Neglected Outsiders Anti-Defamation Society

Rape is a serious subject. It's a horrible thing to happen to anyone, and even we here at NOADS, whom have been accused of heartlessness, feel for those who have been subjected to this very intimate assault of the mind and psyche.

We like to think that makes us a little better than the fanbrats (we may have to steal byebyebirdie's term "fanbitches" for the more fervent of the flock) who use rape rather callously as a plot device. 

The most common use of these is either in hurt/comfort fics, where a current squeeze of one of the Outsiders gang (or someone whom one of the gang would like to have as a squeeze) is raped and can only be brought back to her normal self through her chosen greaser's healing love, or as an introduction for Mary Sue, who is tragically raped and/or beaten and thus must be tenderly carrried off to the Curtises' house.

These fics are never realistic in that none of these girls are ever taken to the hospital for their injuries, and the police are never contacted in order to arrest the rapist (Mary Sue's troo lub greaser -- usually Dallas -- swears, and often exacts, vengeance). The Curtises' magic couch heals all.

The attackers are usually Socs, and it's never explained why a young man of good background would want to endanger not only his reputation, but his liberty, by raping a girl of the lower social class (usually on a public street corner and sometimes in broad daylight). 

Some times there is a nod to reality by having the Socs be drunk and out looking for greasers to jump, a plan which they abandon the moment they lay eyes on Mary Sue's extraordinary beauty and are overcome with lust. Sometimes, with the better fanbrat writers (and how we cringe having to say that) they have the forethought to drag their prey into a nearby Convenient Dark Alley (tm).

If the perpetrator is not a Soc, he is usually either Mary Sue's evil father or stepfather, who regularly abuses her until Mary Sue is tired of his constant, lecherous attentions and either runs away or weepingly admits the abuse to her astonished boyfriend.

If she runs away, she will run from a small town (however, New York also is a popular choice, for obvious reasons), usually (but not always) far away from Tulsa. Despite not having known anyone from Tulsa (unless she's from New York, in which case she's usually an old flame of Dallas'), Mary Sue will decide to wander into town and have a look-see, usually running into a marauding band of Socs. Of course, she is then carried away to the magic couch, and blah, blah, blah .... 

If she does the "big reveal," her greasy love will either be totally shocked because she hid it so well or his suspicions will be immediately confirmed, depending on whether OMG! Teh Wangst! (tm) has been drawn out over one chapter or several. 

Regardless of whether she runs away or not, her evil stepfather will likely be forgotten or fall into a plot hole. Oh, her beloved grease may fume and swear and threaten to break him in half, but he usually doesn't do anything, unless he's Dallas. If it is Dallas, he'll get into a fight or almost get into a fight, usually causing a tiff between himself and Mary Sue which may or may not be resolved with some healing sex.

Now you might be smiling and nodding along by this point -- and Mary Sue's shenangians are funny in a bumbling sort of way, we admit. However, it's time to talk about what rape is really like. It's not all angst used to focus attention and sympathy on a whiney, bitchy little self-insert with the same level of empathy as the sludge you find in the drain catcher in the shower. 

Women don't get raped because they "asked for it," they were wearing the wrong sorts of clothes or because some man was overcome with lust. (We are aware that males also can be raped, but will be addressing female rape, because it is what is largely depicted in the fandom. Anyone with thoughts, observations, etc. on male rape are welcome to add those in comments.)

Women get raped because a predator in human guise sees a woman in the wrong place at wrong time and she either appears to be a) vulnerable; b) fits an archetype; or c) both. 

Rape is not about sex. There are some rapists who are unable to even become erect and use a foreign object to abuse their victims. A group of young men in New Jersey used a miniature baseball bat and a whiffle ball bat to rape a teenaged girl with the mentality of a child; a serial killer once used an iron bed post, killing his victim. 

Why do we use such shocking examples? To stress the point that rape is not about sex. Don't confuse the two. Rape is about power and subjugation. Motivation for this is varied; every predator has a different reason. Most will not stop unless caught. Some have normal sexual relations with willing partners. Others are unable to do so. 

We're not so much interested in the whys and hows -- most fanfic writers have sensibilities that are too delicate to even delve into those things or to show the actual act itself. Most fade to black after Mary Sue's clothes have been crudely torn from her trembling alabaster form, and we suppose that is a mercy.

We are more concerned with the reactions from Mary Sue in all her incarnations. Now, there's no "right" way to react to rape, so perhaps saying the reactions of the characters are off isn't exactly what we are angling for here. Although we are heartily tired of Mary Sue either having a nervous breakdown or being oh-so-tough and shrugging it off. 

A little variety, a little realism might be in order. Mary Sue going to the hospital, Mary Sue agonizing over whether she goes to the police or not, Mary Sue dealing with the fall out, maybe going to therapy, feeling weird or different around her friends, scared of intimacy with her greasy boyfriend, even. 

However, what really gets our goat is why little Miss Sue is raped. Not because the author thought "what would the gang do if one of their sisters/friends/girlfriends were raped? How would they react? What would it do to their perceptions of male/female relationships? Would they stand behind her or would they think she'd brought it on herself? Would the police look as hard for the rapist of a greaser girl as they would a Soc girl? In fact, how would the socioeconomic factor weigh in?"

No, they do it because they think it will make the readers feel sorry for their Sue or they use it to wedge their Sue into the gang, because, hey! anyone who finds a girl beaten, raped and bloody along the street or in a vacant lot is going to take her home instead of to the hospital or call the police. 

We hate it in the case of the "instant-pity" plot point because it doesn't make the reader feel bad for Sue. We are very aware of the fact that Sue is fictional and the author is attempting to manipulate us into liking her, because she can't be bothered to build a character whom we will like. It's taking a short cut, it's bad writing and, worst of all, it's completely disrespectful toward the experience of rape. 

We hate it in the case of wedging Sue into the Outsiders world because there are many, many ways for Sue to wander into the neighborhood -- gasp! maybe she's always lived there, but really wasn't on Ponyboy's radar for one reason or another! -- and we had rather read one hundred "new-girl-moves-in-next-door-to-the-Curtises" fics than one "new-girl-in-town-gets-raped-then-found-by-the-gang-and-carried-to-the-magic-couch" fic. Again, a short cut, bad writing and disrespectful. 

Can a good rapefic (in the sense that it is realistic and respectful) be written? Yes, but it would take more research, thought and effort than any fanbrat is willing to put into it.