I should probably point out that the reason people aren't having a problem with all the males forced into sex in the books is because of exactly the attitude to Byron you highlight - people think that if a man ejaculates, he enjoyed the sexual act which led to it, which isn't strictly true. It's usually not discussed that women can experience arousal during rape, or that they will 'willingly' offer up lesser sex acts to avoid rape (the whole first scene with Micah nearly made me ill, because that was almost a textbook observation of this exact behaviour, and I thought LKH was doing something truly edgy). But men can be, and are, raped, and not just by other men. It's almost as if sexual abuse of men by women is taboo - like "women would never do such a thing", to quote Queen Victoria.
LKH does seem to know that men can be raped (Stephen in The Killing Dance and Peter in Obsidian Butterfly), but she doesn't seem to believe that applies to Anita. It's actually common for sexual perpetrators to believe that acts of rape are consensual sex. There was a study done by Ms. magazine published in a book entitled I Never Called It Rape they gave questionnaires to men and women in college campuses. The first question was "Have you ever raped someone?". A large percentage of the men who answered "no" to that question and then answered subsequent questions about their sexual history answered "yes" to questions that defined the legal definition of rape. When the women were asked "Have you ever been raped?", a large percentage of those who answered "no" also answered "yes" to questions that fit the legal definition of rape when asked about their sexual histories. (I will have to dig out the book for any exact percentage.)
My personal beef is the way she treats survivors of sexual abuse. Her portrayal of Peter specifically. If Peter were given proper therapy and support from his family, it would be unlikely that his psyche would twist as badly as it has. Reasons for this would be his age at the time of the attack, he obviously didn't want it to occur and it was called exactly what it was by other people. Many survivors face trauma after the incident because of the psychological confusion that occurs because of the incident. "Was it rape?" "Did I ask for it?" Then the confusion leads to the survivor remaining quiet and not talking about it. With Peter it was clear what happened. Edward states that he was taken to therapy. The fact that Peter would have sexual issues is accurate, I just don't believe that Peter's issues would go where LKH decided they did.
no subject
LKH does seem to know that men can be raped (Stephen in The Killing Dance and Peter in Obsidian Butterfly), but she doesn't seem to believe that applies to Anita. It's actually common for sexual perpetrators to believe that acts of rape are consensual sex. There was a study done by Ms. magazine published in a book entitled I Never Called It Rape they gave questionnaires to men and women in college campuses. The first question was "Have you ever raped someone?". A large percentage of the men who answered "no" to that question and then answered subsequent questions about their sexual history answered "yes" to questions that defined the legal definition of rape. When the women were asked "Have you ever been raped?", a large percentage of those who answered "no" also answered "yes" to questions that fit the legal definition of rape when asked about their sexual histories. (I will have to dig out the book for any exact percentage.)
My personal beef is the way she treats survivors of sexual abuse. Her portrayal of Peter specifically. If Peter were given proper therapy and support from his family, it would be unlikely that his psyche would twist as badly as it has. Reasons for this would be his age at the time of the attack, he obviously didn't want it to occur and it was called exactly what it was by other people. Many survivors face trauma after the incident because of the psychological confusion that occurs because of the incident. "Was it rape?" "Did I ask for it?" Then the confusion leads to the survivor remaining quiet and not talking about it. With Peter it was clear what happened. Edward states that he was taken to therapy. The fact that Peter would have sexual issues is accurate, I just don't believe that Peter's issues would go where LKH decided they did.