does the F word count?

Nebraska judge lacks clue re: Truth at I Blame The Patriarchy

if you follow the links, you'll eventually get to the story of a nebraska judge who has banned the used of the word 'rape' in, uh, rape trials. apparently, the word rape (the crime being prosecuted) is too inflammatory. yeah. that's why SO many rapists are in jail these days. because emotional juries just throw the book at them and their raping ways.

what else will disappear from the lexicon because it's just too mentally distressing for men to handle?

if women cannot name what has happened to them, if we're forced to call it some other cleaner less intrusive word, then what happens to the actual rape? does it really disappear or does it make people feel better about not having to deal with the fact that women still get treated like shit?

(and i don't mean that in a 'you hurt my feelings' way. when i say women get treated like shit i mean that their unique experiences are ignored and aren't given the same weight as men's experiences. it's great for the guy accused of rape if his accuser can't say the word; it sucks for the woman who's operating from a default position of being assumed a liar.)

and of course, in the back our minds is the duke/lacrosse team thing. they're exonerated and now the woman who accused them will never ever be believed. women will never ever be believed. we can't say rape, we can't control our own reproduction, we can't avoid being killed by intimate partners.

is this really what being a woman is all about in this century?
is this the little progress we've made?