Alcoff Extra Credit Response

Lillian Foy

Extra Credit Response

I was somewhat confused by Linda Alcoff’s discussion on grey rape and the significance of redefining it in that way, although after class I think I grasped the concept much better. Grey rape was essentially created to address the difference between verbal consent and actual desire. I think this is very important because socialization and peer pressure often subconsciously forces a “yes” when we genuinely do not want to behave that way. If a girl is interested in a guy but does not sleep with him after a few dates, society would define her as a prude. This carries the implicitly negative connotation of being stuck up and rigid, however, the woman may just want to know the man better or be in a monogamous relationship before intercourse. Society also teaches men that women like a chase, so they should keep asking even when they have already been told no because if they show enough interest or pursuit the woman will give in. Redefining rape in this way helps those who may not normally have a voice or know exactly how to express their feelings of violation or disrespect within the current social context, while also acting to take back some degree of power over the language and institutionalization of abuse.

I do think, however, that there is a problem in transitioning Alcoff’s theory over into practice. Regardless of whether or not the desire is present, under most laws not saying no means giving consent. Even under the new (arguably most advanced) California law, saying yes means giving consent. This is problematic when viewing rape through Alcoff’s definition because if a woman says yes but really means no, how could her partner be guilty of rape? How would that affect the ability to convict or the degree of guilt the defendant actually has? I think Alcoff’s definition would work if both people knew each other well enough to know when a yes was given halfheartedly, but given our current hook up culture of barely knowing sexual partners, this is rather unlikely in most cases. Also, I think there is already enough confusion and backlash against women who accuse men of rape because of those who falsely accuse men of rape or try to exhort things in exchange for silence. This idea of grey rape would only further complicate this aspect of the legality of rape. So while I think theoretically the benefits of grey rape far outweigh the consequences, I think there needs to be far more work done in incorporating the theory into our current legal framework.