Do female rapists in fiction get a pass more than male rapists?

[Anthony Shaw]

"How was Moondragon any different than Marcus Immortus?"

Moondragon & Marcus used mind control to "win" the affection of their victims.

In the original story, Phantom Rider employed his own mind-bending tactics to "win over" Mockingbird.

Moondragon previously "adjusted" Quicksilver's mind to make him more tolerable of his sister's marriage.

[Anthony Shaw]

Women rapist aren’t held to the same standards as male rapist in real life either. Look at some of those teacher sleeps with student situations you see in the news. Now imagine if the sexes were reversed. If it was a male teacher caught doing that to a female student, they would have thrown him in jail as fast as possible. Art reflects life, for some reason our society doesn’t see female rapist the same way we do male ones. Part of it has to do with fetishization, (the he probablty liked it excuse), but part of it is the perceived power dynamic between male and female in our society.

I agree. Any teacher who takes advantage of a student should do hard time. Gender should not matter.

[MyriVerse]

But nobody talks about it. Hell, some even say Scott had it coming(for what? Asking a very reasonable question for the universe he lives in?)

I do. Maddie was a horrible shrew before Scott did anything wrong to her. This is why Scott is clearly a broken man before he gets the phone call about Jean being alive.

[Powerboy]

There is a bit of a difference there (if I remember Agents of Shield correctly). As I remember, Lorelei made Ward love her, so I would have had sex with here willingly and enjoyed it. Only after Ward recovered would he have been traumatised by it. Killgrave controlled Jessica Jones, but her mind was intact. It would have felt like rape as it actually happened.

Still rape either way, but it was different.

If you look at what Kilgrave does, people seem to fluctuate between feeling it's what they want to do and feeling trapped inside themselves and unable to not do what he wants them to.

With Lorelei, it's the same thing. We see that most of her victims believe they are doing it because they love her. Yet Ward specifically states that he knows that he's doing it and feeling love for her because she's mind controlling him. It's even a specific plot point that it's someone else he loves and wants to be with.

I'd say the main difference is that "Jessica Jones" was a Netflix show where they got into the ugly realities while "Agents of Shield" is more mainstream and they just briefly and lightly touched on the realities. In fact, it may well be that they would never have done it on AoS had the perpetrator been male and the victims female.

Also, as others have said, looking at the actress that played Lorelei, there's more of a reaction of "Oh he was mind controlled but he wanted to have sex with her anyway" excuse.

[Gray Lensman]

I agree. Any teacher who takes advantage of a student should do hard time. Gender should not matter.

Part of the issue with female teachers is that the victim probably thinks he's the winner instead. There were a couple of teachers at my high school that were the subject of many male student fantasies, and I doubt many of them would have objected if those fantasies became a reality. Which should shine a light on how sexuality and gender is treated in society. Women are supposed to be pure and virginal to be desirable, but men are supposed to keep score by number of sexual partners. And those two things are incompatible.

[Kieran_Frost]

I don't know if (in this specific subject) there is a difference, but as a general rule female villains get "forgiven" (or turned into a reluctant ally) quicker and more often than male villains. Maybe there is a connector to the OP's thoughts?

On the topic... one example that always strikes me as glaringly noticeable is in A Midsummer Night's Dream. There is often talk of "the rape of Titania", people write papers on it (along with the 'rape' of Silvia)... and no-one ever seems to mention the rape of Demetrius. And that's literally in the same play; by the same method... the only difference is Titania is freed from the spell and (arguably) Demetrius isn't.

[ouroboros]

Two more:

In a Moench-Gulacy issue of MASTER OF KUNG FU, Fah Lo Suee uses mesmerizing drugs to make Clive Reston love her. In theory he's supposed to forget, but Moench has Reston kinda-sorta remember, though his resentment of her only comes up once or twice. Admittedly, though, Moench never portrays Fah Lo Suee as a particularly nice person, ever.

In a nineties issue of KA-ZAR (Jones and Anderson, I think), a villainess named Ramona coerces the jungle-man to have sex with her, threatening to have his captive lover Shanna executed if he holds back. Ramona does get killed, I believe, so she unlike Moon Dragon pays a penalty.

I think one of the Peter David HULKS implies that the Hulk is victimized by some female slaves working for an evil version of himself, but in that case the women are just pawns of a male controller.

[heretic]

No mention of the whole Tarantula mess in Nightwing?

[Carabas]

No mention of the whole Tarantula mess in Nightwing?

How the blazes did she get a pass?

[Michael Watkins]

Yeah, female rapists aren't held to the same standard in fiction or in real life. Same goes for domestic abuse. Like, how is this any different than Hank/Janet situation?



But nobody talks about it. Hell, some even say Scott had it coming(for what? Asking a very reasonable question for the universe he lives in?)

It's not different. Madeline Pryor is a villain. Same with Pym.

[Agent Z]

How the blazes did she get a pass?

According to the writer, "it wasn't rape, it was non consensual".

[Agent Z]

It's not different. Madeline Pryor is a villain. Same with Pym.

Maddie wasn't being written like a villain when this happened. Nor is her assaulting Scott ever brought up.

[dancj]

If you look at what Kilgrave does, people seem to fluctuate between feeling it's what they want to do and feeling trapped inside themselves and unable to not do what he wants them to.

I don't remember that, but I'll take your word for it.

With Lorelei, it's the same thing. We see that most of her victims believe they are doing it because they love her. Yet Ward specifically states that he knows that he's doing it and feeling love for her because she's mind controlling him. It's even a specific plot point that it's someone else he loves and wants to be with.

He could intellectually know that he's being mind controlled, but be made to not care - in which case, the distinction still stands.

[dancj]

According to the writer, "it wasn't rape, it was non consensual".

Seriously?? Mad!

[Mecegirl]

I'd say it is partly because it isn't explored by the writers. The incident happens and then the story moves on. We don't often get to see the character's trauma or the fall out. He just rolls with it as if it was "surprize sex" instead of rape.