Culture of Rape

by Kathleen Murphey

Nolan Bruder and Brock Turner,

Birds of a feather, flock together,

Drug and Rape, Drug and Rape.

Whether his sister or a stranger,

he’s got a dick, so he’ll stick it in,

screw it if she’s unwilling.

Judges care more about him than the victim;

one brutally raped by a swimmer,

the other, a minor, raped by her brother.

Doesn’t seem like there is much honorable

about judges William Follett and Aaron Perskey

when they condone the abuse of young women

by turning the perpetrators loose.

These cases should be national disgraces,

and yet, the president of the United States

grabs women by the pussy, so why shouldn’t they?

Watch out girls and women,

we live in a culture of rape,

and pretty soon, without insurance coverage

for birth control or access to legal abortion,

we’ll be just like Offred from

Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaiden’s Tale.

* * * * *

Kathleen Murphey is an associate professor of English at Community College of Philadelphia.  Recently, she has been writing fiction (both short stories and poetry) on women’s and social justice issues.  To learn more about her work, see www.kathleenmurphey.com.