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Don’t you hate it when

Jill

You get raped, but it’s not, like, legitimate rape, and so your amazing kinda-witchy female body doesn’t automatically prevent pregnancy and then you’re like, “Oh shit I’m pregnant, I guess that rape wasn’t real, well at least there’s one upside to this whole situation”? Yeah I hate that too. Thankfully, Rep. Todd Akin, who is running for a U.S. Senate in Missouri, knows doctors, and explains that abortion rights in the case of “legitimate” rape aren’t an issue:

Rep. Todd Akin, the Republican nominee for Senate in Missouri who is running against Sen. Claire McCaskill, justified his opposition to abortion rights even in case of rape with a claim that victims of “legitimate rape” have unnamed biological defenses that prevent pregnancy.

“First of all, from what I understand from doctors [pregnancy from rape] is really rare,” Akin told KTVI-TV in an interview posted Sunday. “If it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down.”

Akin said that even in the worst-case scenario — when the supposed natural protections against unwanted pregnancy fail — abortion should still not be a legal option for the rape victim.

“Let’s assume that maybe that didn’t work, or something,” Akin said. “I think there should be some punishment, but the punishment ought to be on the rapist and not attacking the child.”

Science! Or something.

(Sidenote, in all seriousness: It is 2012 and these appear to be the legitimate beliefs of someone who is running for elected office. Who is the Republican party nominee, and not some rando jackass running on the “I Love Babies And Fear Aliens” party ticket. We have put a man on the moon, and yet this is where we are as a society. Marinate on that one.)

96 thoughts on Don’t you hate it when

  2. No, no, no, that’s all wrong! It’s well known that women evolved to enjoy rape as a means to avoid being hurt! Because SCIENCE.

    On a serious note, this almost made me sick. Ugh.

  3. To think that this man is actually LEADING the polls in Missouri. Who would actually TRUST this dummy to represent them in the senate?

  4. Oh Holy Frack! Pardon the language but arglebargle just doesn’t cover it.

    If it were men getting pregnant by rape, abortion would be a frigging sacrament. At the very least, they pay a little more ATTENTION to their health classes and have a better idea of how pregnancy happens. Does he think the Stork refuses to stop by because a woman was sullied?

    So now, not only was a woman asking for rape, but she’s also asking for the “blessing” of an unwanted child by rapist, because she must have interfered somehow with her bodys natural defense system amiright?

    Jesus, just about every time I hear about politics in the US, I’m profoundly glad I live in Canada. They can pry my frozen corpse out of an entirely glaciated Canada before I consent to set foot over there.

  5. Well, it’s like back in Ancient Greece when they thought it was necessary for a woman to have an orgasm in order to conceive. So if you conceive, that proves that he didn’t rape you. See how neatly that works?

  6. Well this is all I have left: WHARRGARBL

    Jesus, just about every time I hear about politics in the US, I’m profoundly glad I live in Canada. They can pry my frozen corpse out of an entirely glaciated Canada before I consent to set foot over there.

    Don’t forget that in Canada we have an elected MP (who has held his position since 1997) who believes that abortion is like bullying foetuses.

  7. What’s that? Anti-abortion positions not horrifying enough for you? Well how ’bout we combine it with some “she wasn’t really raped?”

    Jesus Christ. It’s like a Reese’s peaunut butter cup of misogyny.

  8. EG, thanks for making an already horrifying scenario worse. That line of thinking! There’s not enough brainbleach in the universe at the moment.

    Stephen Woodworth, Kitchener MP should be receiving numerous knitted pink uteruses after trying to reopen the abortion debate here. He started out with the “it isn’t about abortion, somethIng else” horsepuckey and was finally forced to admit that his “let’s reconsider when human life begins” was in fact about abortion. Harper deep sixed him and the party whip made it clear to conservatives they don’t want the issue reopened. So, as per law, he has one more hour to plead his case (and finish commiting political sucide) and hopefully we never hear from him again.

    I’m sorry, our politicians aren’t allowed to play with your politicians any more, your conservatives are a bad influence.

