Tuesday, January 9, 2007

The Acceptance of Powerlessness is Power

At my book club last night, we discussed the book Running with Scissors. All three women gave the book a thumbs up. But, it brought up a questionable interpretation of one of the main events that occurred in the book, as well as a running theme throughout the book.

There is an excerpt regarding a 13 year old boy who had his first sexual encounter (ever) with a man who was 33. During our discussion, 2 of the 3 gals described the scene as a rape. While one person only saw it as rough sex, but consensual. After some discussion, it was also noted that the man was a pedophile (by default because he was so much older than the boy) and used power to control this 13 year old boy into continuing his highly dysfunctional, but satisfying sexual relationship with him for 2 years.

My confusion comes in when I try to imagine how 3 people, so similar in age, socio-economic status, race, etc. can have such different opinions about a topic. This is what I love and hate about this book club. Three people-three very different opinions about the same topic.

I certainly appreciate the fact that these gals are confident enough to express their feelings, although very different. I also appreciate the perspective that I gain by listening to each one, thinking about what they said, and then having a chance to reformulate my opinions with the receipt of new data.

No comments: