I cannot believe

[siercia]

that I am sitting through a serious conversation in the Nexus debating whether or not dolphin mating behavior constitutes RAPE.

I quote "They kidnapped a female away from her pod, and wouldn't let her back until every male in the bachelor pod had had sex with her."

Ummmm, hello? Normal animal mating behavior?

Am I the only one in the room who thinks this trivializes real rape issues?

ARGH.

Comments

[thespian.livejournal.com]

actually, I don't think it does, at all (and I've worked in rape crisis shelters). But I'd need to have seen the conversation to know how flippant it got to be; the bit you quote is certainly not.

Chimps actually commit rape, incidentally - willful forced sex on females that they are not mated to. We are not the only mammals capable of rape; it's been observed in other animals, too. That said, this would be a highly uncharacteristic situation, tantamount to yes, a gang rape, considering the mental capacity of the average dolphin and the fact that dolphins normally mate in more playful, courtship sort of situations (see http://tursi.yiffco.com/dolphins/r_habits.htm for a quick rundown).