  10. He’s already issued an ‘apology’ which may actually be even worse than the original remarks:

    “In reviewing my off-the-cuff remarks, it’s clear that I misspoke in this interview and it does not reflect the deep empathy I hold for the thousands of women who are raped and abused every year,”

    ‘Thousands’ raped and abused? Thousands? How about hundreds of thousands raped and who the f knows how many abused? What’s scary is that McCaskill only won by 2% last election. Hopefully this kind of thing will put people off.

  11. Charming…Legislators showing that they have no idea how the human body works and are willing to regulate based on their complete ignorance.

  12. On behalf of the entire state of Missouri, I’m just gonna go ahead and pre-emptively apologize for the fact that we’re (the collective “we”, not me, personally) are probably going to be foisting this shitbag on the rest of the country by elevating him to the U.S. Senate in November. He’s been holding steady ahead of McCaskill by 5+ points for awhile, and as the Obama campaign has more or less given up on trying to win Missouri, this assclown is probably going to win.

    We’re sorry.

  13. I wish assholes would stop abusing the language in their attempts to weasel their way out of consequences for their assholery. He did not “misspeak.” He just got caught.

  14. Steve, I have no doubts that he doesn’t consider most rapes legitimate. That was his qualifier in his first set of statements.

    And dear MO folks,

    I was in Missouri for grad school. I voted the year that nearly half of the state voted in FAVOR of puppy mills.

    Sorry about your new senator. Run like fuck, is my advice to you.

  15. Yup. The body has ways to “try to shut the whole thing down.” Those ways are morning after pills and abortions.

  16. Its like ppl just vote to f*ck somone else over. They do not vote the best candidate for themselves, they had a bad day and vote in somebody who opposes gay marriage just to annoy the gays, although they dont have strong feelings about that either way. Or vote in somebody who opposes abortion, because she took all your stuff in divorce and you have to get back at her somehow.

  17. I love how he can only vaguely say that the female body has “ways of shutting it down”. You just know he doesn’t know specifics, because the female body is icky and stuff and who wants to know how it works anyways?

    Sweet cracker sandwiches, how does this man walk upright?

  18. Sorry about your new senator. Run like fuck, is my advice to you.

    I wish that this was just a problem for Missouri, but unfortunately the Senate is a federal body. This guy is running to make laws for all USians. And according to the latest Survey USA poll he is leading 51-40. Gaffe or no, that is a big gap to close. The only thing worse than a GOP nominee making such comments is the same candidate winning the election afterwards.

  19. Err… no, Steve, he didn’t apologise. He didn’t even pretend to apologise, the way Limbaugh tried weaseling out of his attacks on Fluke. He claimed he “misspoke” and “those who want to distract” from the “important issues” are the ones making a big deal out of his violent beliefs toward women. Clearly Akin didn’t learn a lesson from Governor Nikki “rape is a distraction” Haley.

  20. And according to the latest Survey USA poll he is leading 51-40. Gaffe or no, that is a big gap to close.

    Well, some conservative writers (including one at National Review, which is a major publication in the conservative movement) have suggested that he step down. Nate Silver also suggests that the gaffe could be big enough to throw the election to McCaskill.

  22. Right, I didn’t mean to paint the situation as hopeless, I just don’t want to see complacency- it see a lot of it coming from our side this year.

  23. I know the focus is on the “legitimate rape” part, but let’s not overlook that he refers to women’s reproductive capacity as “that whole thing.” I wonder if that’s how the doctors to whom he allegedly spoke referred to it, too.

  24. I’m sure it’s been said before, but this reminds me of when representatives try to legislate the internet, despite their painful ignorance on the matter. Of course, that affects men and is therefore much more important.
    Women are not just a series of tubes.

  25. It is really depressing as MO resident. McCaskill is no liberal warrior. Generally, she’s okay but she voted in favor of the “Protect Prayer” amendment in the August primary (passed with 80% support). The amendment to the MO constitution reaffirms freedom of speech and religion but also possibly strips prisoners of some of their religious freedoms and gives students right to opt of assignments that violate their religious beliefs.

