"all men are potential rapists"

[Bonobo]

214. Let me unpack that to try to tease out the issues.

I will try to list up the issues here, but issues are not everything of course. To a large degree, I think it is the priority and relative importance that these issues have for people that are seen as the dividing point between people. I acknowledge that. It is easy to be "against rape", but how much of an issue do I make of that (in terms of posts for example) vs. the number of posts I make about drone warfare, etc. --This sense of "lack of attention" may be one of the perceptual issues that cause a rift between some.

Here is the list and my brief (for the time being) comments on my own feelings, positions on them,

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Rape and domestic violence: Men are usually larger and/or stronger than women and there is far too much violence by men against women. Men need to be raised and taught to respect women and their domestic partners and to not commit or threaten with violence. Men who commit violence should be dealt with by the police and courts and may also need some kind of counseling to help them to adjust their behavior. I do not see any disagreement on this although I can recognize that if I counter with the fact that men are also hit by women or threatened with violence or emotional abuse, it would lead to the FEELING that I am denying or trying to minimalize the seriousness of the issue. The truth is that it is a big problem and I do recognize that.

Human trafficking and slavery and their relationship to pornography and prostitution (bondage, slavery): I recognize that the lack of choices in a person's life may lead them to be forced to pornography or prostitution. Men are horny in general this leads to an opportunity for men and women to take advantage of that potential for $$$$. It is a complex issue because while there is human trafficking, there is also the element of choice in some pornography and prostitution so it is hard to make blanket statements. To go further, I see prostitution as a scale rather than a yes or no issue. I have known some women who knowingly offer themselves up for dates or other in order to be "taken care of" or maybe just to "score some weed". It happens and to blame it all on the men who desire sex is to deny women agency. Sex, like all things people desire, can lead to bad results, so it is complicated.

Equal work for equal pay: Absolutely no room for disagreement here.

Gun control: Unrelated to gender issues mostly.

Workplace free of discrimination: Absolutely no room for disagreement here except for what constitutes discrimination. I do not think making a penis joke, a breast joke or the like itself constitutes discrimination unless it occurs frequently and over and over as a pattern of abuse.