Rape Culture - Do Kids Trivialize the Word "Rape" in Gaming?

[Lulz]

Immortal said:

Lulz said:
I find it strange that we place harsher meaning on words like rape than we do on murder or kill. I've never seen anyone ever, in the history of planet Earth complain that someone used the word kill or murder to describe a beat down in a sporting or gaming even. When you beat someone in football 55-0 you "killed" them, and that's ok, but if you say you "raped" them it's in poor taste? Since when did rape become a worse crime than murder?

Personally, I think it's because people are generally over-sensitive in regards to anything related toward violence that happens to women or children. For example, if I ask you to visualize one child being raped or killed you would say that's the most horrific thing imaginable. If I ask you to imagine a nuke being dropped on a major city you're almost desensitized to it. it doesn't bother you at all.

So what's worse? The genocide of a million people or the rape of a women or child?

I don't really have an answer one way or the other, I jut find it interesting to look at how we place more or less value on certain crimes and actions based on who we perceive these crimes or actions generally happen to.

Killing someone is, for all intents and purposes, a much smaller crime than rape. In general, excluding extremists, just about everyone agrees that there are justified reasons to kill human beings (self-defense, war, etc.). In general, excluding lunatics, just about no one thinks that there are justified reasons to commit rape (because there really aren't). That's just how it works. As such, killing is an accepted reality and a much smaller deal so belittling the crime is quite alright in comparison. Why do you think we have so many games (hell, even 7+ games) that involve killing people and just about none about rape?

And it really isn't over-sensitive to feel worse for women and children. A crime committed to a woman or a child is worse than a crime committed to an adult man. Since women and children are comparitively defenseless, harming them implies much more malice on the part of the criminal. Although it's a bit traditional to think this way, since a man is more physically able to defend himself, it's not as cruel to harm/kill him.

Your bomb example doesn't make sense either. I'm desensitized to nukes in general; even if we compare an explosion to the killing of a single man, the latter image is still worse. I forget who it was, but someone said something like the death of a man is a tragedy, the death of a million, a statistic. Explains this well. In any case, it's not particularly because people detest the image of a child being harmed, although they do dislike it more than that of an adult man being harmed.

I disagree. You're only looking at the word "kill" in it's least harsh meanings. Killing isn't just about an accident or self defense, in which cases, you're right, rape is worse. Killing also includes murder, though. Why do you think "rape" is worse than "murder"? Murder is final. Murder is the worst thing one person can do to another. Rape is horrible, but people are able to recover from rape. If someone held you at gunpoint and made you choose whether to watch another person get raped or murdered you would choose rape because it's less harsh when you think about it rationally. So why do you take offense if someone uses the word "rape" to describe a video game owning, but "murder" or "slaughter" is ok?

And not all women or men are equal. An athletic 25 year old women is better able to defend herself than a 75 year old man. In that case would you feel worse about a violent crime happening to the women? I doubt it. We see any crime that happens to any woman more terrible than the same crime that happens to any man. Is the murder of a 25 year old father of 2 children less vile than the rape of a 50 year old woman with no children? I would argue that it is not when I factor logic into the equation, but for some reason we still put more weight on the word rape.

I don't have the answers myself. I just find it fascinating to look at the way we, as a society, place incorrect values on terminolgy or words by throwing logic out the window and replacing it with emotion.