I understand the point of the article, that many rapists were previously seen as upstanding members of the community. However, lets not go too far and completely disregard issues of character. The more we heard about Dianne Brimble's alledged attackers, the easier it was to think that they were guilty.

Men who have a track record of good behaviour have a right to expect others will give that record a little weight before passing judgement.

Got thinking about the destructive (ab)norms of male behaviour.

If you are male, you more likely to be murdered, wind up with an acquired brain injury (I dont think they collect data on that) from being assaulted.

Much more likely to commit successful suicide than females.

I dont think the above is anything to with the norm, but sadly it happens much to regularly.

Such destructive behaviour I think is a symptom of something that is not going right in out society. I know feminists have the easy answer that is the 'male culture' but to really get to the bottom, means peeling off all the layers of society and putting it all under the microscope, not just the easily identifiable behaviours, attitudes, beliefs.

It can get really uncomfortable when the facades are stripped away, but then some groups would not really want it all laid bare, otherwise they just might have to look in the mirror.

James H
I don't think men are abnormal.

This taxpayer funded university feminist author wants everyone to be suspicious of men.

I wonder if this taxpayer funded university feminist also wants everyone to be suspicious of taxpayer funded university feminists.

Probably not.

Katie Rophie, wrote "the morning after" 1993

<feminism had always meant freedom — but as an undergraduate at Harvard and a graduate at Princeton, she was shocked to discover that the same movement that had once promised women a voice was now being used to tell them what they ought to say and think and feel.>

Looks nothing has changed.

I think it was Katie who pointed out how feminist researchers, when asking women if they ever had sex when they didn't want too, or had sex after a man had given them alcohol or drugs, classified these respondents as to have been raped.

I have a number of female friends who also wound up have sex with another female after they were given alcohol. But this is never ever discussed. Another gay female I know told me about how they use to target straight women.

Sexual assault by another female is rarely discussed, much less researched.

There are many things in my life that I don't want to do and given a choice I would not do them, but for various reasons, I do, do them. I do acquiesce to keep the peace.

JamesH I partly agree with the Katie Rophie quote you referred to above, although feminism is a broad church and I suspect much of the time it is the extremes (like with any movement) that are held up as the norm rather than the exception.

While some feminists may dicate to other women about what 'they should think and do' most normal women going about their business make decisions completely at odds with those feminists. As a woman who wanted to stay at home to raise my kids I did experience some negative reaction but it was minimal and when it comes down to it we are not here to please other people but to do what is best for our own situations.

The problems you raised about suicide and depression is more about other social changes that come down to an emphasis on the 'I' rather than the 'us' and an unhealthy obsession with material wealth over other aspects of human life or wellbeing.

There is of course much more to write on this topic alone, but feminism is not to blame for the economic characteristics that have arisen out of corporatisation or our obsession with growth. One might argue that feminism was an unwitting or unconscious (coincidental even) ally in aiding and abeting this economic fervour but it was not responsible nor was that its purpose.

Pelican,

Would the author be an extremist?

I don't think she has ever written a positive word about men, and continuously tries to portay men as being a danger to women, as this article highlights.