Apparently, Stating the Obvious Makes One A "Nazi"

This should be classed under "stating the obvious" but apparently a lot of men are confused as to whether or not it constitutes rape when they stick their penis in a person who is asleep. I say a lot of men but really I mean rapists. After all, most men aren't stupid and it doesn't take a genius to get that a person who is asleep or high or severely intoxicated isn't capable of consent. Turns out, according to Steve Brookstein, a man I had never heard of until he started tweeting rape myths, that stating the obvious makes one a Nazi. You know, because holding men accountable for rape is just like genocide.

Now, as a general rule of thumb, I'm against giving these kinds of aresholes any publicity but apparently Brookstein is some kind of "celebrity". At least, he was a contestant on some sort of reality TV show. I had to google him to discover this and it served only to reinforce my belief that reality TV shows are evil. After all, this nincompoop would be stuck in the middle of nowhere talking to himself on twitter if it weren't for whatever TV show he was on giving him publicity. Obviously there is a certain irony in me giving Brookstein publicity by blogging about him but the level of rape apologism over the past few weeks has made me reconsider my opinion on ignoring stupidity in the ignorant. Ignoring these men's rants on social media platforms is allowing rape culture to flourish. 

Brookstein has tweeted his support of Assange by stating that sex with an unconscious women isn't rape. He has tweeted that Orla Vuss deserved to be raped by Ched Evans because she was a "drunken slag". In Brookstein's world women who respect themselves don't get raped. And, anyone who disagrees with him is a Nazi. Invoking Godwin's law isn't exactly evidence of a rapier wit or any kind of basic intelligence but Brookstein seems to have a lot of supporters who agree with him. Course, I'm not entirely sure why anyone would want the support of rapists but we need to call out rape apologist or we are just as guilty of perpetuating rape culture. 

For those MRA's reading this, and I know you are, this is Vera Baird on the legal definition of rape which is sex without consent. It was originally published in the Huffington Post :

Wednesday's piece by Brendan O' Neill is wrong in citing the case of DPP v Morgan as if it were the law on rape.  

That case was overturned almost a decade ago.  

He says that feminist have wrongly said - about the Assange situation - "Sex without consent is rape". Let us let pass by the fact that, on that version, George Galloway is a feminist, since he "clarified" his first wrong assertions saying exactly that. 

The law of rape is available to all, including yesterday's author, in the Sexual Offences Act 2003. 

It says that it is rape if a man (A) has sex with either a woman or a man who does not consent and who A does not reasonably believe is consenting.
Whether a belief is reasonable has to be determined having regard to all the circumstances including any steps A has taken to ascertain whether s/he is consenting. (Section 1 ) However it also says that there is a presumption that there is no consent if the person was asleep or otherwise unconscious at the time of the relevant act. (Section 75) 

On both bases, "Sex without consent is rape" as Galloway said, is a reasonable summary of the law when A's companion is unconscious. 

Sleeping people cannot consent and what reasonable person could think that they can? 

What has been discussed is some presumption of ongoing consent from earlier consensual sex but that is untenable since nobody can tell from a sleeping person whether they do or do not want to repeat the experience. 

None of this affects the consensual nature of the earlier sex. 

A's companion may be willing to have more sex but the only practical way to know his/her state of mind it to ascertain it at the time and that is certainly the lawful way to behave.

Feminists on twitter have been calling out Brookstein all week on his ignorant pro-rape rantings. It would be nice if more men stood up to be counted in the War on Women by telling Brookstein, and all his stupid supporters, precisely what real men think of rape apologists.