___________________________________ MEN IN GENES AND RAPE CULTURE From the Latin rapere (seize by force) are the words rape, rapt and rapture. Rapists are very correctly but not universally despised by both women and men. The laws of most lands are written to reflect the gravity, disgust and abhorrence the act of rape invokes. In cultures where rapists enjoy more favourable ratings, the judicial system shifts the weight of responsibility from the perpetrator to the victim. Rapists find their highest approval ratings among themselves. They play by a different set of rules, making their accomplishment a function of defiance of the law and brute conquest. The genes the rapist wears never go out of style because -- compared to authors, athletes and electricians -- rapists are disproportionately prolific breeders. To be noted without flinching is what they admire in themselves is what natural selection sees fit to admire During the Bosnian war (1992-95), an estimated 50,000 women were raped, many in special rape camps. In South Africa one in every four women is raped. In South Africa a woman has a greater chance of getting raped than learning how to read, which means an unconscionably high percentage of men are undeterred by the brutality, violence and dehumanization of women rape invariably occasions. Based on the ubiquity of the act and the appalling numbers, more and more human rights groups are signing on to the notion that rape is a global epidemic. Popular psychology, spear headed by publications such as Psychology Today, contends that some women entertain rape fantasies. Well before Freud published his revolutionary theories on the relationship between the unconscious mind and sexuality, the philosopher Schopenhauer understood that nature has one goal: reproduction “the most marvelous of all instincts, and its work the most astonishing . . . the sexual passion is the kernel of the will to live.” So while the sexually aroused individual selfishly chases his pleasures, the beyond purpose is procreation (propagation of the species). It is likewise for the sake of her offspring and the health and vigour of the species that women desire what is best for their eggs, and the rape fantasy, if only subconsciously, not only identifies the instinct that predicts a female's attraction to the alpha male but makes the case that rapists, as a group, are alphas. Which make our laws that punish rapists inconsistent with nature’s first purpose: reproduction. Is there the male equivalent of the female rape fantasy? Do males secretly admire, envy rapists for their exceptional ability (virility) to conquer and breed under the most trying circumstances? Is there an unacknowledged fraternity of closet rapists, and if yes, how big is the closet? All life forms are characterized by the blind will to live and not die, and reproduce. Genes that survive from one generation to the next are deemed the fittest. Hostile environments, that limit the winner’s circle to the exceptional, best guarantee gene fitness. Until quite recently in man’s history, natural selection favoured physically dominant males who could provide for as many women as they could feed and defend. Environments hostile to arousal and reproduction (war, scarcity) isolated those exceptional males who could successfully reproduce under stress. It’s one thing to consummate with a consenting, loving partner in the midst of plenty, but altogether another story to mate with a woman whose village you have razed, whose husband and children you have killed, who hates you, is revolted by you and wants you dead. If the mixing -- diluting -- of the enemy’s blood is the definitive biological conquest, men who are not capable of consummating in negatively charged sexual environments run the risk of seeing their genes eliminated from the gene pool. Males who are physically and emotionally equipped for rape, especially multiple rapes with multiple partners, are rewarded by nature: their copious seed is transmitted to the next generation. Evolutionary biology’s toughest truth is that natural selection rewards sexual coercion; it is not interested in sensitive, caring, compassionate males – the wimp contingent. Left to their own devices and fantasies, most men, the majority of whom discreetly suffer from Don Juan envy, would seduce and procreate with as many women as possible. There isn’t a man alive who at some primordial level doesn’t wish to scatter his seed. If the ultimate prize of war -- the heavyweight event that separates the breeders from the non-breeders -- is unrestricted access to conquered women, the rapist is the first in line. His seed will get a future hearing, while the omegas on the sidelines console themselves with booty and plunder. Reducing the rapist to his essential place and purpose, he represents those exceptional men who are capable of procreating under the most trying conditions. He is able to consummate in the presence of judgmental males, in times of war, in environments with the