That lack of empathy is indeed a recurrent theme among sociopaths of all stripes, and that is one of the reasons I think you and I would agree rape has more in common with senseless violence in a mugging than it does with anything sexual.

I notice you are never in the list of checkboxes to copy at the bottom of a thread in which you are participating. Thought you either chose that (I don't have a PM so I don't know if that is an option) or perhaps it got screwed up when you changed your name tag.

I always use get messages and hardly ever notice the replies panel so I don't know if it's working for me or not.


>I caught your message by 'get new messages' at the top. It didn't show up under my replies in the left-hand pane though. Wonder why? That has happened periodically over the past couple of months.
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>Lack of empathy seems to be a recurrent trait among violent criminals.
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>>Testosterone is obviously linked to violence, and certainly comes in handy if the violence is necessary or channeled.
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>>But the key component in rape is a sociopathic failure of empathy. Like any selfish violent act, it requires seeing other people as objects. And here is exactly where it deviates from true sexuality which requires empathy, if the partner is not to be just an acquiescent sex toy.
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>>High sex drive can lead to some very bizarre or extreme behavior and can certainly lead to obsessive-compulsive behavior - but rape goes into a different category as it weds selfish violence to complete lack of empathy.
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>>Anyone with the capacity for empathy required for sexual communication would be incapable of the soul-dead selfishness required of the rapist. Rape is the act of one who does not see other people as real.
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>>>Personally, I think it is about control and subjugation, but I also think that for some it is about sex. For some, sex is a means of control. There have been studies which show that where internet sex is more available, rape incidents go down. I'm not sure how accurate that is, but if you are studying the causes of rape, it is interesting. There are many out there blaming the whole 'rape is a crime of violence and power not sex' on the feminist movement. I think all are true. It is about control and subjugation and about sex as a means to get it. I don't think it is primarily about sex though. It is just too easy to get sex out there and many rapists have other opportunities to get sex on a regular basis that does not involve rape. Many have what their spouses would consider normal sex lives at home.