Violence and Male Domination

This particular excerpt of Mckinnon's work was compelling, and I feel that while there are many things I would argue against, I find myself agreeing with a lot of what she has to say. While I do not agree that all heterosexual sex is a display of domination, I think it is so important that it was pointed out how rape is usually viewed as violent sex, when in many cases the act of sex is the violence. Through films and other media, it is almost expected that a rape is violent, leaving the woman with large bruises and cuts. It is important to recognize that a gentle touch with the wrong intentions can be just a harmful, if not more so, as a fist. I don't think this is brought up enough in discussions on rape, so I was kind of excited when Mckinnon brought it up.

I also can't help but agree with many of the things Mckinnon says about the male (or the perpetrator's) point of view. I would not say a man is always thinking about raping a woman, but that men have become socialized to want to dominate each other as well as women in other ways. To be  the most impressive, the strongest, the funniest, to have the most attractive mate, the names of the competitions are endless. McKinnon's example of a man knowing he is less likely to be raped than to rape, and a woman knowing the opposite. I can clearly imagine the nightly commute home for countless women, in which she much walk past the unknown man and even as he walks farther away the woman still fears he could rape her. As long as this kind of mentality exists men will continue to dominate the sidewalks women walk on. 

Although Mckinnon creates large generalizations about the male population, the fear that I feel every night walking home down Whyte Ave is very real. I feel angry as well because my logical mind tells me that the man walking behind me is also probably just walking home, but I still reach into my pocket to put my keys between my knuckles, just in case. I get angry because in this way, I have been socialized into allowing strange men to dominate me every day.