‘Luckiest Girl Alive’ Author Reveals the Rape Behind Her Novel

It's good you're so sympathetic to a stranger (perhaps you share similar sad experiences), maybe you could extend that a little further to include another, the anonymous doctor you feel entitled to condemn.

It's sickening that the doctor couldn't muster enough courage to say, yes, you have been raped

Have you considered maybe it's not, that it might in fact be brave for them to reserve judgment, or at least hold their tongue?

It's not a doctors job to conjecture, they don't have the tools, training, experience or right to investigate and make judgments about most crimes, largely the job of police, lawyers and judges. Unsurprisingly this 'rape victim' doesn't mention, possibly didn't even involve, them. What would be cowardly was for a doctor to pretend they did and lie, as though it could somehow make a distressed girl feel better about themselves, their decisions and circumstances. It goes against the original oath of their profession. Do you think, short of violent sexual assault, rape is physically distinguishable from consensual sex, or a doctor can somehow easily tell? It's easy to cry rape, but sometimes much harder to prove.

It's shameful someone could act so cowardly, especially given the amount of responsibility their position holds; unacceptable.

They're responsible for the health of their patients and to a degree their families and community, for healing their injuries, not for correcting, condemning or condoning their lifestyle choices, accidents or errors, nor crusading beyond their purview. Do you think it's good for a doctor to validate a girl misgivings or pressure them into pursuing legal action that would put considerable costly strain not only her, but her family and community at large, especially if any evidence (excluding any family history) seems equivocal, and the desired outcome doubtful? By contrast Doctors making decisions for women, like denying them health care options because of their personal beliefs (like refusing abortions, say in cases of rape), seems by comparison far worse, truly unacceptable. Maybe it's good you aren't a doctor.

What is maybe especially cowardly and reprehensible is real victims of crime not seeking justice. That's effectively condoning and tolerating it, risking the same being done upon others.

It seems she was probably taken advantage while inebriated (who knows, maybe for the first time, or naive among a bad crowd, or things just got wild and out of control, all sadly hardly uncommon), but it's not proof. She may simply be remorseful or forgetful of consenting, and mostly regret the consequent public shaming, and is just adept at spinning and embellishing it, a writer after all. It's cowardly not to name names, unless you're likely to face the losing end of a libel suit.

It may all suck, the way the world works for girls, but dealing with it is probably better than having them live and learn it the hard way, why sympathy like yours is important to be generous with and spread round.

/r/books Thread Parent Link - nytimes.com