    The Anti-Defamation League representative pointed out that means that students could exempt themselves from questions about the theory of evolution on a biology exam. The member of Assembly who sponsored it said no, no, no but it would allow a student who was working on a degree of social work having to have a “homosexual encounter” as part of their training (you know, because the social work code of ethics requires you to have homosexual sex in order to work with LGBT clients). The fair ballot language didn’t allude to all of controversial parts… but she voted for it because it “sounded like a good thing” and she can’t afford to be painted as “anti-religious” this year.

  26. Initially, I was pretty sure Feministe has been fooled again by another “The Onion” style fake news site. Then I checked the link and…. O_o

    Oy.

  27. When was the last time Feministe was fooled by “The Onion”? If it’s been fooled even once in its 9-year history, it still doesn’t compare to the number of Republicans who fell that $8 US billion Abortionplex in Kansas.

  28. We’re in a time machine going backwards, way the fuck backwards, like past the old testament backwards. Perhaps someone should quote the story of Dinah in the Bible to this guy where said impossible pregnancy did occur. So if primitive shepherds with near zero technology could understand this could occur (cause they witnessed it), I’m not sure where he’s getting his basic biology from.

  29. @EG

    So if you conceive, that proves that he didn’t rape you. See how neatly that works?

    That some people actually still believe shit like that today is quite distressing for me. I think that the existence of rape culture is sufficient evidence that society isn’t even close to being peaceful. I suppose that sounds like an extreme statement, but I don’t think it’s too off-base when I consider the reality of rape victims.

    I wish assholes would stop abusing the language in their attempts to weasel their way out of consequences for their assholery. He did not “misspeak.” He just got caught.

    The same thing happened with the whole “oh-god-don’t-say-vagina” incident a while back: the person who was offended by the word “vagina” tried to cover it up. And just like the person who found the word “vagina” offensive, this person is full of shit as well. I mean, look:

    “In reviewing my off-the-cuff remarks, it’s clear that I misspoke in this interview and it does not reflect the deep empathy I hold for the thousands of women who are raped and abused every year,”

    That just screams insincere shithead to me. I’m just speaking for myself, though.

  31. “I wish that this was just a problem for Missouri, but unfortunately the Senate is a federal body.”

    True enough. However, Missouri is a hotbed of all sorts of craziness. My family is from Missouri though the bright ones got out by WWII and the not so bright ones (my branch) left by 1950.

    It’s such a beautiful state — as is Arkansas — but the rule applies: The prettier the scenery the uglier the politicians.

  32. “In reviewing my off-the-cuff remarks, it’s clear that I misspoke in this interview and it does not reflect the deep empathy I hold for the thousands of women who are raped and abused every year,”

    That just screams insincere shithead to me. I’m just speaking for myself, though.

    I also note that he did not actually retract any specific point or admit that he was wrong on the facts.

    How is it possible for idiots like this to be elected? It is almost enough to make me despair about democracy.

  33. Clearly, no one has ever taken a course in Advanced Mystic Anatomy before. If you had, you’d remember the Magical Fallopian Fairies that vigilantly patrol the Tubes, eradicating any trace of rapist semen.

    The political back-peddling is just salt in an open wound. It reads like this: “I’m sorry ya’ll are so upset about what I said. I have loads of sympathy for all ya’ll that got ‘raped.’ I meant what I said, I’m just sorry you didn’t like it. By the way, economy!”

    Profoundly disturbing.

  34. WTF???

    I wish this dude and his doctors would share the physiological mechanism by which the female body can shut down pregnancies.

    I’m sure scientists and doctors and so on and so forth could find a way to make this miraculous piece of magic work even in non-rapey contexts.

    And it would be free!! And women would then be able to avoid pregnancy!! And there would be no need for abortion, ever!!

  37. How is it possible for idiots like this to be elected?

    It’s possible because we reside in a country that allowed George W. Bush to serve two terms as President.

    With an electorate that’s that confused, anything is possible.

  38. Sorry in advance for derailing with Canadian stuff, but I have to comment on this:

    Stephen Woodworth, Kitchener MP should be receiving numerous knitted pink uteruses after trying to reopen the abortion debate here. He started out with the “it isn’t about abortion, somethIng else” horsepuckey and was finally forced to admit that his “let’s reconsider when human life begins” was in fact about abortion. Harper deep sixed him and the party whip made it clear to conservatives they don’t want the issue reopened. So, as per law, he has one more hour to plead his case (and finish commiting political sucide) and hopefully we never hear from him again.

