Caution: Hot Topic Ahead
You know sometimes I am surprised (Correction: I USED to be surprised) at the amount of stories that contain horrific violence against women (usually Bella) wherein those stories are presented as romance. Am I the only one troubled by this? That raped, abused Bella comes to love and admire the same Edward who is raping and abusing her? I feel like we are doling a terrible disservice to the huge percentage of women for whom rape and abuse is shockingly real.
I know there are some who will defend such stories saying they're just fiction, that in a free society we are allowed to write and read what we want. BUt I wonder, do these stories have no reprecussions? Do you think that such a multitude of these kind of stories desensitize us to real violence against women? If a study was done, wherein a population was assigned to read stories like "A Voice In the Darkness by Katinki and another population was assigned stories like "En Pointe" which population do you think would be more inclined to help and assist victims of rape, human trafficking or domestic violence?
Now, I am a proponent of free speech. I don't want anyone limiting my right to read and write what I want. There are times when I'm in the mood for some graphic smut. But violence against women sets my teeth on edge, and I think those kind of stories don't belong on ffnet. Just because I have the right to read, write what I want does not give me the right to publish and distribute those stories in a schoolyard.
But that's a different issue. What is the motivation behind rape fantasies? I have trouble believing that authors that spend months doing a multi chap about a rape fantasy has been educated in the realities of human trafficking, and the aftermath of rape. Do you think stories about an abused and raped Bella coming to love her perpetrator are fair game in a fandom made up predominatly of women, of whom 1 in 4 is likely to be the victim of sexual assault sometime in her life? Do these stories help us help and understand each other? Or is it just fiction, having no RL connection at all?