Camille Paglia - Rape and the Modern Sex War

Camille Paglia writes the article, Rape and the Modern Sex War, which is about young women being vulnerable in today's society against rape and how feminism has mistakenly led women to believe that they aren't in any danger. Paglia states her opinion to women because she believes "that women are vulnerable and should be aware of the pervasiveness of rape" (83) all the time. Rape has been around for hundreds of years and the effects it has on women are life long terrifying memories. Paglia speaks to women saying that they should be ready for these situations and not be with a group of guys alone, always be with other girlfriends, and learn to take feminism out of the picture and realize that women will always be in danger.

In Paglia's article, which I believe is a critical opinion informing women of her beliefs on sexuality, speaks mostly to college women and women in general because she believes that women should be prepared for sexual situations without consent in all circumstances no matter who they are. This is her first step in arguing her point of view on feminism, which I agree with. She wants her audience to see her point that a woman's actions can also be held accountable in some rape situations. When a woman is by herself with a group of men getting drunk, she has put her own self in a very risky situation because she is drunk and has no control of herself and the likeliness of rape is very possible. Paglia believes that a woman should always have control of her actions all

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the time and not to blame men for it is biologically programmed in their heads that they hunt, pursue, and capture, and this is said throughout their sex history (83-84).

The second part of Paglia's argument is how she thinks misinterpretations are the women's fault and I disagree with this point because women can walk and talk just as men and are not always to blame for being the victim. Paglia believes that feminism doesn't see that sexual desires can be seen in how we act which means that these desires throughout our body cannot always be verbally said and this is where the miscommunication between the two sexes causes a problem. She thinks that when a woman makes a mistake she should face the consequences and learn from her mistakes. Her assumptions toward the end of the article are swayed away from her main point stressed to women and I disagree with her point here because this isn't consistent to what she is trying to say. Running to a certain authority is not the definition of a strong woman, says Paglia referring to her Italian philosophy that existence brings about confrontation (84). She wants women to stand up for themselves and when a man makes a rude remark about a women's sexuality they should deal with it then and there. Paglia uses an example from the movie Where the Boys Are when talking about feminism because the movie takes place in 1960 and is about women anticipating and defending themselves against horny men. It's victim is lured into a room full of guys not seeing what is about to happen and says that actions are often not perceived correctly and this is where the different sexualities are noticed (84). This point can be argued because the media blows things out of proportion and this evidence isn't really evidence because it

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lacks reality and is an opinion of Paglia's.

Paglia's final assumption in her essay is geared toward both sexes and how we must prevent rape as a society. Men and women must come to certain identities, which are somewhat similar but are easily distinguished according to Paglia in my point of view. When a man has sex with a girl it is said that he is entering manhood. When a woman menstruates she is becoming

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