    I have no doubt in my mind that Woodworth has the full support of Harper and may even be acting on the direction of Harper. Woodworth’s not some rogue MP, he’s playing his part. This is how it works, in increments (see Overton window). Canada’s not “better” than the US. We’re just at an earlier stage of the process. There will certainly be many more back door attempts to recriminalize abortion, with Harper pretending he’s not behind it all, and unless we can figure out a way to reverse trajectory, we will also be talking about whether to ban contraceptives in a few short years.

  39. Err… no, Steve, he didn’t apologise.

    I said

    He’s already issued an ‘apology’ which may actually be even worse than the original remarks:

    Issuing an ‘apology’ (in inverted commas,) is not the same as apologizing.

  40. Why are we using the disingenuous term “gaffe?” It’s what he thinks; it’s not like he accidentally said a damn thing. Let’s not validate his “I misspoke” defense by using the word gaffe.

  41. ““Let’s assume that maybe that didn’t work, or something,” Akin said. “I think there should be some punishment, but the punishment ought to be on the rapist and not attacking the child.””

    This seems to suggest that rapist should only be punished (or be punished more if I’m reading it generously to Akin) if they impregnate their victim.

  42. but the rule applies: The prettier the scenery the uglier the politicians.

    Apparently Indiana gets to be the exception to this truism. Not much in the way of pretty scenery and some of the ugliest and stupidest politians in our nation…

    (Says a former Hoosier.)

  44. What IS it with the Republicans in the USA? Why are they so bat-shit crazy and why do so many people vote for them? Why are they so obsessed with pushing medieval views about rape, abortion, civil liberties, gays, ad nauseam?
    Honestly, please someone explain to this mystified Brit. Christ, I know some of our lot aren’t exactly progressive but even our worst politicos make your lot look like knuckle-draggers.

  45. The member of Assembly who sponsored it said no, no, no but it would allow a student who was working on a degree of social work having to have a “homosexual encounter” as part of their training (you know, because the social work code of ethics requires you to have homosexual sex in order to work with LGBT clients).

    To be fair, a lot of graduate programs in psychology do require some kind of immersion/encounter experience as part of their social psychology block. The school I attended was way ahead of the APA curve when it came to diversity education and the big final project for the graduate-level intro social psych class was an immersion project which required that you go to a cultural event for a community with which you had had little experience and about which you were uncomfortable that was specifically scheduled around time time of the Pride parade. The idea is that its really tough to work with a diverse population if you never, you know, experience diversity. I think its absolutely ridiculous that a state would pass a law allowing people to opt out of those kinds of projects because they’re absolutely vital to some kinds of training, but thats probably what he was referring to.

    /derail

  46. I am a man but this made me sick up and down. Those of us outside of Missouri can only lie and hope that the cores of St. Louis and Kansas City turn out their votes to keep this demon away from the halls of power.

  47. Please remember to avoid ableist language. Todd Akin has (as far as we know) nothing to do with “crazy” and everything to do with “ignorant,” “stupid,” “ridiculous,” “asinine,” “toxic,” “reprehensible,” and “dangerous,” just to name a few.

  48. Pingback: “Legitimate” Rape Does Cause Pregnancy | Brute Reason

  51. As far as Todd Akin being a “legitimate Republican candidate”, what I have heard is that he was the least favored, likely to win nominee for the Republican spot, but that the Democrats deliberately ran campaign adds during the primary season, spotlighting his more mainstream, acceptable conservative positions and questioning whether he was “too conservative” over these commonly accepted positions, in an attempt to get the most extremist, easily defeated candidate into the spot. And I have to say it seems pretty believable, giving that the add was very soft and non-threatening, and I didn’t even realize that it was from the opposing party… and of course, now that he IS the candidate, the ads are dragging up his more batshit positions and statements. If it’s true it was a positively brilliant move on the Democrat’s part, given that even for this state there is little chance he could stand up against anything the opposing side fields, given his track record and statements like these he makes… and like others have said, McCaskill is positively loathsome and given a choice between her or a moderate Republican she’d be out given the current political climate.

