I do think in our (the American) “say what you mean and mean what you say” and more literal mentality, the boundaries appear more cut and dried.
If you’re a male with a female, and she says no, then that’s that. If she says yes, then that’s that. If she says stop, then stop. If he gets violent during consensual sex, then that’s not rape but just assault–and not sexual assault.

I suppose it’s hard for me to understand why Sweden seeks such expansive definitions, when while it’s important to consider a variety of potential scenarios, exacting definitions that seek to clarify rather than expand seem to make things clearer for all parties involved. Anyway…

i have lived in many many countries and think all embody both progressive and conservative tendencies – or liberatory and repressive – at the same time. so this is not suprising for me about sweden, as it wasn’t in england or holland or spain. on the gender equality topic, sweden wants to be leader but what they are doing does not seem different in kind to me from what everyone else is doing.

I suppose you are right — but it seems the Zeitgeist has some internal contradictions of probable theoretical origin (a conflict between autonomy and protection from oppression, the boundaries of which seem to float sometimes in dangerous directions).

There seem to be particularly Swedish aspects to the Gender Equality path being followed there — prostitution laws being an oft-discussed example. The radical feminist (radfem) influence, which sees a deep, Marxist-style interconnectedness between , seems to be following the dogmatic path that other activist movements (e.g., communism) followed in the past. Doesn’t that lead to a danger of self-implosion?

I am often curious about the real degree of agreement that there is among Swedish citizens on topics like the definition of rape, or anti-prostitution laws. Do current policies in Sweden actually reflect popular opinion (has radical feminism really reached and influenced the opinion of so many people — including men — in Sweden?), or are they the result of political alliances and political compromises?

Historically, both Communism and Trade-Unionism were reactions against perceived (and actually quite real) injustice against workers. Communism, however, at least in its past historical incarnation, led to dictatorship and ultimately less freedom and lower living standards for workers than trade-unionism and socialism in Europe and the US. Could it be that radical feminism in Sweden will also actually lead to a worse situation for women than other approaches to the world-wide Gender Equality question? (It would be somewhat ironical if Sweden, a country often obviously proud of its progressive, human-centered policies, were to be the theater for this play).

swedish rape law forms part of Gender Equality strategy, which most western or westernising countries have instated, in different ways. these are both legal and bureaucratic moves, coming from government employees, which just become the norm – how life is – for most ordinary folk. i don’t buy the idea thatsupport is meaningful and conscious support. as for predictions about the future, i imagine that Gender Equality mechanisms are going to increase everywhere, not diminish – seems to be part of the zeitgeist.

I have one question: considering the current situation in Sweden (which you defined as a ‘pimpocracy’ in another post), what chances do you see for the situation changing? I mean, it would seem that radfem views with respect to e.g., prostituion or rape, enjoy wide support in Swedish society. Do you see this changing in the near future?

Incidentally, Naomi Wolf wrote a powerful denunciation on the Huffington Post of the Swedish authorities, including an expose of their poor record of prosecuting rape in Sweden. The implication is that they are using Assange as a diversion from their inadequacies.