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Where previous studies have examined attitudes and perceptions of the rape act, we have attempted to delve into the meanings which people impute at a less conscious level. Using Semantic Differential methodology, a stratified sample of participants rated the concepts of "assault," "rape," "seduction" and "love-making"; these were chosen along an underlying dimension of violence/coercion. Analysis incorporating the blocking variables (gender X SES) and other demographic personal information demonstrated that: "assault/rape" and "seduction/love-making" were seen as similar; "rape/seduction" as somewhat similar; and "assault/love-making" and "rape/love-making" as dissimilar. In general, important demographic/personal variables yielded no interpretable results. However, "prior rape experience" influenced participants' conceptions of the act of rape significantly. This result is discussed in light of some mixed results of previous studies in this area. We also present suggestions for interventions, based on the findings of this study.
The impetus for the present study grew out of a class discussion of rape fantasies. (The class was in Sex Role Development and Counseling Women.) In the case of all the men in the class and some of the women, although the fantasies were labeled as rape fantasies (even starting out with the male employing force), they were better described finally as seduction fantasies. Almost invariably, the conclusion of the fantasy had the woman involved fulfilled, pleased and even ecstatic.
This type of scenario is not uncommon in pornographic or even classic movies, for example, Rhett Butler carrying a fighting Scarlett up the stairs in Gone With the Wind. Other anecdotal evidence further supported the idea that there was a deep-seated acceptance of rape or rape-like behavior as a romantic/sexual, rather than a violent/coercive, act. Such portrayals of rapes as seductions reinforce and encourage what Burt (1980) and others have labeled a "persuasive ideology that effectively supports or excuses sexual assault" (p. 218).
It occurred to us that if people's conceptions of rape, a serious and traumatic act (American Psychiatric Association, 1980, p. 237), are akin to the fantasies experienced by most of the class members, they have little, if any, relationship to reality. Yet, particularly on a visceral and/or subconscious level as reflected by fantasies and dreams, these conceptions could influence people's (e.g., jury members) reactions to rape victims and violators.
Estimates are that over...