Review of 'Against Our Will'

     Against Our Will: Men, Women and Rape, a book written by Susan Brownmiller. Published in October 1975. 541pp.


      In 1975 my life was a mess. Rage, sadness and paranoia  buffeted my mind.  Patella femoral syndrome, a degenerative disease ate away at my knees making me unable to walk more than six or seven blocks a day. And some young feminists I met abused me whenever I saw them. In fact, as I now realize, they were just giving me back what I'd dealt out to other people.
     So when some young woman told  me about 'Against Our Will'  a book by Susan Brownmiller, I said something like, "I won't read that. I'm tired of feminism and feminists."
       But a week or so ago, I came across 'Against Our Will' in a tiny thrift store in Vancouver's West End. I bought it and read it. And to-day, I think it's one great book.For Brownmiller, rape of women by men, is the very essence of men-women relations. Rape, she says, "is nothing more or less than a conscious process of intimidation, by which all men keep all women in a state of fear."
      To prove this controversial point, Brownmiller ranges across history, religion, culture, psychology and above all criminal law. Along the way she denounces so-called famous rapists and killers  like the 19th century murderer 'Jack the Ripper'. She also disputes the teachings of famous religious figures like the theologian St. Thomas Aquinas.
     There are long chapters in the book in which she shows how wars give men the chance to rape and kill. There's a small section on child molestation that's become a huge issue in recent years. She also examines the delicate area of white-black relations in the United States and concludes that black men as well as white ones have raped many women. Liberals and some progressives may have not liked this part of the book, since white racists in the  U.S. and elsewhere have always denounced black men for raping and hungering after white women.And Brownmiller concludes that black men have raped white women many times.
   Then in one of the most moving parts of 'Against Our Will', she quotes long testimonies of rape victims and the terrible impact that rape had on their lives. Here, Brownmiller hammers criminologists and others who blame women for being raped.
     "Because men control the definition of sex," writes Brownmiller, "women are allotted a poor assortment of options." This is true and no one can read 'Against Our Will' and call rape as one person I knew did, "No big deal."
       Since this book came out, much has changed for the better. Many police are now women and will listen to and act on the complaints of rape victims as many male police never did. Women have led marches across Canada and the U.S , demanding that laws against rape be enacted. Due to their efforts and books like 'Against Our Will', rape is now seen as a serious crime.
      Still, much remains to be done. In India, for example, a recent news story revealed many rapes of Indian women by men. And the case of serial killer Robert Pickton shows that many policemen still will not act to protect women from rape and murder by men.
,   Now that my mental state has improved as has my opinion of feminism, I can only agree with the words of Carol Rinzer, a journalist at the  New York City-based 'Village Voice' newspaper.'Against Our Will' she wrote way back in 1975, "is a major work of history. It's a classic." 38 years later it still is.