Dilbert Creator Scott Adams Says Rape Is A 'Natural Instinct' For Men

"Dilbert" creator Scott Adams is finding himself in hot water again—this time with a blog post saying rape is a "natural instinct" for men.

The "Dilbert" creator wrote the post, called "Pegs and Holes," on his personal blog.

The cartoonist wrote a blog musing:

Powerful men have been behaving badly, e.g. tweeting, raping, cheating, and being offensive to just about everyone in the entire world. The current view of such things is that the men are to blame for their own bad behavior. That seems right. Obviously we shouldn’t blame the victims.

But then he starts blaming society:

All I’m saying is that society has evolved to keep males in a state of continuous unfulfilled urges, more commonly known as unhappiness. No one planned it that way. Things just drifted in that direction ... But in general, society is organized as a virtual prison for men’s natural desires.

Yes, Scott Adams believes it's all society's fault.

So, what are we going to do?

He writes, "Long term, I think science will come up with a drug that keeps men chemically castrated for as long as they are on it. It sounds bad, but I suspect that if a man loses his urge for sex, he also doesn’t miss it."

Adams concedes that this might sound like a horrible world, but he says, "You’d have no rape, fewer divorces, stronger friendships, and a lot of other advantages. I think that’s where we’re headed in a few generations."

The ultra offensive blog post has been skewered all over the Internet, leaving most wondering if, instead of his thoughts on rape, Scott Adams can explain why he keeps blogging.

Comments

[SexoGrammaticus]

10:29 AM on 06/30/2011

This is ridiculous. Did any of you even click through and read Adams's entire original post? It only mentions rape once, and only as part of a list of various unacceptable sex-related urges that men have. It is clearly much more about men struggling with monogamy or general sexual harassment/offensiveness. And he doesn't "advocate" anything: he makes observations and predictions. There is not one prescriptive argument in the entire post. To the extent that he makes ethical statements, they rest on *conceding* that men's baser instincts are unacceptable in a civilized society, so anyone who read this as "Scott Adams says that rape is okay" does not know how to read, period.

[Empa]

07:23 PM on 06/23/2011

I'm male and I like Dilbert, but I've seen trolls on a Youtube forum with better understandings of evolution, human diversity, psychology and what makes a person happy.

He's just a sad old millionaire who can't understand why he's so miserable, and assumes that all men should be too.

[lovelybunchofcoconuts]

04:27 AM on 06/23/2011

Ultra offensive in this pc environment. Otherwise just a point of view, one that has been shared by many people of both genders, probably throughout the history of civilization. Freud, for example, said pretty much the same thing.

[Empa]

07:19 PM on 06/23/2011

That's horrifically offensive to Freudian thought, which itself has long been shown inferior to Jungian. Freud believed that everyone, men and women, have strong, constant sexual urges which are kept in check by the superego. He believed that by understanding the interplay between the id and superego one could undertstand oneself rationally and control desires with little or no difficulty, He never said that the desires themselves cause unhappiness or could only be controlled by medication, as he wasn't a moron and realized that people could be happy without raping everything they see or chemically castrating themselves.

[lovelybunchofcoconuts]

01:01 AM on 06/24/2011

Thank you for setting me straight.

[rbryanh]

12:17 AM on 06/23/2011

One day before I die, I'd like just once for some straight pundefactor to precede his ridiculous generalizations about men and sex with the word "heterosexual."

"…society has evolved to keep males in a state of continuous unfulfilled urges, more commonly known as unhappiness…"

Which males would those be, Scott? I haven't suffered from "continuous unfulfilled urges" since I escaped Catholic high school (where I learned the difference between "continuous" and "continual," along with less palatable things).

As a bystander in the war between the sexes, married straight men almost invariably impress me as somehow neutered. Having so utterly accepted the traditional woman's sexual agendas and all the sanctimonious moralizing that goes with it, it seldom seems to occur to them to claim their own.

Monogamy is one choice among many possibilities. One that's a hell of frustration, boredom, sadness, and loss for most men.

And anger - let's not forget anger. The failure to stand up for themselves often makes straight men very, very angry. So angry that they make ridiculous, insupportable statements about rape in public forums just to watch the fur fly.

[FilMishMish]

10:34 AM on 06/23/2011

Actually they are quite supportable. At school, instead of focusing on nitpicky grammar points, you should have taken an evolutionary biology class. Then you would know just how important rape has been to our evolution. It may be a hard pill to swallow, and no one is advocating, but you can't shy away from the science and our own history.

BTW. Not everything is about you. Just because you can't relate, doesn't mean it's not valid.

[rbryanh]

04:04 PM on 06/23/2011

Speaking of "all about you" and nitpicking, you've ignored 99% of my post - and it's point - in order to attack two words and imply a whole other mini-essay that has little to do with anything I've written.

I can relate well to what Adams writes; I just don't agree. Speaking for myself, natural selection has resulted in an organism which would like to punch you in the face for being obtuse, but as the idea is anathema to me I argue with you instead. "Born this way" is not a rationalization for dishonesty, brutality, pointless aggression, or rape.

