Rape fantasies :: essays research papers

Written in 1977, "Rape Fantasies" appears to be a recap of a conversation among several women during their lunch hour, a few of them acting bridge, one--Chrissy the receptionist--reading aloud from a tabloid. When Chrissy asks the question, "How about it, girls, do you thrust rape fantasies?" the story unfolds with each womans response, all 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 subject "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 some guy you havent met formally who happens to be more attractive than Derek Cummins . . . and you have a we ll(p) time. Rape is when theyve got a knife or something and you dont want to" (104.)Estelle then describes her rape fantasy where she deflects her attacker by squirting juice from a plastic git in his eyes ("You should hear the one about the Easy Off Cleaner"), but also includes the one where "this short, ugly fellow comes up and grabs my sleeve . . . 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 off her attacker through outsmarting him ("Ive just frame out I have leukemia"), or talking him out of it.As the narrative continues, the reader becomes aware that Estelle is addressing someone in addition to the reader--"I desire you dont mind me holding my nose like this . . ." (107) and that person is probably a man (twice Estelle says, "But I guess its different for a guy"). As the story ends, we realize that Estelle a ll 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 know youre human, you have a life too, I dont see how they could go ahead with it, right?