NCJ Number
176478
Editor(s)
L Francis
Date Published
1996
Length
205 pages
Annotation
Philosopher Lois Pineau's feminist analysis of date rape, which is the centerpiece of this book, seeks to replace myths about female provocation and male self-control with a model of communicative sexuality; she discusses the implications of this model for legislation regarding sexual assault; her views are critiqued by other authors, and Pineau offers a response to her critics.
Abstract
Pineau begins with a definition of date rape as nonconsensual sex that does not involve physical injury or the threat of physical injury. Thus she takes as her subject the kind of sexual encounter for which there is least agreement about the appropriateness of legal prohibition. She argues for the criminalization of nonconsensual sex among acquaintances by developing a model of communicative sexuality. She dispels the myths about female provocation and its significance and about male self-control; she replaces them with a model of communicative sexuality. Under this model, each person has a duty to respect the wishes of the other, which requires communication. Aggressive or coercive sex is a violation of communicative sexuality, in which one partner only acts toward the other in ways that comply with the other's wishes as understood through communication. According to Pineau the mental element for the crime of sexual assault is established when it can be shown that the sexuality was not communicative. If in addition there was an act of sexual aggression to which the woman did not consent, the crime of sexual assault has occurred. Sexual assault thus has two elements: nonconsensual sexual action without the communication needed to establish that the action was consensual. The three commentators on Pineau's views agree with her both about the problematic state of much current rape law and about the desirability of communicative sexuality. Where they disagree with her is, first, on the status of communicative sexuality as a model of desirable sex and, second, on the advisability of using communicative sexuality as a basis for legal reform. Appended material on the Antioch policy, a community experiment in communicative sexuality; a 43-item select bibliography; and a subject index