My point is that straight men spend a lot of time whining about the raw deal they get sexually, but seldom consider it's been handed to them by church, state, and women - not biology, destiny or God. Circumstances may deal the hand, but how you play it is up to you.

Perhaps a little more time with Jonathan Swift and a bit less with Richard Dawkins?

[Empa]

07:21 PM on 06/23/2011

Evolutionary biology has very little to do with the study of what makes people happy. Even evo psychology, itself a field with serious racism and sexism issues (remember last months "Why black women are ugly" post on Psychology today?) has never gone so ridiculously out of their minds as to suggest that all men are unhappy because, among other things, they're not allowed to rape.

Why is it that the people who think biology has all the answers to human happiness have never actually read a paper on happiness?

[sarikarkus]

11:34 PM on 06/22/2011

He has a point.

[Lindstr7]

10:26 PM on 06/22/2011

Who cares about the creator of "Dilbert" and his screed du jour. He seems to think that all men have the urge to rape and pillage but the rules of "society" (i.e., women) hold them back from having all that fun.

Soon the evil women of the world will have you all chemically castrated and you will be under our ultimate controllLLLLLLL waaahahahah. Our evil plan is working perfectly.

[Lindstr7]

10:07 PM on 06/22/2011

Doh. When are they going to figure it out. Rape is about power and violence. Not sexual gratification. No need to castrate the entire male species Mr. Dilbert. What a tortured soul you must be.

[Matteo Ferrazzi]

01:02 PM on 06/27/2011

I believe that the reason why gender studies focus so much on rape being about power and violence is not out of an emotional response to the issue, which is something male chauvinists like to say. It is another thing entirely: our biological differences are so great and incommensurable that any talk of 'sexual urges' is incomprehensible for the opposing side, so no healthy debate can come out of it, except perhaps within the same gender - which I still find debatable. For this reason rape and sexual violence in general needs to be put into a framework of power and violence, so that it may be understood both by males and females. I don't think that it is purely out of an emotional response to the problem, but even if it was, it would still be a valid point to make: the only way to convince men of the horrific psychological effect of rape is to call it a power play, because we find that abhorrent too. It is as logical a point as can be within such a topic. Attributing that to horniness inevitably trivializes it no matter how true it could actually be. By all means keep claiming that rape is about power and violence. If I were a politician or people relied on my public opinions in any way, I would say the same. Privately, I can see things more literally and not worry about the connotations.

[siouxzen]

01:46 PM on 07/06/2011

"It is another thing entirely: our biological difference­s are so great and incommensu­rable that any talk of 'sexual urges' is incomprehe­nsible for the opposing side, so no healthy debate can come out of it, except perhaps within the same gender - which I still find debatable."

Really? Actually, men and women are much more similar than different on a genetic level, and research continues to support that gender is much more socially constructed, and not very well explained through evolutionary psychology.

I will agree with you that rape can stem from more than power play. Some people do not understand consent. Some people are not raised to respect the boundaries of others. Some people lack empathy. Some people are sociopaths.

Bottom line, it doesn't matter what the reason is. People are social creatures, and rape is (or at least should be) outside the limits of acceptable behavior and punished accordingly.

Also, some reading: http://www.thetech.org/genetics/ask.php?id=38

[Conservative666]

07:34 PM on 06/22/2011

I can't read his mind, but to me he is saying the bad behaviors mentioned are the baddest results because of the limitations put on men by society. Cheating is a social problem not a problem of our closest cousins, the apes, were sex among multiple partners is a given. Rape is either an act of sex or an act of violence using sex. Violence is also part of nature, and I am glad it is suppressed by society as I am glad rape is. But as a desperate act of sex, rape would diminish if prostitution was legal or maybe if some people felt more comfortable with masturbation.

[Lindstr7]

10:09 PM on 06/22/2011

I doubt that rape would diminish if prostitution was legal. Its, as you say, not about sex, but about violence and control. Its the violence in this society that needs to be addressed, not the sex drives.

[Conservative666]

10:30 PM on 06/22/2011

Some rape is about sex. Date rapes where the victim is drugged and unaware I doubt really is about violence. I also imagine that other date rapes might also fall under sex not violence category. I would guess most rapes among youngsters is the same, though I doubt legalized prostitution would help there.

[pictureunprfct]

05:51 PM on 06/22/2011

This is no surprise. Men will always excuse the behavior of other men by blaming anything else besides the offender. They will also continue to try and convince women that this is somehow their fault.

[Cdangers]

12:37 AM on 06/23/2011

I think you missed the point. He's saying that men in general have these kinds of urges hard wired in their brain and that it's the rule of society that keep most from acting upon those urges. He is fully blaming the men for their actions but saying that their is a natural component to it. Laws of nature trump societal laws.

[pictureunprfct]

10:46 AM on 06/23/2011

That is still absurd. This would infer that women somehow don't have the same urges that men do, which I know for a fact is wrong. All humans are hardwired to want these things. If anything it means that men are weak and unable to somehow control themselves, but it's societies responsibility to make sure they behave themselves. I believe it's everyone's responsibility to behave themselves and saying that the constraints put on them to act like a decent being are just too hard is a cop out.

