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... The author of the article in question is Helen Wilson, Ph.D. She holds a doctorate in feminist studies and is the lead researcher at the Portland Ungendering Research Initiative. Her paper is entitled, “Human reactions to rape culture and queer performativity at urban dog parks in Portland, Oregon.†Since that doesn’t actually mean anything, and performativity isn’t even a word, I’ll summarize: She hung around some dogs parks for a year and watched a ton of dogs having sex. ...
Well, all righty then.
Have you always harbored a secret desire to lurk at dog parks, tirelessly inspect the dogs' genitals in order to record their sexes, observe how frequently they hump each other, and ask their owners personal questions?If so, you might enjoy a new study, "Human Reactions to Rape Culture and Queer Performativity at Urban Dog Parks in Portland, Oregon." Yes, the paper is about dog-on-dog rape and what it means for feminism and queer theory. Essentially, it posits that studying "rape culture" among animals at the dog park is a useful vehicle for understanding rape among human beings.The study was recently published in Gender, Place and Culture, a peer-reviewed journal. It is not, as I first suspected, a Sokal-esque hoax, though author Helen Wilson makes clear that it is "mostly qualitative in nature and did not make use of rigorous statistical analysis," casting doubt on its overall scientific merit. Wilson describes herself as a full-time researcher and part-time diversity activist. The only affiliation she lists is with the Portland Ungendering Research Initiative, which doesn't even have a website. Nevertheless, there are some actual data in the study, and plenty of academic citations.... Wilson is essentially saying here that since yelling at dogs was a good way to get them to stop committing rape, yelling at men—while railing against rape culture—might work too.She concedes, however, that unlike dogs, men cannot be leashed. That wouldn't be "politically feasible," she explains. The disappointment is palpable.
