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From: Ross Olson ross{at}rossolson.org
Sent: Monday, January 2, 2017
To: opinion{at}startribune.com
Subject: Rape culture
It was my generation that gave us the 60s although I was a bystander. The question was asked, "Why do
we have all these rules?" And the conclusion? "No good reason."
I lived in the Orient for 8 years in the 1970s and noted that those cultures did not toss out the traditions
just because they were old but rather considered them to be the distilled wisdom of the ages.
Cultures down through history have put boundaries on male sexuality and consent used to mean
consent to enter into a lifetime commitment – marriage. Social acceptability required a man to value a
woman as "worth waiting for."
When sex was separated from the potential for producing a child and then from marriage, consent
became a muddy concept. Sexuality is the most elaborately rationalized behavior in which humans
participate. Reason is not used to evaluate the advisability of a particular act but to justify it.
Ross S. Olson MD
Richfield MN
This letter was printed in the Star Tribune January 7, 2017.
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