A RAPIST IS THE DEVIL’S OWN

A RAPIST IS THE DEVIL’S OWN
by GLORIA MALLETTE


It seems like every day now, I hear on the news or read in a newspaper, the tale of the rape of a young girl, be she 3 years old or 16 years old, or as old as eighty decades or more. And at times, the rapist, in his vile, demonic quest for sexual gratification, goes as far as to rape and destroy the tender body of a baby girl, as young as nine months old, who has not yet learned to crawl.

Each time I hear these tales, I am appalled, I am disgusted, I am angered that such an horrific deed continues to infest and infect our society. I must admit, I am terrified that one day it might be my child, my neighbor, or even my own body that is so viciously violated. I am told that rape is not about love, not about sex, not about enjoyment. I am told that rape is about power, about control, about dominance. Is this so, is this true, is that what rape is about?

Then tell me, please, why must a rapist humiliate, desecrate, even terminate the life of a woman in order to feel all powerful? Why is a female, no matter her age, no matter her position, no matter her ethnicity, viewed as a threat to a being who calls himself a man? Surely, a nine-month old baby girl is not a threat to anyone. Surely, a nine-month old baby girl has said nothing to denigrate any man. And most definitely, surely, a nine-month old baby girl has deceived no one.

So, is rape about power? Is rape about dominance? Is rape about control? I think not. I think rape is about self-gratification, about self-indulgence, about selfishness. Rape is about lack of control, about lack of morals, about lack of respect, about lack of discipline, and about lack of godliness. When a man can rape an innocent baby, when a man can rape his own mother, when a man can rape anyone; he is evil in his soul, he is evil in his mind, he is evil in his spirit, he is the Devil’s own, and he should go back to hell from whence his ungodly spirit came.

We, as women, must protect ourselves and we must protect our daughters. It doesn’t matter whose daughter a girl is, all girls are ours to protect. This is not to say that men as fathers, as brothers, as sons, as human beings, are exempt. They, too, must protect the mothers, the daughters, the sisters, the friends of man from the rapists of the world.

In 2004, I wrote a book called The Honey Well. The Honey Well was about a woman, a mother, who prostituted her own daughter in order to keep a roof over their heads. The Honey Well was based loosely on the true story of a woman who, indeed, prostituted all six of her own daughters in order to survive during the Great Depression in America.

After writing The Honey Well, I was lead to write a poem, Baby Girl, which speaks to my message of protecting our daughters.


BABY GIRL

Baby girl, baby girl, you’re born into a world in which you are
a pearl. You’re precious, you’re pure, you’re lovely to behold,
yet you’re ignorant to the world of troubles that shadow you.

If you are not protected, you will be used, abused, stolen
and misused, maybe your life taken to render you voiceless.
For you, baby girl, are born with something more precious
than the golden sweet honey made by the honey bees.

Kings have abdicated, battles have been fought once eyes
have set upon your beauty and man has tasted of your honey.
Some men will not wait to be worthy, some men will
seize what is yours by right of birth.

You can choose, baby girl, you can decide.
You have a will, you have a voice, let no one take it from you.

Baby girl, baby girl, grow in mind, grow in body,
grow in spirit, and nurture your soul.
Protect yourself, respect yourself, and know that only you
can lose yourself


I am not naive. I know that since the dawn of time, women and men both have put price tags on a woman’s body, and that is unfortunate, but we as human beings have done many things in order to survive. And even then, most women who would prostitute their bodies in order to feed their children are oftentimes filled with shame.

Rape is not about survival. Rape is not about choice. Rape is about evilness.

All Rights Reserved. Do not reproduce without permission from the author.


GLORIA MALLETTE
MosaicBooks.com 2007 Bestseller -- Living, Breathing Lies
USA Book News Best Book 2007
Awards Winner AA Fiction -- Living, Breathing Lies

http://www.gloriamallette.com/

Sassy June 2008Living, Breathing Lies

Click to see Video

Poster -- Living, Breathing Lies

http://www.shelfari.com/www.MySpace.com/gloriamallettehttp://blog.myspace.com/gloriamallette