Also equating rape to cheating on your wife with a consensual partner is ridiculous.

[sensimilla]

04:48 PM on 06/22/2011

i see nothing wrong with the article or his viewpoint. I also agree that society has a role to play in how men act. In the end it's up to each of us to find our moral center and act in society from there. Society tends to go to the lowest common denominator, especially the propaganda profit machine we call "news".

[avastyenamchi]

10:12 PM on 06/27/2011

Perhaps the root of this problem is that "society has a role to play in how man act." And by society, I don't just mean women (as Adams apparently thinks it does. Btw, that's ridiculous. Since when have women set all the norms for society? If you look at most places, you'll find that it is the man who dictates how women should act.).

I think the problem is that everyone lumps people into categories and expects them to act accordingly?

Have you guys ever considered that some girls have just as much of a sex drive? Or that some guys don't think about sex that much?

P.S. Adams belongs in the caveman era. Just saying.

[geo999]

01:52 PM on 06/22/2011

The American Apparel ad on this page is disgusting.

[sensimilla]

04:45 PM on 06/22/2011

out of style maybe, but disgusting? get real.

[geo999]

09:02 PM on 06/22/2011

lol. That's not the picture that was here earlier today.

[Jacques Steen]

04:59 PM on 06/22/2011

Yeah - like GET RID OF IT, HP

[themidnightreview]

01:50 PM on 06/22/2011

I think people are blowing this out of proportion. When looking at our evolutionary functions, the male's job is essentially to spread its seed and produce as many offspring. We have created a society (religious/governmental/etc.) that benefits monogamous relationships, and while some men fit well into that category, it also goes against natural urges.

[ThBigD]

03:23 PM on 06/22/2011

Um, no. Read the first part of his statement again.

Men do not have a "natural urge" to rape, etc. If they did, society would not have laws against it, or look down upon sexual misconduct. Men make up the rules of society as much as, if not more than women do.

Adams is an idiot.

[themidnightreview]

10:13 PM on 06/22/2011

We have laws against it because the society we had created looks down upon sexual misconduct. This falls in line in what I had studied in my Human Evolution course studies. PEople are just upset because of Adams' language. Had he wrote "Men have the natural urge to spread their seed," people wouldn't be as upset.

[Cdangers]

12:41 AM on 06/23/2011

The rules were initially created, at least in most of the western world, by christian figures in the church. Figures who looked down upon sexual misconduct and who they themselves were not allowed to engage in sexual activity.

[Cdangers]

12:42 AM on 06/23/2011

As I've said before. Natural law trumps societal law.

[Tracee Collins]

01:46 PM on 06/22/2011

Ah, but RAPE is about VIOLENCE, Mister! You being a seemingly educated man, should know that.

[Matteo Ferrazzi]

03:06 PM on 06/27/2011

and using slogans is enough to pass as being educated, apparently

[Hollywoodnun]

01:22 PM on 06/22/2011

Lighten up everyone! This is one of the funniest blog entries Scott has made lately, and way better than Pegs and Holes. Osama's Productivity: http://www.dilbert.com/blog/entry/osamas_productivity/

[MJohnson11224]

01:18 PM on 06/22/2011

I totally agree with Scott.
>>society has evolved to keep males in a state of continuous unfulfilled urges, more commonly known as unhappiness AKA MARRIAGE!
And if you think about it, without rape our species would have died out before we'd have even got to the caveman stage.

[ThBigD]

03:25 PM on 06/22/2011

"If you don't think about it, it seems to make sense that without rape, a crime of violence that has nothing to do with procreation, our species would have died out before we'd have even got to the caveman stage".

Fixed.

Your actual statement is so pathetic it is not even wrong.

[madfoot]

05:21 PM on 06/26/2011

Explain to me how rape has never involved sex or led to pregnancy.

[Matteo Ferrazzi]

01:13 PM on 06/27/2011

rape has nothing to do with procreation? It's tough to argue either way, but I will try to argue that it does have something to do with it. If we take the society of primitive man, which was not hierarchical, it's hard to say that rape was about power. What notion can you have of 'power' if that concept doesn't even exist? 'Violence' is even more puzzling. How can 'violence' be an end in itself? Violence is often attributed to repressed libido, in which case the answer is kind of staring at you in the face. But another point that is made pro-rape (?) and that is supremely wrong is that if women gave more consent to sex even when they dont want to, society would be less violent. Bullshit. Our urges dont work like that: they're the product of positive feedback loops, such that if an urge is satisfied in the short term, it will be even stronger in the long term. Which is the reason why Scott Adams suggests chemical castration - the only way is to eradicate desire from the source, even though I'm sure there's less drastic ways to go about it - I mean, most of us are doing ok, right?

[avastyenamchi]

10:18 PM on 06/27/2011

@MJohnson11224: So, you're saying that man is the victim of society?

If you've got a problem with marriage, then don't get married, people. It's a personal choice. Society is not forcing you to do it.

And what do you mean without rape our species would have died out? I didn't realize most females were so unwilling to have sex, or that rape is the only way our species could have continued. But apparently you know more about that than I do, even though I'm a woman.