Sexual Dystopia

[skuttrusk]

If you were to imagine (stress IMAGINE) a kind of rapetopia where women lost many of their rights and men could rape with near or total impunity, what kind of a society would you go for? A Handmaid's Tale kind of thing or violent Purge anarchy, or what?

[SoftGameHunter]

I had a story idea once, which I never pursued (but never say never) in which a man wakes up with fuzzy memory and finds himself hundreds of years in the future. Even then, no one knows how he got there, but people from the past occasionally show up. Anyway, it turns out that a runaway birth preference for females left men as the severe minority, and they responded by cracking down and seizing all power and rights for themselves, making all women slaves, ensuring a male utopia of power and lust fulfillment. Perhaps all women are kept naked at all times. I was very young when I came up with this. Actually, that sounds fine even at my current age, but I digress.

The man's girlfriend is also with him, and she has a distinctly different reaction to his. Doubly so as the government awards him ownership over her as a courtesy (to him), which would ensure her some protection and safety except they were on the verge of breaking up when all this happened.

[Shocker]

I have picked up that topic in a handful of my stories, most of the time maintaining a very orderly society, in which just the female members are very much fucked.

Reduction in rights, sexual servitude (look at "social services"), bodily responsibility for debts ("Bankruptcy) or full removal of rights ("changing of the guard" has not been published her yet). As a male author, the stripping away the rights from a woman, works best if society appears ordered. Sure you can have anarchically situations like depicted in movies like the purge, actual apocalypses (Boy and his dog, Mad max). But that reduces the power fantasy just to the superior physical power of the assaulter. And were would there be the difference to rape now? Sure the rapist doesn't have to fear repercussions, but what criminal doers believe he will get caught in the first place.

I think I intended to use, or actually did use the idea of a female politician protesting the passing of the law, getting grabbed during the her discourse and raped at the lectern. Just to ring in the new times.

[Pat Riarchy]

In such a scenario, I generally consider society to be functioning as normal. With the obvious exception that women are bought, sold, traded, and made sexually available by the government as punishment for crimes, usually those committed by their owner. Property can't commit a crime after all.

Now, while society is still function I do have what I generally refer to as Enslavement Day/Week/Year. The transition period between the old world and the new where there is chaos. Organized chaos but chaos. Of men grabbing, raping and then claiming women (registering them as their property with the government)

[AdmiralPiet]

That is a tricky topic, because even in a short one off story you have to lay down some foundation to support it.

Going with the anarchy way is simpler.
All you need is some event to facilitate the breakdown of society. Could be a natural disaster, something biological, zombies, war...
It then is much easier to explain why society got that way. The ones without morals do what they want, the ones with morals will fight the change or refuse the neccessary sacrifice. And the ones in the middle just want to survive and conform to the warlords. And begin to enjoy this new way of life.

With an ordered society there is a lot more worldbuilding to be done.
I mentioned it in another topic: Comic artist/writer Fernando has one series where the entire world signed the "compulsory female slavery law", but society is largely the same as today, even though all women know they can be enslaved once they are 18. Lots of women in the story even participate willingly in it. Having naked slaves paraded through cities is normal. Sometimes even men are slaves, but it is not really clear on what legal basis. I like the art, but from the story standpoint this world is not well supported.

@Claire wrote a story where a dystopia like this happens in germany, based on other stories where it happens in the US first. Here the change in society is much better described, but the speed in which it happens is still steep for my taste.
To circumvent that you could go farther out to the future like I did with "Spoils of war", or go to fantasy. Or spend more time worldbuilding.

In my own stories set in the 40k I have the problem that it can be fun to describe an intricate system of slavery, with rules, regulations, laws. But at a certain point it becomes to much for the "Chaos" faction. In some aspect they are the anarchy route. Chaos is freedom to do what you want without moral inhibition. Rule of the strong.
If there is order then only because the overlord makes his/her underlings obey his wishes.
But in a society like that it would not really get all that formal and civil.

So my basic approach for my Chaos Lord Sokara and her realm is:
Slaves and Peasants are at the bottom. Both live and die at the whim of their overlords, but difference is:
A slave gets out of line that will trigger a response by the higher ups if the direct superior can not handle it himself.
A peasant kills someone: As long as it does not disturb the order of things, no policing force will care.
Slaves can be in power, but only by virtue of their owner. They are just executors of the masters will, but the master protects them from others.
Every master decides for himself how to run and if neccessary punish his property.
A slave revolt might fall back on those who were unable to keep their property in check.

