Horrific Cultural Double Standard

The weekend before last I needed something to do and I remembered that the play “Extremities” by William Mastrosimone was playing in Cheyenne. So I called my best friend and the two of us headed over. The play was very intense. During the first ten minutes I almost walk out because it was too much for me. To be completely honest I just put my head down and didn’t even watch. Seeing a woman being assaulted left me speechless to say the least. After Marjorie took control of the situation it was a little better and I could resume watching. I don’t think I would go so far as to say that I enjoyed the play but it was very interesting to contemplate after it was over. My emotions toward the characters seem to change the more I think of it. At first I was thinking that Raul got what he deserved and wished something like this happened to every rapist. After thinking about it I realized that Marjorie had pushed it too far and should have sought help and medical attention sooner. I do understand that she was confused and scared but that is not an excuse for creating that much harm to another person. I also find culturally it very interesting that during the attack of Marjorie in the beginning most of the theater was like me and had to turn their heads away and could barely handle what was going on. However when Raul was being attacked, burned, and tortured no one seemed to have a problem with that. Interesting that a woman being attacked is hard to handle but a man being tortured is tolerable; it makes me rethink the double standard that we have set in our culture. How did such a nation where equality is so important create such a horrific double standard of inequality.