What is death?
What is life?
What is abortion?
What is rape?
These sound like silly questions we could answer without thinking or by flipping open a good dictionary, but in fact death,life, abortion, and rape (among countless others) are terms we negotiate with our cultures. They have different meanings in different parts of the world. They change over time.
Who’s a liar? Someone who once lied?
Who’s a cheater? Someone who keeps a mistress? Someone who flirts with strangers? Someone who sleeps with hookers? Someone who has a long and emotionally deep relationship but no sex with someone other than his spouse?
Who’s a gangster? Someone who belongs to a gang, or someone who acts aggressively in the neighborhood?
Over the years, rape (of a woman by a man, let’s keep things simple) has meant:
- Property damage (the father was deprived of the virginity or purity of his daughter).
- Adultery (the man was blameless; the woman was guilty of adultery).
- A proposal of marriage (the rapist had to atone by paying a fine to the father and marrying the daughter).
- Abduction (the word rape and the word kidnap meant more or less the same thing).
- Consensual sex (if the rape victim got pregnant, she wasn’t taken against her will).
- Misdemeanor (while it might be a serious crime to rape a nun, forcing sex on a prostitute was no crime, and statutory rape of a minor was also not criminal if the girl was “impure”).
- Legal for 13-year-olds (England’s King Edward I set the age of consent at 12).
- Always legal for the husband (until 1993 in North Carolina, no wife could ever legally refuse her husband).
- Legal for slaveholders (in fact, in America, white men were not prosecuted for sex crimes against black women, slave or free, until long after abolition).
- Only if proved with physical evidence (in the 18th and 19th centuries, this usually meant a broken hymen or presence of semen; now it means a positive rape kit: progress?).
- “Absolute rape” or “legitimate rape” (Missouri Rep. Todd Akins echoed this one last in 2012 when he said a woman who didn’t enjoy the sex couldn’t conceive).
- A Motionless Needle (19th-century gynecologist Dr. Lawson Tait famously said, “You cannot thread a moving needle,” meaning that no woman could claim to have been forced; if she had moved, it wouldn’t have happened).
- Carnal Knowledge (yes, it’s a Jack Nicholson movie from 1971; it’s also the FBI definition: “the carnal knowledge of a woman, forcibly and against her will”).
- Your definition, please. Surely we can do better than this. Use the Reply field below to craft your Definition. We will review the entries together until we craft one that satisfies us.Several factors need to be addressed in your definition:
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- The rapist can be male or female.
- The victim can be male or female.
- The “couple” can be friends, strangers, lovers, spouses, family members.
- Various body parts can be involved.
- Objects other than body parts can be involved.
- An age difference between the participants may change the rules.
- The power of one participant to compel sex from the other may take many forms.
- The participants are not necessarily in their right minds, old enough to consent, possessed of all their faculties, capable of reasoning, unimpaired, conscious . . . .
- Good luck.
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Counterintuitive Fall 2022 
Rape is nonconsensual sex. Any gender and any age, if it isn’t consensual, then it is rape.
Really very nice, Alex, except you’ll need another definition for consensual, because in your version, ten-year-olds might qualify to give consent.
Rape is when a sexual act is forced on a living thing by a living thing without consent to do so.
That’s really nice except that in this sentence “permission” makes more sense than “consent.” Thank you so much for making me think of different species of living things forcing themselves on one another.
When the victim either does not consent or does consent under persuasion of the rapist.
Sorry, you can’t use “rapist” to define rape, any more than you could say: Burglary is the act a burglar commits against a house.
Rape is when any unwanted sexual act is forced upon a person. If the sexual act is not consensual that is considered rape.
Also if the victim is not in the right state of mind and agrees to sex this is also rape.
Syntax demands a better grammatical match between your verbs, Troi. You need to say either: “Also if the victim does not agree, or is not in the right state of mind to agree . . . .”
Really good, Troi! 🙂
If there is no consent from both parties then it is rape.
the unlawful compelling of a person through physical force or duress to have sexual intercourse.
