A Fan Letter to Certain Conservative Politicians

[LadyHawkAZ]

possible trigger warning.


http://whatever.scalzi.com/2012/10/25/a-fan-letter-to-certain-conservative-politicians/

Dear certain conservative politicians:

Hi! I’m a rapist. I’m one of those men who likes to force myself on women without their consent or desire and then batter them sexually. The details of how I do this are not particularly important at the moment — although I love when you try to make distinctions about “forcible rape” or “legitimate rape” because that gives me all sorts of wiggle room — but I will tell you one of the details about why I do it: I like to control women and, also and independently, I like to remind them how little control they have. There’s just something about making the point to a woman that her consent and her control of her own body is not relevant against the need for a man to possess that body and control it that just plain gets me off. A guy’s got needs, you know? And my need is for control. Sweet, sweet control.

So I want to take time out of my schedule to thank you for supporting my right to control a woman’s life, not just when I’m raping her, but for all the rest of her life as well.

Ah, I see by your surprised face that you at the very least claim to have no idea what I’m talking about. Well, here’s the thing. Every time you say “I oppose a woman’s right to abortion, even in cases of rape,” what you’re also saying is “I believe that a man who rapes a woman has more of a right to control a woman’s body and life than that woman does.”

Oh, look. That surprised face again. All right, then. On the chance that you’re not giving me that surprised face just for the sake of public appearances, let me explain it to you, because it’s important for me that you know just how much I appreciate everything you’re doing for me.

-more at link.

[MicaelS]

1. Damn John Scalzi is a great writer, BUT

That's edgy, even for him. Unfortunately, some RW-ers will get a hold of that, and claim he was telling the truth, since many of them don't understand irony.

[LadyHawkAZ]

2. I liked the follow-up commentary

http://whatever.scalzi.com/2012/10/28/a-few-process-notes-on-fan-letter/

" I wrote it from the point of view of a rapist, I think obviously in retrospect, because it would have a stronger impact if I did. A couple of people have asked me (not entirely unwarily) how I could get into the head of someone like that. The short answer is, folks, fiction is what I do. I try to put myself in the heads of a lot of different people. I will note that in this case, I was very happy to get out of that particular head as quickly as possible. I don’t often squick myself out writing a piece, but this is one time I definitely did."

[MicaelS]

3. Just shows he is a superb writer,

That he could write something as twisted as that, make it so powerful. First time I saw the link I was at work and couldn't click on it, because it was a blog. I actually thought for a minute it was a real letter from a truly sick individual. I didn't read it, and didn't realize it was Scalzi (who is one my favorite writers) until I got home this morning.

Thanks for the link. I copied and pasted it into a Word document for future reference.