Ah Aquaman, such an all-ages book right?

[Rakzo]

Ha ha ha... Arthur was just raped.

And is nothing to laugh about.

Seriously, as we learned in the last issue, Siren has been impersonating Mera all this time and now she had sex with Arthur while looking like Mera. That's rape, pure and simple.

The most terrifying thing about this is that the same happened in Lobo (another series written by Bunn, what a coincidence) to Lobo himself and the most problematic aspects of it were just ignored.

Is the same thing going to happen here? I sure as hell hope not.

[FishyZombie]

So I guess Arthur can join the rape survivors club for men and spend some quality time with batman, Nightwing, deadpool, Green Arrow and apparently Lobo.

[Tayswift]

I thought that writers would knew better that this is rape and this trope is overused. this happened to dick grayson on teen titans, another character pretending to be Starfire and it was played for laughs;

i already thought Siren as mera was a mexican soap opera thing, now there is this old trope.

this is the second time that Bunn write rape, on lobo it was brushed aside.

people told me he wrote a fearless defenders issue about misandry, oh joy

[kivatt]

Yeah, that's not rape. Not in the least bit. He wasn't force into have sex, he wasn't under any type of drug or had his mental state altered in anyway sort of way that would make him not think clearly. He just had sex with someone that he thought was his wife. He was the one who initiated sexual contact. What happened was far from rape.

[FiveGhosts]

I thought that writers would knew better that this is rape and this trope is overused. this happened to dick grayson on teen titans, another character pretending to be Starfire and it was played for laughs;

i already thought Siren as mera was a mexican soap opera thing, now there is this old trope.

this is the second time that Bunn write rape, on lobo it was brushed aside.

people told me he wrote a fearless defenders issue about misandry, oh joy

What's up with this guy? Maybe someone should start a topic on his forum...

[Agent Z]

Yeah, that's not rape. Not in the least bit. He wasn't force into have sex, he wasn't under any type of drug or had his mental state altered in anyway sort of way that would make him not think clearly. He just had sex with someone that he thought was his wife. He was the one who initiated sexual contact. What happened was far from rape.

Ever heard of rape by deception?

[Tayswift]

Yeah, that's not rape. Not in the least bit. He wasn't force into have sex, he wasn't under any type of drug or had his mental state altered in anyway sort of way that would make him not think clearly. He just had sex with someone that he thought was his wife. He was the one who initiated sexual contact. What happened was far from rape.

No, it is rape by deception. siren said and had the looks from someone that she isn't, arthur thought he was sleeping with mera but this was soemone else.

[cranger]

Ever heard of rape by deception?

No, and I suppose most people have not, as it is not a thing in anywhere but a couple jurisdictions.

[kivatt]

No, it is rape by deception. siren said and had the looks from someone that she isn't, arthur thought he was sleeping with mera but this was soemone else.

The hell is rape by deception. That just sounds very stupid

By definition rape is a forceful act, when one does not give consent, or is under the effects of anything that might impair their judgement

Just looked it up:
So then technically I'm a rapist, since I have spun a web of lies and bullsh*t at bars & parties in order to get some?

[Tayswift]

No, and I suppose most people have not, as it is not a thing in anywhere but a couple jurisdictions.

On UK it is a law, a lesbian went to jail because she pretented to be a men.

also many people had this same concern when the villain took thebody of peter parker

[Aliltron]

Sickening. That's what it is. It is rape. It was not informed consent. I can't believe DC would even allow this to be published.

[Grayson - The Dark Heir]

Dick was raped twice as far as I know (the only rapes of males in comics that I know of). Both times, it wasn't really dealt with. If Bunn also wrote Lobo being raped and ignored it, the same may happen here.

[K. Jones]

On UK it is a law, a lesbian went to jail because she pretented to be a men.

also many people had this same concern when the villain took thebody of peter parker

Or the time Ambassador Odan, the symbiotic creature, used Commander Riker's body to shag Doctor Crusher. Riker had volunteered for saving the life of the symbiotic ambassador, not having his body used sexually without his consent.