Really nice, Casmir. The only problem I see is that it begs the question. It might work as a definition but not as a law, since it says that the act is illegal because it’s unlawful, if you catch my meaning. Your sentence isn’t complete, so it’s difficult to know the context completely.
Mm-hmm. Consent to what?
Rape is when one of the participants can not or does not give consent. A party can not give consent if they are not of the proper age or under the influence or alcohol or drugs.
Edit:
Rape is when one of the participants can not or does not give consent to sex between the participants. A party can not give consent if they are not of the proper age or under the influence or alcohol or drugs.
You’re going to hate these notes, John. Your first sentence doesn’t specify that the sex actually occurs. One party could decline consent and successfully avoid it and still meet the standards of the sentence. In the second, you inadvertently say that “if they are not . . . under the influence.”
Rape is the forcing oneself upon another unwanting human in any sexual way.
^^If either of the two do not consent^^
Mm-hmm. To what?
I like everything except the “unwanting human,” Luke. What can you do to make this just right?
Rape is unconsentual sex between two parties. If the peole involved both do no consent it, then it’s rape.
*this is a vague definition of rape btw
Yes, a bit vague, but also confusing in a particular way: “both do not consent” means neither party wants to have sex. I can imagine such a scene, but it would involve some third party forcing unwilling participants to perform. Probably not what you meant.
Rape is the forced sexual activity from a single person, or group, to a person; when exceeds the definition of other sexual crimes.
Huh. That’s peculiar. Defining rape as “more than other sex crimes” is creative, but not very helpful. You and I need to talk about semicolons, Marcus. I know; sounds like a barrel of laughs.
When a male or female forces themselves or something on someone with their body or their persuasion, does not listen when the victim says no or tries to stop him/her from saying no, or does something sexual to someone who is unkowning (asleep/unconscious).
Those are good specifics, Angela.
The exploitation of any kind of an unwilling, naive, or capable participant
replace capable with “otherwise incapable” and insert the word “deliberate” before exploitation
The [deliberate] exploitation of any kind of an unwilling, naive, or [otherwise incapable] participant
replace incapable with “ineligible”
The [deliberate] exploitation of any kind of an unwilling, naive, or [otherwise ineligible] participant.
Those are all good improvements, Drew. The result is a very fine description of some kind of forced activity, but not necessarily sex, which you neglected to mention. 🙂
Mm-hmm. Nice. Participant in what? A painting class?
The act of rape is forcing another person of any gender, any age, any status, any race, any ethnicity, any political party, etc., to undergo sexual acts that they do not want to participate in. Drunken rape does not ever count as consensual.
Rape is also exploitation.
It does have that additional meaning, yes, and often for non-sexual activity. Forests can be raped, for example.
It occurs to me that this proves you were in class even better than a comment on your Notes for MAR 04.
Political party? 🙂 Which party is drunk in drunken rape?
Rape- Being forced against your will to have sex. Having sex with someone who is intoxicated while your sober. Having sex with someone who is under age or does not have the mental capability to make decisions.
How did I get into this definition? No, Lashawn, you can’t use “you” in your definition (or anywhere else, but especially when defining rape). Also your first example is being the victim of rape. The rest are descriptions of committing rape. Make a choice.
Rape: A man or woman forcing themselves or an object, on another male or female anywhere, of any age and in any state of mind, without the person’s consent.
Well, yes, except that you didn’t claim the contact is sexual. A beating could be rape by your definition.
This is really hard.
Definition of Rape- Regardless of the gender of the participants, rape is any type of sexual contact in which neither of the participants is being coerced into doing something that they do not want to do. Both participants also have to have the mental ability to decide whether they want to have any kind of sexual relations.
You must mean “in which EITHER” participant is being coerced
Rape is defined as having sex with someone without the man or woman giving consent or if they are too impaired to give consent.
Don’t say “is defined as” in a definition, Ryan. Do you need to name the genders? You could say: Rape is having sex with someone who withholds consent or is too impaired to consent.
