ABSTRACT
In Ellen Levine’s 1972 cartoon, “Feminist Graffiti,” her coarsely drawn female figure meditates on a cultural pronouncement “All women secretly want to be raped” (Koedt, 122). The figure’s eyebrows sew together in worry as she considers that she may not be “a real woman” because she lacks this desire. This leads the figure to decide that, perhaps, she doesn’t “want to be a woman” after all (Koedt, 123). Of course! Who would want to be a woman under such terms? The figure looks dejected by the end of this reasoning, for what can she do? She may have no desire for sexual violation, but that does not protect her from being raped or disbelieved if she testifies that rape is against her will. She may not “want to be a woman” in such a culture, but she has no choice.