Anyway, sidenote for the Aquaman book, but the trope itself is rooted in some archetypally flawed male-centric fears, rooted in male weakness basically. Like the notion that dudes are so horned up for sex that we wouldn't say no even to someone - and here's where it gets pretty weak - to someone who is a far more than a liar, pretending to be something they're not, but somebody actually actively disguised attempting to "pull one over on us". Which is essentially the root of trans-phobia, but also extends into archetypal bullshit about the duplicity of women as well.

Anyway, what Aquaman was consenting to was sex with his wife/girlfriend, Mera. The sea witch (that hag! oh the concurrence of evil woman cliches, but then again, her name IS "Siren" so tropes are built in) pretending to be Mera was not Mera, and thus just raped Aquaman.

This in itself is not heinous or inappropriate to the story. What is important is that it be addressed within the story. For starters, Aquaman was not thrilled, and immediately responded to that violation with violent anger. Now he's lost in space, which could be a great place for metaphors as he reels from the realization and has to deal with the emotional fallout of having been raped. Meanwhile, it would be incredibly unwise when Mera finds out about this event for her to be depicted in any way with you know, dumb jealous girlfriend tropes. Her sister just raped her boyfriend. Admittedly, her "Evil Sister".

So, main points:

1. Aquaman was just raped.
2. It's not an instantaneously bad story because of it, provided there are real consequences. Note that this isn't a book with a lot of barmy inner monologue so we don't know every thought Aquaman is thinking just now and he hasn't had time for it to settle in. It's the next issue or two that'll determine whether this was a bad story decision or not.
3. Yes, it's pretty tired and cliched of a trope, and insanely commonly used in "shapeshifter" or "disguiser" villains, who are almost always women pretending to be somebody else, preying on men. Unless it's an instance of transphobia where it's men paranoid that other men are going to pretend to be women and that they're going to be so gullible that they dive right in. Either way it never seems to be men pretending to be other men to rape women.

[joybeans]

Or the time Ambassador Odan, the symbiotic creature, used Commander Riker's body to shag Doctor Crusher. Riker had volunteered for saving the life of the symbiotic ambassador, not having his body used sexually without his consent.

Anyway, sidenote for the Aquaman book, but the trope itself is rooted in some archetypally flawed male-centric fears, rooted in male weakness basically. Like the notion that dudes are so horned up for sex that we wouldn't say no even to someone - and here's where it gets pretty weak - to someone who is a far more than a liar, pretending to be something they're not, but somebody actually actively disguised attempting to "pull one over on us". Which is essentially the root of trans-phobia, but also extends into archetypal bullshit about the duplicity of women as well.

Anyway, what Aquaman was consenting to was sex with his wife/girlfriend, Mera. The sea witch (that hag! oh the concurrence of evil woman cliches, but then again, her name IS "Siren" so tropes are built in) pretending to be Mera was not Mera, and thus just raped Aquaman.

This in itself is not heinous or inappropriate to the story. What is important is that it be addressed within the story. For starters, Aquaman was not thrilled, and immediately responded to that violation with violent anger. Now he's lost in space, which could be a great place for metaphors as he reels from the realization and has to deal with the emotional fallout of having been raped. Meanwhile, it would be incredibly unwise when Mera finds out about this event for her to be depicted in any way with you know, dumb jealous girlfriend tropes. Her sister just raped her boyfriend. Admittedly, her "Evil Sister".

So, main points:

1. Aquaman was just raped.
2. It's not an instantaneously bad story because of it, provided there are real consequences. Note that this isn't a book with a lot of barmy inner monologue so we don't know every thought Aquaman is thinking just now and he hasn't had time for it to settle in. It's the next issue or two that'll determine whether this was a bad story decision or not.
3. Yes, it's pretty tired and cliched of a trope, and insanely commonly used in "shapeshifter" or "disguiser" villains, who are almost always women pretending to be somebody else, preying on men. Unless it's an instance of transphobia where it's men paranoid that other men are going to pretend to be women and that they're going to be so gullible that they dive right in. Either way it never seems to be men pretending to be other men to rape women.

Yeah, the creators are walking on ice here. If they treat it as infidelity instead of rape, then that would be very problematic.

[Trey Strain]

So if I sneak into some woman's dark room in the middle of the night and have sex with her, and she assumes that I'm her husband or her boyfriend, is that OK?

You guys know that this has actually happened, right? And that the men who have done it have been charged with rape?