Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen

Philosophisches Seminar
PS: Einführung in die feministische Philosophie
Dozierende: Dr. Eva-Maria Düringer
Sommersemester 2022

The Rape Continuum – Is

Consensual Sex in
Heterosexual Relationships
Possible?

Anna Stockhammer
Matrikelnummer: 4197634
23. Juni 2022
In her chapter on sexual violence and harassment, Mason portrays different feminist views on

sexual assault and rape. In this essay, I will discuss Catharine MacKinnon’s claim that all

heterosexual sex is sexual assault because men are socialized to be dominant and women are

socialized to be submissive. Furthermore, I will discuss Ann Cahill’s claim that there is a clear

distinction between sexual violence and consensual sex because rape is a sexual violation and

should not be considered to be sex. I believe that there is no clear distinction as, in my opinion,

there is a continuum from consensual sex to rape and I think MacKinnon’s claim that all

heterosexual sex is violence against women is too strong and not distinct enough. Therefore, I

will combine both claims to preserve women’s agency and the proposed continuum. Finally, I

will answer the question whether consensual heterosexual sex is possible.

In order to argue on the issue, there are two terms I would like to define. First is the term

of patriarchy; I will define this as the power struggle in the Western world between men and

women with men holding power over women, with no regard to race and whether people are

cis or trans. I do believe that these issues may affect people of color and trans people differently,

however I unfortunately lack the space and knowledge to further outline this topic.

Additionally, I would like to define sexual assault, similar to Mason, as an umbrella term which

includes penetrative as well as non-penetrative sexual violence that does not require the use of

physical force (see 104-5, 2022).

Rape is a patriarchal problem as sexual violence is a way to assert dominance over

women by men. Mason describes Susan Brownmiller’s view when she says that “sexual

violence is integral to patriarchal power structures, [in] that it both supports and results from a

system where men have power over women” (101, 2022). Rape is systemic and institutionalized

as only 30 years ago, marital rape was made illegal in in the United States and there are still

many countries that differentiate between intra- and extra-marital rape (see 105, 2022). Of

course, our society has come far since then, but rape continues to be a constant threat in a

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woman’s life and “it is an effective way of limiting women’s power and freedom” (101, 2022).

Most victims of sexual violence are women and the UN women estimates that some sort of

sexual violence is experienced by one third of the world’s female population (see 102, 2022).

However, sexual violence is still seen to be rare and if a victim dares to report her assailant it is

seen as an account of he-said-she-said. It is the victim’s task to prove that he is guilty and many

offenders are not prosecuted.

There are two positions that I would like to discuss. First, I will portray Catharine

MacKinnon’s view, then Ann Cahill’s, and lastly I will defend my own view as I believe a

compromise between the two is possible. MacKinnon views all heterosexual sex as problematic.

In a patriarchal society, men are socialized to be dominant and aggressive and women are

socialized to be submissive and placid. These are constructed traits, however, that does mean

they are not true or sought after. MacKinnon argues that in heterosexual sex, these roles of

dominance and submission are executed as well and that “[such] acts of dominance are

experienced as sexually arousing, as sex itself” (MacKinnon in Mason 108, 2022). She argues

that there is not much of a difference between consensual sex and rape and she insinuates that

both are violent acts and that this violence is, therefore, “inevitable” (108, 2022). In

MacKinnon’s defense, she does not claim that all heterosexual sex is rape, but she does imply

that it always involves some kind of violation of women because the patriarchy requires their

domination. In contrast, Cahill argues that there is a clear distinction between consensual sex

and rape and that women can make this distinction. In her opinion, rape is an act of violence

and only “sexual […] because it uses sexual body parts” (108, 2022). She does not consider

rape as sex because sex involves consent. Additionally, she says that there are cases of unjust

sex, where the woman’s agency is suppressed or coerced, consciously or unconsciously. To

summarize, MacKinnon claims that in a patriarchal society, consensual sex is always

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problematic as it operates under the conditions of heteronormativity. And Cahill argues that sex

and rape can clearly be distinguished and, consequently, consensual sex is possible.

I agree with MacKinnon that rape is not easily distinguishable from consensual sex. In

my opinion, real consent is hard to obtain as women may, at least verbally, consent to sex they

do not actually want to have. There are many different reasons why women may do this, but I

believe most of them to be in some way problematic. Cahill calls cases where consent is

obtained unwillingly by the victim cases of unjust sex. There, the perpetrator has no regard for

the woman’s sexual agency. I believe this to be a good compromise, as this allows for there to

be cases of rape, unjust sex, and of genuine consent. At the same time, I disagree that there is a

clear distinction between the three cases. Sometimes it is not even obvious to the victim whether

she was violated unjustly or raped. In my opinion, this is supported by Nicola Gavey’s

interviews as some of her subjects report to “having sex […] to avoid being raped” (110, 2022).

This shows that there is a continuum from genuine consensual sex to unjust sex to rape. Some

may disagree with this view and counter that if the women did not want to have sex, but chose

to do so anyway, it is simply their own fault. I disagree with this point of view as I do believe

there to be a societal pressure on women to have sex with men even if they do not want to. This

pressure can be seen in various forms of media from magazines to porn where the woman is

simply seen as a sexual object to please the man.

Although I believe that no clear distinction can be made, I do believe that real consent

can be obtained and consensual heterosexual sex is possible. The patriarchy influences our

everyday lives, but as feminists have shown over the past decades, there are ways to defy these

influences. If you categorize all heterosexual sex as problematic, you take away any agency not

only of women to give real consent, but also of men to defy patriarchal norms. MacKinnon is

criticized for taking away women’s agency (see 108, 2022), but I would also like to add that, in

my opinion, if you follow MacKinnon’s view, this means that you believe that men are not able

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to go against heteronormative patterns because they (mostly) profit from them. In her view men

are simply seen as perpetrators and women are seen as victims. I believe this view simplifies a

very complex issue. Some believe that categorizing women as victims takes away their agency.

I don’t think the victim term is the problem, I think a main problem is that one the one hand,

agency is taken away from the victim, but on the other hand, the victim is the one made

responsible for avoiding being raped. Campaigns like “no means no” and “yes means yes” put

the responsibility on the victim and do not consider that a yes can be forced, by actual force or

just societal pressure. I understand why many feminists focus on women when it comes to these

kinds of problems as they are victimized by the patriarchy. However, I also believe that there

are two people involved in heterosexual sex and that you have to grant both of them agency and

accountability.

Given these points, I disagree with the notion that all heterosexual sex is problematic as

I believe consensual sex to be possible and women to have agency in the matter. Additionally,

I believe that there is a continuum between rape and consensual sex and a clear distinction is

hard to make as they flow into each other seamlessly. It takes a lot of work and education,

mostly on the part of men, as they are the ones that profit most from patriarchal power

structures. It takes for them to acknowledge, question, and subvert them. Looking forward, I do

believe that the more equality we gain, the and the more men engage with their role as subjects

of the patriarchal society, the problem of the rape continuum will relieve itself. As it is clearly

a problem of the patriarchy. If there is no patriarchy with men having power over women, the

distinction between rape and consensual sex can be made clearer and more easily.

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 References

Mason, Elinor (2022), “Chapter 6: Sexual Violence and Harassment”, Feminist Philosophy: An
Introduction, Routlege, pp. 101-119.