LiveWorld Transcripts

NetLibrary presents

Craig Palmer and Lynn Chancer
Discuss "A Natural History of Rape"

March 28, 2000

Craig Palmer, co-author of “A Natural History of Rape” and Lynn Chancer answer questions about Palmer’s controversial book, sharing both sides of the argument about the validity of taking a scientific approach to the study of rape.

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NetLibrary: netLibrary is pleased to welcome you to an interactive discussion with Craig Palmer, co-author of "A Natural History of Rape," and Lynn Chancer, professor, for a discussion on the controversial book. Over the next hour, both authors will be answering questions posed by the on-line audience. This evening's chat is the latest in netLibrary's Freedom of Expression online discussion series, which began during the American Library Association's Banned Books Week in October 1999. The Freedom of Expression series is a yearlong effort to promote freedom of speech and uncensored access to information. Again, please welcome Craig Palmer and Lynn Chancer.

Craig Palmer: Thank you for having me on.

Lynn Chancer: Same here. I'm looking forward to discussing these ideas.

Tamara: How did you and Randy Thornhill ever come up with the idea to research this topic?

Craig Palmer: Dr. Thornhill started to research this subject in the 1970s as a result of his work on the Scorpion Flies. I became interested in this subject during graduate school in mid 1980s. I had learned the basics of evolutionary theory and knew they applied to human sexual behavior. It wasn't until someone in the neighborhood was both raped and murdered that I could see that the evolutionary approach to provide more accurate information on the causes of rape that could then be used to prevent this horrible crime. In the mid 1990s, Dr. Thornhill and I decided to collaborate on this particular book.

Jcm: Is the belief that rapists desire power over their victim an extension of your biological explanation for rape?

Craig Palmer: We see that the evidence supports the notion that the violence, power, and control in rape are often the means to the end of sexual access. There may be cases in which there is a desire for power and control in addition to the desire for sex.

Lynn Chancer: One of my problems with "A Natural History of Rape" is that the distinction being made between violence being the means to the end of sexual access seems to be unclear. And it seems to me that rape is about sexualized violence.

Venice: What could possibly be natural about rape?

Craig Palmer: The biggest problem that people have with the book is that people seem to commit what's known as the Naturalistic Fallacy, and that is to say that something is natural is to imply that it's good or acceptable. By natural, we only mean that it is part of the natural living world. It is an act that living things do. We do not imply at all that it is acceptable, good, or justifiable.

Lynn Chancer: I think that in answer to the question, there is much more of a problem with the contention about nature than just this naturalistic fallacy. The problem is the line between 'nature' and 'culture' is so blurred as to render this book's assertion of certain phenomena, like rape, to be natural as a highly suspect one. So much in contemporary culture creates conditions conducive to sexual violence that it is difficult, if not impossible, to separate the 'cultural' from the 'natural'.

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