"It Happened to Me: I Went On A Date With An MRA, And He Assaulted Me When I Wouldn't Have Sex With Him"

For those unfamiliar with the brand, visit their site. They are purveyors of what is (or was) known as the "bodice-ripper". "Fifty Shades of Grey" (which I like to think of as "Fifty Ways To Make Tween-Age Pedophilia Fantasies Appeal To Women") is a more nuanced and perverse form of it, as it masks the actual age of the lead female character but only just so much.

But the foregoing commentary on her entertaining prosaic style aside, I am fairly certain the entire essay penned by Miss Anonymous is cut from whole cloth. And in case anyone should wonder why, or care for my reasoning, here goes:

1. Typically, people who have been unexpectedly physically assaulted do not have moment-by-moment recall of what happened. In fact, it's so unusual that one way police are tipped that they may be getting fed a line is that the alleged victim seems to be too well-spoken about his or her brush with some kind of crime-of-person. The brain has a way of shutting down sensory recording in an effort to deal with the immediate perceived threat. This is why so many people who have been in car accidents, close combat situations, fistfights, been mugged, raped or otherwise assaulted can only describe the bigger-picture things about what happened to them. Details are lost in the commotion. This woman's writing includes a lot of detail and definitely a lot of adjectives that seem a bit too colorful and precise. It's like it's her first pass at a new type of Harlequin-esque non-romance novel for hetero-/bisexual feminist women who want to fuel their paranoia and aversion to men while at the same time giving themselves something to get off on while reading. ("Fifty Shades of Grey", but with misandry thrown in. Perfect!)

2. She prefaces her narrative by talking about the other terrible dating experiences she has had before. They sound pretty awful. Really, if I had had that many awful dating experiences, I would not have even gone on another date with anyone, at least no one who asked me out. I'd've quit at the red wine all over the white dress thing. Instead, I think if I wanted to go on dates after that, I'd take the Sadie Hawkins approach and pick what guy *I* wanted to go out with rather than continue to play Cinderella and wait for some guy to ask me out. You'd think a dedicated feminist would have no trouble doing that, esp. if she were fully down with such notions as equality and so on. (But maybe she would be afraid that the guy she asked out would expect her to pay for the movie instead of him. Can't have that now, can we?)

3. Her way of relating the details shows a far more fictive style than non-fictive. A critical portion of the narrative where her supposed assailant makes it clear what he expects is written like someone trying to copy the style of an entertaining humor magazine columnist. Women who are victims of attempted rape or other sexual assault don't put things as she did. From the article:

'"That’s it?" I felt a forceful grab on my arm as my body jerked backward. I tried to free myself from his grasp to no avail. "I drove two hours for you. My. Cock. Is. Hard. What are you going to do about it?" Heart race. Vision blur. Head pound. Run. As I again tried to pull away, he gripped tighter, leaving nail marks in my arm.'

"My. Cock. Is. Hard."? Seriously, you have to be kidding me, Ms. Anonymous!

And maybe the cincher, in case you needed one:

'He kept pleading that I wasn’t giving him a chance to prove himself. Really, he was misunderstood, he only thought I was hot and wanted to live in the moment. Why did I have to be so cold? Why couldn’t I live in the moment too? He begged to "experience me."'

"Prove himself"? "Begged"? Um, rapists don't beg to "experience" their victims, in the same way burglars don't beg the home owner to let them "experience" the house. They just bust in and take things, sometimes shooting or assaulting the people inside, sometimes getting that done to them. But they don't go begging or asking about "experiencing the house". And "prove himself"? That's right out of WST 101, talking about how "men feel they must prove their MANHOOD by forcing themselves on women as many times as they can! Arrrgggh!!!!"

OK, enough.

I have some advice for Ms. Anon: You may not know how to program a computer, design a rocket (or where even you'd start), have any idea how electricity works or even what it is, and may indeed have no concept at all of how anything around you does what it does or how it got that way: cars, computers, lights, smart phones, electrical grids, plumbing, construction, the clothes you wear, how your daily vittles get to you, and so on. And I doubt you much care, as is true for most people. But one thing you can do is write fiction. And not just any kind, but the kind of "rapey-erotic" misandrist feminist-inspired fiction that will sell like hotcakes to a niche market. You may not make the kind of money J.K. Rowling has (and still does) with her Harry Potter books and franchise, but you'll still do quite well. So I say, run with it. You'll be hugely successful among many of your female collegiate peers.

Can I get your millionth copy of "City Girl Down: Horror Stories of Dating and Violence At the Filthy Hands of Men's Rights Activists" autographed with a little "GFY" ("Go. Fuck. Yourself") and a heart drawn around it after your name? I promise, I'll cherish it forever!

"while others just want to bang and discard as many women as possible."

Gosh, I wonder how many men she has banged and discarded?

It's very telling how the modern woman looks at sexuality. If a woman has lots of sex while using the pill--which must be cheap, by the way--she calls it "responsible" sex. That makes her sound virtuous and responsible.

If a man has lots of sex, he is "banging" women and then "discarding" them? In what framework does the word "discard" make sense? Did she expect the man to marry her and make a lifelong commitment to her? This woman wants to enjoy the freedom of the sexual revolution while judging men by some long abandoned Victorian philosophy.

When woman does A, it's good. When man does A, it's bad.

She needs to go to the police now!

...if her story is true. (which I doubt).

The author either does not care about rape because she is letting a potential rapist go without even reporting the incident which could prevent a future rape and/or help convict him; or she is making the whole thing up.

...I'm going with she's making the whole thing up.