How about a game of tactical thermonuclear war?

[andrewducker]

Over here is a discussion I got into predicated on this:

Which is worse - rape or murder?

Got your answer?

You probably answered "murder". Now, would you let your children play rape games? Would you play them yourself? If you answered "no" to either, your next question is: Why are the murder games okay?

Comments

[imester.livejournal.com]

As a kid, I played both -- depending on how you couch it.

We certainly played catch-the-bad-guy, which involved a fair amount of shooting and the occasional grisly death scene, but usually resulted in capture and escape (because who wants to be out of the game?)

And everyone I knew who played with barbie dolls played the eternal sex game -- all barbies ever do is have sex, whether or not they really want to.

I don't know that we ever played a rape sequence where it was recognized as such, with fear and violence attached. But then, I don't think we ever played a murder with fear and consequences, either.

I think as a society (I'm in the US, YMMV), we recognize that violence is a potentially acceptable solution to some problems, while violent rape is never considered to be an acceptable solution (with coercive rape still largely under debate). So kids go on.

One of my friends evidently attended a school that practiced non-violence and cooperative activities. His stories make me wish there were more like it.