We all agree that rape is a terrible thing, but we no longer agree on what rape is. Today's definition has stretched beyond bruises and knives, threats of death or violence to include emotional pressure and the influence of alcohol. The lines between rape and sex begin to blur. It is measuring her word against his in a realm where words barely exist. There is a gray area in which one person's rape may be another's bad night.
Definitions become entangled in passionate ideological battles.
The next question, then, is who is identifying this epidemic and why. Asserting the prevalence of rape lends urgency, authority to a broader critique of culture. Wolf's rhetorical excess serves her larger polemic about sexual politics. Her dramatic prose is a call to arms. She is really trying to rally the feminist troops.