Can A Man Be Raped?

One answer, of course, is yes -- by another man. In fact by some estimates, 10% of rape victims are men, though they rarely report the crime. But the interesting question, in light of the current debate, is how a man could be raped by a woman.

Most men would say, with physiological confidence, that if a man doesn't want to have sex, he can't be tied down and forced. Human anatomy provides him a special protection. But there are sex therapists who dispute this notion; some point to "masochistic titillation," while others speculate that panic, along with fear of bodily harm, does not necessarily rule out sexual arousal and may even increase it in some cases.

In any event, the most expansive definitions of rape include psychological coercion, which raises the question, Couldn't a woman emotionally pressure a man to have sex, by, for instance, impugning his manhood if he refused, and thus be guilty of rape?

If the word is given to mean unwanted sex, then men are vulnerable too. A 1988 study of sexually active college students found that 46.3% of the women and 62.7% of the men reported having had unwanted intercourse. Peer pressure, coercion, intimidation -- all led students into situations they later regretted.

Some researchers fear that even raising the question trivializes the whole issue of rape. But there are paradoxes here that might shed light on the issue. How is it that when an adolescent boy is coerced into sleeping with an older woman, it is viewed with a wink as an accepted rite of passage, while the reverse -- the coercion of a girl by an older man -- is clearly not?