Within the Imperium of Man there could be planets where women have no rights at all, (or the other way round) and be highly organized/formalized societies. The Imperium at large does not care how things are run on a planet as long as:
- The government is stable
- is in line with religious/philosophical boundaries (democracy would be highly suspicious for example. A free mind is like a unguarded fortress with open gates after all)
- the planet can defend itself
- the imperial tithe is payed/provided
There could be some interesting stories in there?

And were would there be the difference to rape now? Sure the rapist doesn't have to fear repercussions, but what criminal doers believe he will get caught in the first place

Right questions to ask.

In such a scenario, I generally consider society to be functioning as normal. With the obvious exception that women are bought, sold, traded, and made sexually available by the government as punishment for crimes, usually those committed by their owner. Property can't commit a crime after all.

That raises questions.
A slave woman kills someone. Who gets punished when no crime was comitted?
A man kills someone and his slave is punished for it: Why would that deter the perpetrator? Only if he is jealous or doesn't want his property damaged. But depending on the crime that is a small price to pay.

Better have it the other way round: Have the owner be responsible for what the slave does wrong.
"Sir, you sent your slave to get groceries. The clumsy bitch smashed two bottles of beer. That incurs a standard level one property damage of 25$, and a 10$ fine."
And then the owner can take it out on her. Maybe one lash for every dollar?

[skuttrusk]

I do very much enjoy injustice in a fantasy, so a system where slavegirls are punished for their owner's misdeeds is hugely appealing, but it would have to be somehow arranged so that the society can function. Maybe in a very rich society most crime will cease to exist, except the "harmless " stuff men commit for fun: raping somebody else's slave results in the girl being punished for infidelity, or else the rapist must submit one of his own slaves for a very harsh punishment. So long as only girls are suffering, crime of this kind can be rampant!

[SoftGameHunter]

I feel compelled by selfish desires to point out that my NaNoWriMo entry of last November, Pheromonica, runs very much along these themes. Women haven't lost their sexual rights per se, but it's set in a world where rape is so common and generally not otherwise violent that people actively question whether it's still a real crime or not. The story itself is a future crime noir, but the setting is very much a sanitized sexual dystopia for women.

[embarrassedalready]

i've written some similar stuff before, tho really just one springs to mind.....i wrote this science fiction story that was probly the most ICK thing i've ever written, about a planet where literally everything had evolved to rape or impregnate women, and where women had no rights whatsoever. my story was all about the lead who feels drawn there and ends up finding out for herself why so many other women keep being mysteriously attracted to the place......there's a lot of random abuse and such, but the main content is like, tentacles and bugs, lol.....i got very crazy with the idea of an ecology that was evolved to rape human women, basically, lol.....

[SoftGameHunter]

i've written some similar stuff before, tho really just one springs to mind.....i wrote this science fiction story that was probly the most ICK thing i've ever written, about a planet where literally everything had evolved to rape or impregnate women, and where women had no rights whatsoever. my story was all about the lead who feels drawn there and ends up finding out for herself why so many other women keep being mysteriously attracted to the place......there's a lot of random abuse and such, but the main content is like, tentacles and bugs, lol.....i got very crazy with the idea of an ecology that was evolved to rape human women, basically, lol.....

Do you still have it?

[embarrassedalready]

i've written some similar stuff before, tho really just one springs to mind.....i wrote this science fiction story that was probly the most ICK thing i've ever written, about a planet where literally everything had evolved to rape or impregnate women, and where women had no rights whatsoever. my story was all about the lead who feels drawn there and ends up finding out for herself why so many other women keep being mysteriously attracted to the place......there's a lot of random abuse and such, but the main content is like, tentacles and bugs, lol.....i got very crazy with the idea of an ecology that was evolved to rape human women, basically, lol.....

Do you still have it?

oh yeah......somewhere! but it's not something that would fit here i don't think.....t';s mostly bugs and tentacles and all, lol, not rape........plus i would be way too embarrassed to post it anyways