Yes, but this is also where one could launch a justified criticism of Dawkins, assuming one were in the mood to have a real conversation about the "rankings" of rape.Kirbmarc wrote:Is it possible that this is what Dawkins meant?
Dawkins was, I agree, only thinking in terms of the physical trauma and the fear that's evoked by a knife-point rape; on these measures, stranger-rape is much worse that date-rape. He did not seem to consider the possibly greater emotional damage of being raped by an acquaintance. Even more, his lack of attention to this dimension could be see as coming from his background, such that this is actually an example of where Dawkins has argued as if his view covers everyone equally, when it actually is limited by and to his experience.
But in order to get to this deeper criticism of Dawkins - that his limited experience may cause him to express generalizations that are not generally true - you must first take his original statement seriously and admit that, when you limit the discussion to those dimensions of trauma that he seems to worry about, he was probably correct. Then you can say "but, for others who weight other aspects of interpersonal violence more heavily, date-rape might be as bad or worse, so Dawkins was projecting in an inappropriate manner."
Of course, all of this requires that the trauma of rape - on any number of scales - is quantifiable. My guess is that a well-trained SJW will never agree to this in the first place. And, yet, they will agree that being punched hard in the face is worse than being punched softly in the leg. Sigh.