smell of death in the air, and with women who want to see him dead. He will prevail when least expected, and it matters not a whit to natural selection whether he is admired or detested for his breeding prowess. His DNA lives on. Richard Dawkin, in River Out of Eden, explains that we don’t have to go far back in time to find a common ancestor. If in the Middle Ages it was not uncommon for an alpha male -- with the backing of jus primae noctis (law of the first night) or droit du seigneur (the lord's right) -- to sire a hundred offspring, whose subsequent offspring sires only ten for five generations (a century), his dominant genes will be present in more than a million children, grandchildren and great great grandchildren etc, all of whom might be recognizable by an outstanding physical feature (shape of nose, chin, mouth) which is why we are often able to identify someone as German, or Scandinavian or Greek. The science of genetics, the branch of biology that deals with heredity, combined with the laws of exponential distribution force the conclusion that many of us, and perhaps most of us, are the sons and daughters of nature’s favourite brute – the rapist. Since in the modern era rape is more or less universally outlawed, and abortions are safer and more readily available than ever before, resulting in fewer births from coercive sex, there has been a major shift in consequences away from procreation to using rape as a weapon against institutionalized social iniquity. In 1968 Eldridge Cleaver (Soul on Ice) infamously described rape as an “act of insurrection,” the great leveler, the orgasmic means to the end of blurring the distinction between society’s winners and losers. Rape is the quick and efficient answer to a frustrated alpha male’s ambitions, or minority status or negative self-esteem. When an unemployed, uneducated rapist forces himself on a society woman who would otherwise have nothing to do with his kind, he is addressing an imbalance his nature cannot abide by. He doesn’t regard rape as a crime but a correction against an exclusionary social order that has robbed him of his dignity and self-esteem. Rape is the temporary means by which he takes his rightful place in society. He rationalizes it as justified affirmative action without consent. In the unacknowledged but ongoing war among males for access to the most prized females, he proves to himself and ‘the boss’ whose woman lies beneath him carrying his seed that he is an equal. He feels no regret or remorse but is hooked on an endorphin high that will bid him to rape again and again until he is caught. Sixty per cent of rapists become serial rapists. When we pass our genes on to the next generation, we are passing along knowledge: a set of survival instructions, the most important of which is the ability to reproduce under stress, which is why the rapists’ genes are very present in the overall human gene pool. Estimates vary widely but worldwide, among reported incidences, a woman is raped every second, which speaks to the DNA that predicts the act and the ineffectiveness of the laws against it. Sometimes it doesn’t take more than a drink or two, or a couple of hours spent in boisterous male company, to feed the notion that it is OK to force a woman to have sex against her will. Men, soldiers in particular, often bond around the act of rape. Among certain men, rape is confused for a right, which in turn confers bragging rights, which is why it is not unusual for rape to be carried out in the public domain. In recognition of man’s propensity to rape, cultures have attempted to deal with it in a variety of ways. The Spartans, as part of their training, legitimized it by encouraging rape as a rite of passage. Other cultures, citing overpowering female sexuality, require sexually mature women be clothed from head to foot and not to fraternize with men. Other men argue that rape is normal. The soft-spoken and kindly French actor Gerard Depardieu admitted as such in a Time magazine interview: . . . at nine he participated in his first rape? "Yes." And after that, there were many rapes? "Yes," he admits, "but it was absolutely normal in those circumstances. That was part of my childhood." * * * * * * * * * * Man is at war on many fronts, but all are instances of the same war he is waging against himself, against his nature. Since human nature cannot be wished away (will there one day never be another war, another rape, another lethal altercation?) it is imperative, as a pedagogical challenge, to learn to recognize and react to warning signs that, in the time it takes six rapists in a city bus to unzip or an angry man to put his hand on a kitchen knife, behaviour antithetical to the rule of law and laws of decency is about to prevail. Perhaps this is what the French writer George Bernanos had in mind when he wrote (Diary of a Country Priest), “The instinct of prayer is deep in all of us . . . It may be a form of the mysterious struggle of the individual against the race.”

