Since September, a serial rapist has been attacking citizens of Houston. According to reports, the rapist randomly chooses his victims before he stalks, robs and sexually assaults them at gunpoint. Although vicious crimes such as these are always noteworthy, there is an additional twist that has given this story national attention: the victims are all teenage boys. In fact, there is a high likelihood that more than five boys have been victimized by the Houston rapist. Unfortunately, as the police rightly suspect, many of the boys are too embarrassed to admit that they’ve been raped.

In addition to being uncommon, at least within our media purview, this case rsaises interesting issue about masculinity, sexuality, and the politics of rape.

Although rape happens less frequently to men than women, particularly outside of prison, it is nonetheless a more common phenomenon than most people want to acknowledge. According to FBI statistics, nearly 3% of all adult males will be raped in their lifetime. In addition, most experts believe that, given the taboo nature of the subject, the number is considerably higher.

Despite the relative frequency of male rape, there is a considerable lack of public concern for the phenomenon. One reason for the public’s indifference to male rape is the notion that “a real man wouldn’t get raped.” This position is informed by the belief that a man should be able to protect himself from a male or female attacker. Of course, this position is unreasonable since many attacks are done at knife or gunpoint. Additionally, many victims, both male and female, “freeze” during rape out of shock and/or fear for their lives. Tragically, it is this idea that makes it difficult for male victims to report crimes, as they fear that their inability to defend themselves causes a permanent fracture to their masculinity.

Another reason is the perceived relationship between homosexuality and male rape. Specfically, many Americans are under the false assumption that most victims of male rape are homosexual men. Given the homophobic nature of American society, this makes it considerably easier for many to turn a blind eye to the crisis. Like prostitutes, many people feel that gay men are sexual deviants who “deserve whatever they get.” In addition to being disgustingly inhumane on its face, such a position ignores the fact that more than 40% of all male rape victims identity as exclusively heterosexual. Nevertheless, many male victims of rape are unwilling or unable to come to terms with their ordeal out of fear that they will be seen as gay. Additionally, given Western society’s conflation of sex and sexuality as well as its impoverished understanding of queer identities (i.e. “gay is as gay does”), many victims actually suspect that their experience has made them gay. As such, many choose to submerge or sublimate their ordeal in order to protect their heterosexuality and, by extension, masculinity.

As the Houston case demonstrates, identity politics are not merely theoretical indulgences by intellectuals and cultural critics. To the contrary, the ways in which masculinity and sexuality are constructed within public life have debilitating material consequences for all of us. In order to challenge this, we must begin honest, informed, and public dialogues about these issues.