Raping Females with Her Penis

I read a few days ago an exclusive in the Scottish Sun: “Transgender woman ‘raped two females with HER penis’.”

I am still pondering exactly why, but while reading this story I was reminded of Christine Helliwell’s article, published in Signs in 2000, titled “‘It’s Only a Penis’: Rape, Feminism, and Difference.” Incredulous over the unusual response of women in the Dayak community of Gerai in Indonesian Borneo concerning the attempted rape of a woman in the village (they were laughing about it), Helliwell asked the victim why she was not angry over the incident. The victim, who did not seem to regard herself as such, answered “How can a penis hurt anyone?” Now that’s the extreme version of cultural relativism that a queer theorists can get behind!

I was also reminded reading this article about an incident that happened to me a few years ago when, trying to find relief from my enlarged prostate (the curse of many men as we progress towards our deaths), my doctor prescribed finasteride. I got the prescription, then sat down as I always do to read all about the drug. I discovered that it is a hormone with this side effect: it grows hair. Yes! I need more hair. Then I read on and discovered another side effect: it grows breasts. There’s nothing wrong with breasts, of course. I just don’t want them on me. The real shocker came when cross-referenced finasteride. It’s one of the main hormones used by transwomen who wish to alter their body shape.

The alleged rapist in this case is taking finasteride (and another cross-sex hormone). The defendant has changed names and there is an interesting moment in the court transcript where the individuals “dead name” was announced and an explanation was given in the court about what that means. It is not exactly clear, but it appears that when the rapes were perpetrated, Isla Bryson was known as Adam Graham. It is perhaps curious, then, that, even if we accept that the defendant had changed genders, the penis in question was then attached to an individual who went by masculine pronouns.