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Very creative and fun. There's a hint of incel rage that I find very hot. charris@bu.edu

I urge readers to check out the book by evolutionary psychologists, The natural history of rape.

https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/natural-history-rape

It makes some of the same claims as Robert Lewis but does so in a more even-handed manner, with citations. robrot@videotron.ca

OK. There are a lot of deranged sickos out there being devilish beyond comprehension . . . but a rather small percentage nonetheless. And so to speak of the individual against the "race" as though all of humanity were plagued with the seed of EVIL and doomed to perdition is taking it a bit too far. No, it's not the individual against the race, but the individual seeking himself. user-submission@feedback.com

Some rapists reading your article will blame it on their genes. Is this what you intended? user-submission@feedback.com

Rape "as justified affirmative action without consent" ? ? ? ? I always thought raping is a crime. user-submission@feedback.com

Cowards rape. Worst cowards are gangs who rape, They don't have the guts to do it alone. They are not MEN in real sense. Rape is not about passing genes either.

This was the most disturbing article I have ever read in Arts & Opinion. I will screen in future before I read any thing. user-submission@feedback.com

Dear Sir: A very thoughtful and original article. I hadn't considered the implications of rape in terms of number of offspring these rapists leave behind them; they will of course make very fine daddies and their children will be very level headed adults. user-submission@feedback.com

Rapists are ousted from a group because of their defects. The woman wouldn't be able to relax and have a relationship conducive with the man and raising children for future reproductive success. user-submission@feedback.com

Rapists are psychopaths; with parts of their brain that aren't normal. This is a man trying to pass on his defective genes. user-submission@feedback.com

Africa is one of the most rape occuring countries but it doesn't seem to be evolutionary advanced. Stronger and wilder males are supposed to create superior offsprings but that does not work in modern world. All the top ten rape country are top ten proverty country. I think Dawkins missed one point that human superiority is intellectual one, not physical one. Contribution of intellectual traits to inheritance is very less also. I do not agree that rape and rapist shape the genetic make up. Only creates sad lifes on streets. Dawkins is not a geneticist and has no solid and applied expertiese in evolutionary genetics. user-submission@feedback.com

All men are products of their culture and and upbring, all cultures produce rapists, therefore rape, which is an attitude, is learned; it is not genetic as your piece suggests. Men are physically stronger than women, when they can, men dominate and bully weaker men and of course women. If woman was stronger than man, men wouldn't be raping women. Rape is not genetic. user-submission@feedback.com

Genetic for strong men to dominate weaker is really no different than raping I think, splitting hairs really. user-submission@feedback.com

I respond to "genetic for strong men to dominate weaker." If not for laws, man always uses his physical strength. This for him is his natural way, so we say he is biologically made, or his physical strength and use of it in daily life is genetic. So rape is extension of that it seems correct to state. user-submission@feedback.com

Important story time to take stand against rape! user-submission@feedback.com

What is a rapist? A man whose genes are so horrible that he cannot convince a higher quality woman to have consensual sex with him . . .so he takes it by force. A woman will be attracted to a man with good genes . . . no need for rape. In my opinion killing and removing rapists from society would be a perfect way of getting rid of bad genes from the human race. user-submission@feedback.com

So blame it on the genes. Is this the kind of message you want to put out there? Do we teach our sons and daughters that men are animals?

also by Robert J. Lewis:

Have Idea Will Travel

Bikini Jihad

The Reader Feedback Manifesto

Caste the First Stone

Let's Get Cultured

Being & Baggage

Robert Mapplethorpe

1-800-Philosophy

The Eclectic Switch

Philosophical Time

What is Beauty?

In Defense of Heidegger

Hijackers, Hookers and Paradise Now

Death Wish 7 Billion

My Gypsy Wife Tonight

On the Origins of Love & Hate

Divine Right and the Unrevolted Masses

Cycle Hype or Genotype

The Genocide Gene