    Todd Akin seriously needs some sex-ed… plenty of Republicans get away with not supporting abortion in cases of rape without having to resort to excuses that everyone knows are about as factual as the idea that doing jumping jacks after sex can prevent pregnancy…

  52. If Todd Akin were actually *crazy* he wouldn’t be a problem. Because when people tell me that they were really, truly dragons on Jupiter in a past life, or walk up and down the Penn campus in Philadelphia in their underpants yelling “Heil Hitler!”, or tell me that their eyeglasses are making them stupid and they don’t have to take medication, all they have to do is stop wearing these stupid-making eyeglasses that make them slur their speech and say delusional things… not only do I know that these people are mentally ill, but everyone in their families knows it, everyone who knows them personally knows it, they themselves probably know it (at least in some cases, like my cousin whose eyeglasses were apparently responsible for his schizophrenic episode), and no one takes what they say seriously, or tries to vote on laws on the basis of the things they tell me.

    And when *I’m* crazy and I forget that there are any good reasons I want to stay alive and I lose any conscious understanding of the concept of “love”, I still know how reality functions… it’s my emotions about reality that make no sense.

    Todd Akin is saying something idiotic that he, and other people, actually believe is reasonable. He is totally sane. He’s just a misogynist who has chosen to know nothing whatsoever about female biology, who has no empathy whatsoever for women who are raped, and who doesn’t comprehend in any sense what a grueling ordeal pregnancy can be. His beliefs are quite sane, just totally stupid and damn close to downright evil.

    I will take my acquaintance who was a dragon on Jupiter in a past life over Todd Akin any day. I bet that past life dragon or not, she at least comprehends that there is nothing magical about the bodies of human women on Earth that can help protect them from being impregnated by rapists. I also bet that dragons on Jupiter do not have to deal with this kind of shit.

  53. Why are we using the disingenuous term “gaffe?” It’s what he thinks; it’s not like he accidentally said a damn thing. Let’s not validate his “I misspoke” defense by using the word gaffe.

    I think of it as a Kinsley gaffe: “when a politician tells the truth – some obvious truth he isn’t supposed to say.”

    In this case, the truth is that Akin has no idea how reproductive biology works, but he’s happy to make laws on the topic anyway. His disdain for women and rape victims could not be clearer.

  54. “If it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down.”

    One of them is called the morning-after pill. AND THIS %&^$$&^$ IS AGAINST IT!

  55. You’re right, Steve, I should have taken that into account. This year’s crop of U.S. politicians has caused my to stop mincing words and dispense with sarcasm in favour of calling it like it is — meaning that even putting “gaffe” in quotations is too much to swallow this week. My only question is: Will U.S. voters realise Akin is no fluke and that GOP extremists have believed this stuff as far back as 1980?

  57. … an immersion project which required that you go to a cultural event for a community with which you had had little experience and about which you were uncomfortable that was specifically scheduled around time time of the Pride parade.

    @William, when that legislator said “homosexual encounter,” I don’t think he was talking about going to a Pride Week party. He believed, or meant to imply and wanted others to believe, that it meant “eww buttsecks.” These clowns have gone so far as to say that sex education in the schools will actually mean that the kids are taught and actually shown how to have sex.

  58. This makes me so f*cking angry. I was told this same insulting, dangerous lie in Catholic middle school (circa 1993).

  59. I think I understand the problem; he has mistaken human women for ducks. We’re not ducks! Rape is not a normal part of the reproductive cycle!

  60. @William, I absolutely agree cultural experience in a community with which you may work is a valuable part of social work, psychiatry/psychology, nursing, medicine, teaching, etc. However, I know I am not the only one who understood “homosexual encounter” as sex as opposed to some how interacting with said community on a social level. First, my husband and I looked immediately had the same reaction with was “WTF?!?” and second, the interview (it was a radio interview) immediately shut it down and said “that was an extreme example” (understatement but I am willing to give her the benefit of the doubt — she was taken off guard) and you could hear the ADL rep sputtering in the background. Unfortunately, it was at the very end of the interview and there was no opportunity for follow-up to get clarification as to what he meant by “encounter” though I think that “homosexual encounter” is pretty standard shorthand for “gay sex.”

