Todd Akin, GOP Senate candidate from Missouri. The costume here fits the same timeline as his views on women and rape.

Over the weekend, Republican Senate candidate Todd Akin of Missouri, was asked his views on abortion. He’s agin’ it, of course.

Well, what if the pregnancy is the result of a rape?

“First of all, from what I understand from doctors, [pregnancy from rape] is really rare. If it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down,” Akin said. “But let’s assume that maybe that didn’t work or something. I think there should be some punishment, but the punishment ought to be on the rapist and not attacking the child.”

Really, Todd? And where does the woman come into your equation? I guess nowhere.

And what does he mean by legitimate rape? I’ll bet I know. I’ll bet he thinks most women are just asking for it and he thinks if the woman really doesn’t want sex, her body won’t allow a baby to be conceived. In other words, she really wanted it. She was probably asking for it. Maybe she wore an outfit that looked good on her. Maybe she has worked hard to have a healthy body, or perhaps she agreed to have dinner with a man or accepted a ride home after a party. She owes him if he’s done something nice for her. She allowed  herself to be alone with him, didn’t she? Doesn’t that mean she really wants it?

I thought we were past this fiction that women really want to have sex so they allow themselves to be raped.

Many years ago, a lesbian friend of mine was raped and the rapist went free because, as one cop actually said to her, “You probably just wanted to see what sex with a man was like.”

This blame-the-victim approach is so wrong, yet it keeps bobbing up on the right. She was asking for it somehow, so she deserves what she gets.

About 32,100 adult women become pregnant each year in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control (http://www.cdc.gov/ViolencePrevention/pdf/sv-factsheet-a.pdf).

Does this mean 32,100 women really wanted to have sex with their attackers? Absolutely not. This is just an ignorant male fantasy. Ignorant men like to think they’re irresistible, and some will go to great lengths to keep the fantasy alive.

Get over yourself, Todd. Women don’t want sex with every man they meet, especially men who force themselves on women.