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* "Dark Nights 1" by D.A. Ignatius (rape) 10, 10, 10
* "Dark Nights 1" by D.A. Ignatius (often spelled DarkNites in the postings). When I downloaded Dark Nights 1 and 2, I assumed I was getting two parts of one story; and so, when Part 1 ended with the protagonists looking forward to "Round 2," I loaded the second story, expecting to see the second part. It turns out that these are two independent stories. This first story views either a date rape or a spouse rape through the eyes of the woman. The story, I think, is a realistic portrayal of a man overpowering a woman sexually. Since I don't believe such actions are ever justified, I would like to say that I found the story to be entirely repulsive, but that would not be true. Quite the contrary, as I read the story I had the feeling that I could understand the ambivalent feelings of the woman: hating the man who was forcing himself on her, feeling a physiological arousal that she simply could not control, and setting aside her aversion for the man in order to satisfy her temporary needs. I don't think this is a realistic portrayal of how ALL abused women feel while being attacked, but I think it realistically describes the feelings and perceptions of one victim. What I think is sad is that a large number of men will read this story and conclude that it's OK to force themselves on women, because "they'll eventually like it anyway." Many women and their allies who want to prevent rape would often prefer that stories like this never appear in print or anywhere else, because they put into the minds of men and women the idea expressed in the previous sentence. I bounced this story off a friend of mine who is a professional counselor. When she finished reading it, she said it was a disturbing story. I told her I didn't care; I wanted to know if it was realistic. She said yes, that many abused women feel this way. I asked her if reading this story could help me better understand a mutual friend who had recently moved into a shelter for abused women for the third time. She said yes - but she added that the story left a lot unstated (and the author of the story admits this). Clearly there were words and actions that preceded the rape scene; and even though these actions never legally or morally justify rape, they would help us understand the story or our friend more fully. My friend agreed that this was a good story. Ratings for "Dark Nights 1 Athena (technical quality): 10 Venus (plot & character): 10 Celeste (appeal to reviewer): 10 GRAMMAR NOTE: BLONDES. "Blond" (without an e) is the correct spelling of this word, except when it refers to a female person with blond hair. In that case, the correct spelling is "blonde." In recent years it has become acceptable (but not mandatory) to refer to parts of the blonde's body with the adjective "blonde" - as in "blonde hair" for the head or pussy of a blonde. - |