As I begin this review, I hear that Catherine MacKinnon, who argues that pornography is a kind of little rape, has been attacking and threatening a reviewer named Carlin Romano, who urged that writing about rape is very different from perpetrating rape. This is obviously a hot issue.
Stopping Rape is a right-on book written by a pro-feminist man, and makes many good points in a direct and well balanced way. Anyone who wants to know what rape is like and what men have to do to confront it, should read this book. It deals very well with the difficulties that men run into when they start opposing the conventional ideas about rape - how they get accused of being anti-men or anti-sex. It also deals effectively with the question of women's reactions - how men should not expect to get pats on the back from women if they oppose the culture of rape. It is not about guilt, but about response-ability. The author argues that much more can be done:
'My main goal is to encourage more men to organise and become active in their communities to stop rape. More than anything else, I hope that this book acts as a springboard for the development of Men Against Rape groups in every community.' (p.113)
I hope a lot of men read this book and take it to heart. There are some good exercises, a full reading list and a list of American contact addresses.
John Rowan
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