Editor:

Despite my general belief in the right to freedom of expression, I've long held that there are some subjects about which certain people ought not to be allowed to speak. On the subject of date rape, George W. Bell is one such person. His ironical tone "...Perhaps I don't have a girlfriend right now because I've been too shy about raping any of the women to whom I'm attracted." is disturbing to say the least ("Date rape victim ought to 'take control' of her life," Oct. 24). But rather than do a line-by-line critique of his argument, I'd rather appeal to those men who are bothered by Bell's assertion that "right before a potential sexual encounter, many men are close to their most animal-like."

You are bothered by this analogy because it dehumanized you and the person with whom you've chosen to have sex. It reduces you to a mindless, unfeeling animal-machine, unable to control your body because you're ruled by an innate and unrestrainable biological urge to copulate. You respect women and view sexuality as an act of communication, not conquest. You are a sensitive human being who knows how to read and respond to pleasure, hesitance, resistance and fear. You've met, perhaps fallen in love with, women who've been raped. You're angry that such violence was done to them, and you're tired of being on the receiving end of women's rage. After all, you've done nothing wrong, right?

Don't let Bell and men like him get away with this crap anymore. I'll do my part to educate young women about their right to sexual pleasure and the need for clear boundaries, but I've grown tired of teaching men like Bell. So often they simply write me off, telling me to stop "whining and feeling sorry" for myself.

You're the silent majority, and it's time you started speaking out.

Julie Jung
Ph.D. candidate
rhetoric, composition, and the teaching of English

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