| Myths About Male Rape
Myth: Only women can
be raped.
Fact: Men can be and are sexually assaulted everyday.
Myth: Men who rape
other men are gay.
Fact: Rape is not about sexual preference or desire - it is an act of
power and control. The motivation of the rapist is to humiliate and
brutalize another person. A survey of convicted rapists found that at
least half of these men did not care about the sex of their victims; they
raped both men and women. Most male rapists are either heterosexual or
suffer great confusion about their sexual identity.
Myth: Men who rape
other men are psychotic.
Fact: There is no evidence to support this belief. Rape is a reflection of
a "macho" society which trains men to strive to dominate and
control others and to avoid the open expression and acknowledgment of
feelings.
Myth: Victims of male
rape must be gay.
Fact: Both straight and gay men can be raped; most studies report that at
least half (and more often the clear majority) of victims are exclusively
heterosexual.
Myth: Rape is something that doesn't happen
to "real men".
Fact: Rape is something that can and does happen to an entire spectrum of
men, regardless of physical strength or fighting powers. Reported
survivors have included a boxer and a man over 6'2" and over 200 lbs.
Being raped does not mean that the survivor is weak or "a wimp".
Anyone can be overpowered or taken by surprise attack.
Myth: Male rape only
happens in prison, and is due to the lack of sexually available women.
Fact: The rape of men in prisons is a classic example of men using rape as
a means of experiencing themselves as powerful and in control. Male rape
happens much more often in society at large than we realize: but the
victims rarely tell anyone.
Source:
www.TheAwarenessCenter.org/malemyths
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