Writing and Reading Rape Fantasy Stories - The Ethical Implications

[skuttrusk]

That's perfectly fair, if you think about it.

[Hazard]

It seems the consensus is generally "Who am I to tell people what not to consume?" and therefore writing rape content is justifiable. Well, you can say the same thing about drugs, alcohol, porn etc. Who are we to tell people not to smoke crack, shoot up on heroin, get shit-faced every night, or wank off all day to butt-banditos.com? We don't have any right. The brewers should stay open. The porn sites are not accountable. But really, we know they are. It's obvious that if there were no addictive substances available to waste your life on, then those who are weak/damage/unable to resist would have a much better chance of not being taken down by them.

Does this apply to rape stories? Maybe. I can imagine a scenario where a victim keeps herself perpetually in a loop of indulging her malignant kink because it's enabled by the availability of content online. I can also imagine the budding psychopathic rapist who exposes himself to more and more online content slowly metastasizing his demon. There is a chance we could be partially responsible for those kind of scenarios happening.

On the flip side, there's also the chance that we help people by letting them explore it and get it out of their system. Writing stories could be medicine, but it could also be a catalyst for worse. I guess since we can't really know we might as well keep writing them.

[Shocker]

It seems the consensus is generally "Who am I to tell people what not to consume?" and therefore writing rape content is justifiable. Well, you can say the same thing about drugs, alcohol, porn etc. Who are we to tell people not to smoke crack, shoot up on heroin, get shit-faced every night, or wank off all day to butt-banditos.com? We don't have any right. The brewers should stay open. The porn sites are not accountable. But really, we know they are. It's obvious that if there were no addictive substances available to waste your life on, then those who are weak/damage/unable to resist would have a much better chance of not being taken down by them.

Does this apply to rape stories? Maybe. I can imagine a scenario where a victim keeps herself perpetually in a loop of indulging her malignant kink because it's enabled by the availability of content online. I can also imagine the budding psychopathic rapist who exposes himself to more and more online content slowly metastasizing his demon. There is a chance we could be partially responsible for those kind of scenarios happening.

On the flip side, there's also the chance that we help people by letting them explore it and get it out of their system. Writing stories could be medicine, but it could also be a catalyst for worse. I guess since we can't really know we might as well keep writing them.

Hazard, this is where society is butting in, making the manufacture and consume of some drugs, alcohol or even erotic texts illegal. Something sane societies have found ways to have a consensus on.

I find the practice of protecting minors sensible. What consenting adults do with each other in the privacy of their bedroom is none of my business, neither is it of society. Consenting is the magical word in that statement.

[Hazard]

Hazard, this is where society is butting in, making the manufacture and consume of some drugs, alcohol or even erotic texts illegal. Something sane societies have found ways to have a consensus on.

I find the practice of protecting minors sensible. What consenting adults do with each other in the privacy of their bedroom is none of my business, neither is it of society. Consenting is the magical word in that statement.

I do mostly agree, but addiction is a powerful thing. I've known people who've died of drug overdoses and I know alcoholics. I have my own on/off relationship with smoking. If I couldn't buy tobacco, it would be an off relationship only. I don't want to be told what I can and cannot do, but I also have seen and understand the difficulty with mental health and how that leads to addiction. So unless you can cure the mental health issues with all these consenting adults then they won't be in the best mindset to make the right decisions for themselves. Again, I don't want the government making these decisions for us.

My point is just it's too simplistic to think adults will make the best choices for themselves and wider society where addiction is involved. Whether fantasy writing really deserves any comparison to this, I'm not really sure. Probably not. But it's certainly worth considering that we're potentially enabling someone else's less-than-healthy patterns.

[Corvid]

And learn how hard it is to aim a hard cock's ray of pee?

Tangential anecdote- I have a memory of a "human growth and development" class in 6th grade, back when the very idea of "sex ed" was still pretty controversial, that had a text claiming that men couldn't urinate during an erection.

...Sigh. Yeah, I get the distinct feeling that a lot of the texts of those classes were written on the fly by whoever wanted the job, regardless of whether they were particularly well-informed or qualified.

For the record: It can be uncomfortable, depending on the rigidity of the erection and the gravity of the need to urinate, but it is most definitely possible.

Hazard, this is where society is butting in, making the manufacture and consume of some drugs, alcohol or even erotic texts illegal. Something sane societies have found ways to have a consensus on.

I find the practice of protecting minors sensible. What consenting adults do with each other in the privacy of their bedroom is none of my business, neither is it of society. Consenting is the magical word in that statement.

I do mostly agree, but addiction is a powerful thing. I've known people who've died of drug overdoses and I know alcoholics. I have my own on/off relationship with smoking. If I couldn't buy tobacco, it would be an off relationship only. I don't want to be told what I can and cannot do, but I also have seen and understand the difficulty with mental health and how that leads to addiction. So unless you can cure the mental health issues with all these consenting adults then they won't be in the best mindset to make the right decisions for themselves. Again, I don't want the government making these decisions for us.

My point is just it's too simplistic to think adults will make the best choices for themselves and wider society where addiction is involved. Whether fantasy writing really deserves any comparison to this, I'm not really sure. Probably not. But it's certainly worth considering that we're potentially enabling someone else's less-than-healthy patterns.

Regarding drugs, I'm of mixed minds. I think the best option is that drug addiction treatment and medication be made widely available so that those who decide their drug use has become a problem can seek help. Portland, Oregon had a policy for a period of not arresting for substance possession without intent to sell, but it didn't work because the availability of treatment that makes such policies feasible in places like Portugal. The law had to be reversed as the knock-on effects mounted up. Fentanyl is... scary.

I find myself more than a little annoyed that some "legitimate" businesses succeed on the exploitation of addictive and compulsive behaviors, particularly on those who spend money in the most blatantly self-harmful ways- gambling being the obvious one, but a lot of video game companies count on similar patterns. Reading designers talking openly about courting the custom of "whales"- those who spend hundreds, or even thousands of dollars on so-called "free-to-play" games- is enough to induce nausea. And while I fully recognize that it isn't a good argument, part of my mind snaps, "So we're okay with children using their parents' credit cards to buy flashy ephemeral crap that vanishes the moment someone turns off a switch on a server, but adults indulging in sex fantasies is bad, because <person x> finds their fantasies icky? I question the priorities, at the very least..."

There are absolutely adults who will make stupid, self-destructive decisions. <Insert generic political joke here.> But it's kind of fundamental to our society to believe that adults are, at least for the most part, capable of making rational decisions, ordering their priorities, engaging in delayed gratification, and not inflicting big harm on others for the sake of small benefit to themselves. Otherwise, we can never drive on a public road, or eat a mass-produced food, or dozens of other things we largely take for granted.