"Rape Fantasies" is the story of a conversation among several women during their lunch hour. A woman named Chrissy, poses a q

uestion she finds in a magazine and asks, "How about it girls, do you have rape fantasies?" The story unfolds with each woman's response to that question. Each woman's perspective on the subject is re-told by Estelle, the narrator, who claims to be as honest as she can be at all possible times. The conversation these women are having appears to be light and humorous, because each of their fantasies never actually includes a "rape". However, looking a little deeper, one begins to notice that issue of a "fantasy rape" is actually a tool used by the narrator to hide a deeper issue, the fact that she herself quite possibly was raped. I hadn't realized this fact until I noticed the repetition being used about shoes in the story. Derek's weird elevator shoes, and the "shoes going up the coal chute."

In this essay the women say they are having rape fantasies when in fact they are just having fantasies about a sexual encounter that they are fully willing to participate in. This presents a problem when looked at from a societal standpoint. The fact that we live in a patriarchal society, many believe that a woman who is rape somehow "asked for it." A man forces himself on a woman, and somehow it is her fault! In the story Estell admits that she feels sorry for the man who is about to rape her saying "there has to be something wrong with them." As if rape is okay as long as there is something wrong with the guy. Of course there is something w

Some topics in this essay:
Rape Fantasies, Feminist Criticism, rape fantasies, patriarchal society, fantasy rape, feminist criticism, rape fantasies story, patriarchal society live, feminist criticism analyzing, gender roles, feeling sorry, fantasies story, light humorous, male dominance, woman woman,