Rape is when one side does not give consent, a clear approval, while in a proper state of mind (Not under the influence or being forced) to any sexual act. All parties must also be of legal age to give such consent.
That’s very nice, Stephen. I’m not a big fan of If/then or when/then constructions when they can be avoided, but that doesn’t make them wrong. You covered a lot of ground here, in clear language, and leaving little room for doubt.
Rape is anyone verbally or physically forcing someone without consent of either gender to engage in any sexual activity whether it be with objects or not.
This is a good effort, Erik. “forcing someone without consent” is an odd combination of phrases. “Objects or not” is also hard to reconcile. You might mean “body parts or objects.”
Rape is the act of a man or woman, receiving a sexual act with no consent, whether verbal or physical, by the victim, no matter the relationship, age, or state of mind of the victim.
I like this bold attempt to generalize from the particulars, Benjamin. I wonder if you mean “committing” a sexual act. It seems impossible to receive an act with no consent, even though I do understand your meaning (receive the favor?).
Rape is being forced against your will to have sex. Whether your a man or a woman, if your forced to have sex its rape. Whether your a man or a woman, if your forcing someone to have sex then your a rapist. It doesn’t matter if you knew the person before they raped you, it is still rape if you weren’t consenting to having sex. If you don’t want to have sex with your wife/husband and they force you to have sex with them, then it is also rape. I think any type of penetration is rape, vaginally or anally. Penetration can be achieved without using body parts, even if the rapist is using a foreign object it is rape. If the victim is under 16 years old, they cannot consent to having sex with someone who is 18 years of age or older. If the victim is under the influence of drugs or alcohol they cannot consent to having sex with someone.
These are all good examples, Saarah, but the purpose of writing definitions is to generalize from the particular examples so that they don’t all have to be listed. The danger of lists is that they will leave out an example and seem to dis-include them. Also, you really need to stop writing “your” when you mean “you’re.” And to stop mixing singulars with plurals in your use of pronouns. For example, it’s not legal to write: If THE VICTIM (singular) is under 16, THEY (plural) cannot consent. And finally, you are prohibited from using the 2nd person in essays; so, no more “you,” “your,” or “yours.”
Rape occurs between two people when one of the participants is incapable of providing their complete and willing consent. For example when a man forces himself on a woman, or when one of the parties is intoxicated or under the influence of narcotics. Rape can also occur when a participant is not mentally mature enough to give their consent, e.g. a child or a mentally handicapped person.
I don’t disagree with any of that, Josue. Oddly though you didn’t mention sex once. You have participants and consent, but we could almost make a comedy sketch out of misunderstanding this to mean sex when it doesn’t.
Very true. Reading over it now I can’t believe I left that out
Very nice work, class. You made me think hard about what must be included and what can be eliminated.
I really liked Marcus’s “Rape is forced sexual activity” because that does 99% of the job in 5 words. And Alex’s “nonconsensual sex” for the same reason. And elements of others too numerous to list.
1. My favorite version might not make good law, but it’s easy to understand:
—Rape is sex between willing and unwilling participants.
2. But because fourteen-year-olds might be willing, and dead-drunk participants can’t be tested for willingness, for legal purposes we’d probably have to go with:
—Rape is sex committed by participants who have given their legal consent on those who haven’t.
. . . But even that one has holes in it. By all means, help me out here.
One more note on this topic, about the syntax (the mechanics of sentence construction not covered by grammar) of definitions.
—Rape isn’t a time, so we don’t start “Rape is when.”
—Rape isn’t a logical proposition, so we don’t start “If there is X, then there is rape.”
—Rape is the act of a rapist, not the act of the victim, so we don’t start “Rape is being forced.”
It’s an act of sex. It’s an act of violence, force, or coercion, or one performed without consent or permission. So the best definition of an act always begins with an act:
—Rape is forced sex . . . .
—Rape is nonconsensual sex . . .
—Rape is sex without permission . . .
That sort of thing. Sometimes the lessons come before the assignments; sometimes I don’t know what the lessons will be until after the assignments.
Thanks again for playing.