Rape fantasies :: essays research papers

pen in 1977, "Rape Fantasies" appears to be a recap of a chat among several women during their lunch hour, a few of them playing bridge, one--Chrissy the receptionist--reading aloud from a tabloid. When Chrissy asks the question, "How astir(predicate) it, girls, do you confound rape fantasies?" the degree unfolds with each womans response, each(prenominal) retold from the perspective of Estelle, whos doing her best to deflect the entire conversation by concentrating on her bidding.The conversation is tragically ironic, moving from woman to woman, Darlene calling the entire line of business "disgusting," Greta describing a Tarzan-like scenario, Chrissy describing hers in a bubble bath, when Estelle, ever the voice of reason, reminds them that what theyre describing argon sexual fantasies "Listen . . . those arent rape fantasies. I mean, you arent getting raped, its just most guy you havent met formally who happens to be more attractive than Derek C ummins . . . and you have a good time. Rape is when theyve got a knife or something and you dont want to" (104.)Estelle thusly describes her rape fantasy where she deflects her attacker by squirting juice from a plastic lemon in his eyes ("You should hear the one about the Easy Off Cleaner"), but also includes the one where "this short, unworthy fellow comes up and grabs my arm . . . and I say, kind of disgusted, Oh for Chrissake, and he starts to cry," which prompts a wave of sympathy in Estelle (106). And there are more, each with Estelle warding collide with her attacker through outsmarting him ("Ive just found out I have leukemia"), or talking him out of it.As the narrative continues, the reader becomes sensitive that Estelle is addressing someone in addition to the reader--"I hope you dont mind me keeping my nose like this . . ." (107) and that mortal is probably a man (twice Estelle says, " precisely I guess its different for a guy "). As the story ends, we realize that Estelle all along has been in a bar, speaking to a man she has just met, worrying about the possibility she will be raped by him. "Like, how could a fellow do that to a person hes just had a long conversation with, once you let them survive youre human, you have a life too, I dont see how they could go up with it, right?