I was incredibly angry when I read the description of “Dark Captive” by Jennifer Denys a few days ago, and merely posted my feelings to Amazon at the time, which was not professional. In order to clarify my feelings, the following information is pertinent, and demonstrates the reasoning behind my belief that these sorts of books are wrong on both psychological, sociological, and legal levels, as well as the fact that their very existence forwards a sociopolitical atmosphere of acceptance of violence towards women on a level rising to that suffered by Middle Eastern women.
Laws are pertinent in my state of Colorado and do not include Federal Statutes, as there is no indication the victim was carried across state lines by the perpetrator.
The following charges may be made against the protagonist in a court of law:
Definition: Kidnapping Colorado laws classify kidnapping into two categories; first degree kidnapping and second degree kidnapping.
C.R.S. 18-3-302 A person commits second degree kidnapping when s/he seizes and carries any person from one place to another, without his consent and without lawful authority; or s/he takes away any child below 18 years with intent to keep or conceal the child from his or her parent or guardian or with intent to sell, trade, or barter such child for consideration.
Second degree kidnapping is a class 2 felony if the person kidnapped is a victim of a sexual offense or robbery.
C.R.S. 18-1.3-401 A person guilty of a class 2 felony will be sentenced to imprisonment for not more than 24 years or less than eight years
Capital Punishment Statutes in Colorado
Capital punishment, also known as “the death penalty,” remains a legal sentence under Colorado laws for certain crimes, including, but not limited to: COL. REV. STAT. §18-3-301, et seq: Kidnapping.
Colorado Statutes: § 18-3-303. False Imprisonment
Definition: False imprisonment is the unlawful restraint of a person against her will by someone without legal authority or justification.
Examples of false imprisonment may include, but are not limited to: A person grabbing onto another person without their consent, and holding them so that they cannot leave.
Colorado Revised Statues Sections 18-3-402: Sexual Assault, 18-3-404: Unlawful Sexual Contact
Colorado criminalizes rape, sexual battery and sexual assault. The crimes are no longer divided by degree or level, but instead into sexual assault or sexual contact based on whether penetration of any kind was completed or only touching of genitals and other intimate parts. The penalties for each crime vary based on a number of “aggravating” factors that increase criminal responsibility, for example using force or date rape drugs. Force doesn’t always have to be physical force where the perpetrator physically overpowers the victim; FORCE COULD INCLUDE PSYCHOLOGICAL COERCION (BEING “TALKED INTO IT”),
Penalty: Co. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 18-3-402. Class four felony, from one year to twelve years in prison.
Capital Punishment Statutes in Colorado
Capital punishment, also known as “the death penalty,” remains a legal sentence under Colorado laws for certain crimes, including, but not limited to: COL. REV. STAT. §18-3-301, et seq: Kidnapping.
I believe this logically lays out my reasoning behind my belief that this author is encouraging criminal acts against a victim, as well as encouraging a mindset of acceptance of said criminal acts by persons who may see these types of works as justification for said criminal acts.
PLEASE NOTE: According to RAINN (Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network) every two minutes another American is sexually assaulted. Only 6 out of every 1,000 rapists will end up in prison. While the current Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) distinguishes (and I make this point very distinctly) “CONSENSUAL” acts of violence during sexual play as paraphilias rather than paraphilic disorders, commissions of CRIMES against others during acts of paraphilia or the planning of acts of paraphilia with the intent to do harm are viewed differently. Also, as pointed out by a report from “The Hastings Center” the development of DSM-5 also caused, and still opens up, the possible legal repercussion of acts of true violence, including pedophilia, being pressed beyond the pale of legal action, leaving true victims
without legal recourse against their abusers. While the numbers of reported sexual assaults have dropped since 1993, the statistical numbers have been proven somewhat misleading given the reverse social stigma which leads men, women and children to no longer view sexual assaults as being legally actionable due to the preponderance of books, movies, and social mores, as well as DSM-5, that now teach that women have no rights to protection for their bodies. “No” no longer means “No” but rather, “Let me tie you up and do what I want and your body will like it, therefore it is all A-OK.”
A supposedly “forward thinking” ruling in the DSM is reversive in that true victims no longer feel they have the right to step forward about their abuse. It reminds me of a particular situation I faced in the 70’s, where my boss told me if I didn’t give him a BJ in his office he would fire me. I didn’t, and he did. That isn’t counting the time I was pulled down and raped when in college and was told, basically, that it was just something I was to expect – guys are guys, after all.
I hope that proponents of physical/sexual violence against women, such as this writer, will step back and think about the grievous injury they cause by championing actions such as kidnapping and rape as this book does. For pertinent cases, see Ariel Castro, Cleveland Ohio, and thousands of others.
Now that is just mean . . .
I was on Goodreads earlier and came across a post entitled “Do people tend to criticize the books they read, in a rather destructive manner rather than constructive?”
Only a few responses are showing so far, but I find this question to be one I ponder quite often. What is constructive v.s. destructive “criticism.” One commentary by Feliks Dzerzhinsky was quite interesting and well thought out.
Click here to see the commentary.
The following is my own post in response. I will be touching on this question over time, but I wanted to share my thoughts here and see what you, as a reader, think about the original question.
A well written and thought out commentary. However, I believe that the question refers to the degree of cruelty that some reviews seems to take joy in pouring vitriol onto the heads of the author. There is a great deal of difference between criticism and chivvying the author and being obsessively destructive. I can write some blistering reviews. However, those reviews are always well-thought-out and give specifics for why I think the author should go flush their heads.
I.e., in the case of Twilight. It isn’t only the book itself I am blistering, it is the publishing industry for taking that horrifically substandard tomb and forcing it down the throats of the public. With all of the good books awaiting publishing, they chose to print and force down our throats a book with no redeeming qualities whatsoever. Apparently because the writer is “connected”.
What I find offensive is the “reviewer” who rates a book low and yet gives no truly logical reasoning for doing so. They simply say something cruel and hurtful about the author or the book without any reasoning process behind it. I read a 1-star review the other day regarding one of my favorite authors where the person said “This is a children’s book.” Just that, and a one star. Come on! So it would be a great book for a kid to read. So? Does that make it a bad book? No, it just didn’t ring this person’s bell. But! Was it well written? Were the characters believable? Was the editing well done? All those things could have been addressed and the book could have been rated on an intelligent level. Instead, the ‘reviewer’ didn’t review the book at all, she/he was simply dismissive. In other words, why even do it if you aren’t going to do it correctly? Apparently, just to hurt the author and anyone else who reads, or considers reading, the book.
Yes, the Twilight writer deserves to be “punched out” for the garbage she wrote. But if you are going to take the swing, it is tremendously more adult and civilized to do so by writing exactly WHY she and her publishing gurus should take it in the face rather than simply throwing a fit and falling down in it.
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