  61. Another day. Another completely-missing-the-point ‘apology.’

    From the Mike Huckabee radio show: (via the Guardian, I don’t listen to that rubbish.)

    “I’ve really made a couple of serious mistakes here which were just wrong, and I need to apologise for those. There is no such thing as legitimate rape. It’s an evil act and it’s committed by violent predators.” He added: “I’ve even known some women who have been raped and I know that it’s a terrible, terrible thing.”

    Uh hello? There is such a thing as legitimate rape: it’s called RAPE.

    Can someone explain to this guy that his massive fuck-up was to claim that a woman who has been raped cannot get get pregnant and therefore imply that a woman getting pregnant proves she has not been raped by the biological father of the baby? I mean that is what he said, right?

  62. @Bagelsan: OMG! Is that an actual Thing in normal duck reproduction? I ask because of a scene I saw in a park years ago with a big flock of ducks that was really horrible and that has stayed with me.

  63. This makes me so f*cking angry. I was told this same insulting, dangerous lie in Catholic middle school (circa 1993).

    Same here, almost a decade earlier. In Missouri, no less.

  64. Is that an actual Thing in normal duck reproduction?

    There are some species of ducks where the females have very long and twisty reproductive tracts to prevent unwanted males from fertilizing eggs. (The males have long and twisty penises as a result).

  66. Akin has a buddy in the late Henry Aldridge, who, as a representative for North Carolina, told the House Appropriations Committee that women who were raped don’t get pregnant because their “juices don’t flow” during rape.

    “The facts show that people who are raped — who are truly raped — the juices don’t flow, the body functions don’t work and they don’t get pregnant,” said Aldridge, a 71-year-old periodontist. “Medical authorities agree that this is a rarity, if ever.”

    Juices. At least Akin didn’t say “juices.”

  67. “Canada’s not “better” than the US.”

    1. Universal medical care
    2. Legal abortion
    3. Marriage equality
    4. UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights (never signed by U.S.)
    5. Charter of Rights and Freedoms

    Not to say that Canada is some sort of a workers’ paradise but until the US has at least the first 4, Canada is definitely better.

  68. “Aldridge, a 71-year-old periodontist”

    Years of slicing up gums have taught him all there is to know about female physiognomy.

  70. @William, when that legislator said “homosexual encounter,” I don’t think he was talking about going to a Pride Week party. He believed, or meant to imply and wanted others to believe, that it meant “eww buttsecks.” These clowns have gone so far as to say that sex education in the schools will actually mean that the kids are taught and actually shown how to have sex.

    Thats kind of the core of whats going on here in general, though, isn’t it? There are two ways of interpreting these kinds of statements: either the legislator heard about an immersion project (which I have heard described as a gay/black/fundamentalist/latin@ encounter) and radically misunderstood what was being described to him because he is both too ignorant to be able to interpret what was being communicated and too lazy to educate himself, or he knew exactly what he was talking about and chose to misrepresent it to make a point. Pointing out those options, and being able to intelligently respond to what he’s misunderstood/represented, allows us to challenge others. Maybe he’s a lost cause, but the other people hearing his statements might not be.

    I remember when I did my immersion project one of the women in my class came from a conservative evangelical background and ended up walking in on two dudes fucking in a bathroom during pride. It would be really easy for someone to misunderstood why she was in that situation or misrepresent the reality of what happened. I know she felt like she shouldn’t have been forced to do a project that ended in her seeing that. Having all the data helps to challenge that.

    Conception being impossible as a result of rape is a pretty transparently ridiculous position to take, but there are both people who are dishonest enough to make that arguent and people who are ignorant enough. Its easy to confront and debunk a claim like Akin’s, but they’re far from alone and some bullshit passes the sniff test a bit better. That was my point.

  71. Akin has a buddy in the late Henry Aldridge, who, as a representative for North Carolina, told the House Appropriations Committee that women who were raped don’t get pregnant because their “juices don’t flow” during rape.

