In January, the U.S. Federal Justice Department finally got something right. They expanded the definition of RAPE to  include men. It doesn’t seem like much, but it’s a pretty big deal. Since 1929 rape had been defined as “the carnal knowledge of a female, forcibly and against her will.”

The sad fact is that 1 in 6 males have been the victim of unwanted or abusive sexual experiences by the age of 18.

1 in 6 by age 18

That statistic fucking shocked me.

A good deal of what is working against men is the social stereotypes of masculinity. Boys don’t cry. Men don’t have feelings. Men aren’t soft. All these complex layers of bullshit surrounding men and can influence them.

Being a woman, I understand it is difficult to grasp what it means to be a man. But my experiences WITH men can tell me this… they don’t go to the fucking doctor. Take a majority of all my past boyfriends, and everyone of them put up a fight with me about seeing a doctor. Just for a checkup. I guess there are theories of mortality, fear of being touched, and probably ‘ignorance is bliss’ is mixed in there too.

So this example of a simple check up makes me think that a male victim of rape has the need and want, but maybe not the voice. My heart goes out to you so very much.

While researching this subject, I found a nonprofit this solely assists men. 1in6.org is an online community created to give men and boys a voice. To help them find answers and to offer them outr (Read more...)

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