    Omg, the unending fail. For the record, the “juices” (which also don’t have a clear or widely-accepted relationship to conception and neither does orgasm for that matter) may very well “flow” and it doesn’t make it less rape. Physiological arousal /= consent, desire, or enjoyment.

  72. I’m just incredibly amused (read: bemused) by the idea that, since time immemorial, sex that results in pregnancy has been soft and caring and involved, I guess, candles and music and a nice massage beforehand. If no cases of coerced sex or sex without consent ever resulted in pregnancy, there would be a hell of a lot fewer people walking around.

  73. Akin has a buddy in the late Henry Aldridge, who, as a representative for North Carolina, told the House Appropriations Committee that women who were raped don’t get pregnant because their “juices don’t flow” during rape.

    So I guess those of us who are just naturally “juicy” (gagging at that term), not even necessarily due to arousal, are just “asking for it” all the time, since we’re so damn “juicy.” We’re just Walking Sex, not actual people– impossible to rape, totally possible to impregnate.

    I feel like if Akin or Aldridge were walking behind me in a dark alley I would already have my finger on the button of my pepperspray. Just in case.

  74. So I guess those of us who are just naturally “juicy” (gagging at that term), not even necessarily due to arousal, are just “asking for it” all the time, since we’re so damn “juicy.” We’re just Walking Sex, not actual people– impossible to rape, totally possible to impregnate.

    And I guess women who use lube or the like are safe!!!1one from unintended pregnancy! Wow, I’mma stop using condoms now, ’cause I’m un-impregnable!

  75. There is no such thing as legitimate rape. It’s an evil act and it’s committed by violent predators.

    Uh hello? There is such a thing as legitimate rape: it’s called RAPE.

    On a slightly optimistic note, perhaps he meant that there is no such thing as legitimate and non-legitimate rate, and was essentially saying that rape is rape is rape, and just ended up phrasing it in a really horrible manner. Maybe. Hopefully?

  76. perhaps he meant that there is no such thing as legitimate and non-legitimate rate, and was essentially saying that rape is rape is rape, and just ended up phrasing it in a really horrible manner.

    I usually like to think the best of people, but I don’t think I can give him that much credit. I think we all know he was referring to “stranger hoping out of the bushes and attacking random lady walking her dog,” rather than “frat boy ‘taking advantage’ of drunken sorority girl,” or “husband pestering, pressuring, blackmailing wife into ‘consenting’ after she’s already said ‘no’ a hundred times that night.”
    Stranger rape, kicking screaming clawing in defense victim, is probably the only “legitimate” rape in Akin’s mind.

  77. perhaps he meant that there is no such thing as legitimate and non-legitimate rate, and was essentially saying that rape is rape is rape, and just ended up phrasing it in a really horrible manner.

    But he said that in the context of opposing the permissibility of abortion in the case of pregnancy caused by rape. He brought up the “legitimate” rape thing in order to argue that people impregnated through rape shouldn’t be exceptions to the anti-choice law because they weren’t really raped.

  78. On a slightly optimistic note, perhaps he meant that there is no such thing as legitimate and non-legitimate rate, and was essentially saying that rape is rape is rape, and just ended up phrasing it in a really horrible manner. Maybe. Hopefully?

    Optimistic for whom? The men trying to deny women their legal right to abortions?

    This isn’t about rape. He just fucked up in talking about rape. This is 100% about women’s control of their own reproduction. Which is obviously something that Akin believes happens on the level of hormones, stress, and high concentrations of woo. As opposed to, you know, women’s ability to make rational personal decisions about their own healthcare.

    His comments about rape aren’t as scary to me as his belief that women can hormonally abort due to “rape,” and therefore, I guess, only slutty McSluttersons need medical abortions.

  79. I demand that everyone stop saying “juicy.” I’m shuddering here. I regret bringing it up in the first place.

    I’m curious about the medical professionals these guys keep talking to. Between the doctors who educated Akin and Aldridge about how women can’t get pregnant from rape and the doctors who have scientifically established that life begins at conception, I’m wondering if there’s some kind of special conservative medical school where everyone knows something we don’t.

  80. Nope, he’s trying to avoid the consequences of his abortion position – that is telling his constituents that if they get raped and pregnant they have to birth the child. That’s gonna go over real well with his supporters who have teenaged daughers or women who can get pregnant in their families. So he made up some bullshit of don’t worry they won’t get pregnant. It won’t go over well with other voters (e.g. liberals and women who want to control their bodies), but presumably they would not be voting for him anyways.

  81. Oh God, the pro-rape stupid train gets even stupider. Representative Steve “forcible rape” King claimed today he’s never never heard of a case of a girl getting pregnant through statutory rape or incest. An hour later he backtracked and claimed he meant he’s not friends with any girls who’ve gotten pregnant through rape or incest. Thank you, King and Akin, for revealing the real reason you want to ban funding for impregnated rape and incest survivors — you think they literally don’t exist.

  82. I’m wondering if there’s some kind of special conservative medical school where everyone knows something we don’t.

    Somehow I am reminded of this joke:

    “What do you call a medical student who gets a D in all his classes?”

    “Doctor.”

  84. He was using the term legitimate rape like people say “really real rape”. As in, it’s a total stranger who beats the crap out of you and leaves you for dead in a ditch on the side of some back road.

    Anything short of that is she said/he said and isn’t really real rape because yanno, vindictive lying women.

  85. He was using the term legitimate rape like people say “really real rape”. As in, it’s a total stranger who beats the crap out of you and leaves you for dead in a ditch on the side of some back road.

    Anything short of that is she said/he said and isn’t really real rape because yanno, vindictive lying women.

    I don’t think so. I think what he was saying is that any woman who becomes pregnant hasn’t been legitimately raped, regardless of circumstances,

  87. Whoops, on the heels of Etsi’s comment, Akin again clarifies what he really, really meant by “legitimate rape.” In a Dana Loesch interview, Akin studiously explained how women lie about being raped in order to justify their access to abortion. This twerp really needs a better image consultant to make his hatred of women less obvious.

  88. This twerp really needs a better image consultant to make his hatred of women less obvious.

    The scary part is that this is him after some level of image consulting. Imagine what that poor fucking consultant has to work with! “Ok, sir, sir, stop beating your wife for a second while frothing… good, good start… Now repeat after me ‘not all women must die’…”

  89. Dr. John Willke is who apparently came up with that whole “female body shutting the whole thing down” BS. Apparently we just get so damn tight while being raped it’s impossible for us to conceive. It makes our fallopian tubes all spastic.
    But seeing as human ovulation happens regardless of sexual encounters, unless we happened to be about to ovulate right that very minute, it wouldn’t really matter if our fallopian tubes were too busy doing the jig to let an egg through– ovulating soon enough before or after can still result in pregnancy. And not being able to kegel hard enough to prevent rape….. I don’t even know what to say about that.

  90. My understanding was that statistically speaking, rapes are actually much more likely to result in pregnancies than sex acts without birth control by couples trying to conceive. Maybe more than twice as likely on a per-act basis.

    The reasons aren’t clear and frankly aren’t important.

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  92. Dr. John Willke is who apparently came up with that whole “female body shutting the whole thing down” BS. Apparently we just get so damn tight while being raped it’s impossible for us to conceive. It makes our fallopian tubes all spastic.

    Really? I would have thought that the logic would be that rape is traumatic, and trauma tends to lead to hysteria, and hysterics have a wandering uterus so theres no way for, to put it in Akinish language, all the stuff you’ve got down there to get where it needs to be to make a miracle. Or something.

    I’m nauseous now…

  93. And here’s some real science from actual scientists who actually work in this field and use actual statistics and actual medical and behavioral evidence to conclude the exact opposite:

    http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2012-08/rape-results-more-pregnancies-not-less

    not the Wilkes article, written by a general practitioner for a Christian magazine, which I read for kicks…I stopped counting the flawed assumptions after the first dozen. It’s not even worth dissecting

  94. Oh come on, everyone knows what legitimate rape looks like:

    A real-life description to me would be a rape victim, brutally raped, savaged. The girl was a virgin. She was religious. She planned on saving her virginity until she was married. She was brutalized and raped, sodomized as bad as you can possibly make it, and is impregnated. I mean, that girl could be so messed up, physically and psychologically, that carrying that child could very well threaten her life.

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