The more conspiracy-minded out there can make of it what they will but according to the Online Etymology Dictionary and other sources the word rape and rapture have the same roots
rapture
1600, “act of carrying off,” from M.Fr. rapture, from M.L. raptura “seizure, rape, kidnapping,” from L. raptus “a carrying off” (see rapt). Originally of women and cognate with rape (v.). Sense of “spiritual ecstasy” first recorded 1629.
Note #1: Language is weird. You’d think the word rhapsody would be related as well but evidently not.
Note #2: I decided to look up the etymology of “rapture” when I read in Wikipedia’s list of paraphilias (a.k.a. list of Latin names for fetishes) that “Raptophilia: sexual pleasure from being raped (when agreed upon beforehand but acted out in public.)” This seems like an extraordinarily peculiar paraphilia but evidently it’s completely made up.
Note #3: I was perusing the Wikipedia list of paraphilias in search of further information about an absolutely new-to-me fetish I discovered via Calico at Dominatrix Next Door. Evidently I was mistaken that stripping is the ultimate expression of men’s deliberate misconception that women aren’t actually interested in sex. Instead, while I still haven’t found any specific examination of the fetish there appears to be a busy clientele of men who get off on just… giving money… to women in exchange for… nothing except, evidently, humiliating withholding sex. This fetish is known as “financial domination.”
Note #4: While I really didn’t mean to bring this up when I started this post, you might worry about me if I didn’t point out that as almost absolutely different as rape and “financial domination” are, of course, both related to men’s belief that women aren’t naturally interested in sex and must therefore be induced to “put out” through means fair and/or foul… but never because they might just enjoy sex for its own sake.
Submitted by 1945 (not verified) on Mon, 2008-02-18 23:45.
The etymology of rapture isn't all that surprising when you connect it with *The Rapture.* Does this imply that those who believe in it are indulging secret rape fantasies? No clue - I've heard that I'll be Left Behind, so it's not quite my concern.
And then there's raptor, as in bird of prey. That's got to come from the same root. (My hamfisted googling of it says yep, rapere is the root, but then again I know squat about Latin.)
It's all about thieving, as far as I can see.
[I think you're right about the shared origin -- sort of like the myth that the orginial "best man" was the guy who warded off the woman's family while she was (voluntarily?) carried off by her suitor! The association of *that word* with violent penetration might have come later. One way or the other, eww. Thanks, Sungold. --fl]
Submitted by 1945 (not verified) on Tue, 2008-02-19 07:33.
"Findom," as it's sometimes called, is a somewhat common fetish(as far as "fetishes one reads about the Internet" goes) among submissive men.
[Yes, DY, but I'm still trying to figure out exactly what's involved?!?!? I can Google a lot of people who *do it* but no explanation of exactly what it is! --fl]
Submitted by 1945 (not verified) on Tue, 2008-02-19 09:46.
So, I did study Latin, fo my sins, and I hated it with a passion. Then to my dismay my sons studied Latin too, so I studied it three times.
I can remember all too clearly the day when we came across rapio rapere (to carry off) which was immediately followed by facio facere (to do) in the same declension. I swear the teacher put them together so that we would go through life unable to forget them.
I fear you are making too much of the common root of rapture and rape. They have evolved in different directions. Similarly mission and missile.
[Lesson learned, A. Thanks. I remember when I was *very* young my dear Mother reciting to us "hic, hac, hoc / Latin is a joke / Before all my classes / I down three glasses / hic, hic, hic." Also "Latin is a dead lang-uage / As dead as it can be / It killed the Romans and the Greeks / And now it's killing me." :-) --fl]
Submitted by 1945 (not verified) on Tue, 2008-02-19 13:23.
Here's one reassuring thought: etymological links between words of a language aren't usually enough to link them in the minds of speakers. Speaking a language just doesn't seem to give people any insight into where it came from. (Case in point, this recent book that got panned by Language Log. If English speakers had any insight into the origins of English, the book would not be nearly so popular, and probably wouldn't even have been written. Also, if you don't read Language Log already, it's definitely worth adding to your reading list. I'm not sure whether it's the sort of thing that you're interested in adding to your blogroll, as it's not really about sex.)
Also, something I've wondered about findom ever since I've heard of the thing (from Bitchy Jones, actually): do findoms complain about all the non-sex that women are giving away for free these days? I refuse to have sex with a lot of submissive men out of my own genuine lack of desire (even leaving aside the ones I refuse to have sex with for other less sexy reasons, like the fact that I'm monogamously partnered).
[I know, P. It's just the ultimate isn't it? And you gotta wonder about the guys and what sort of trust they have to have that... what? --fl]
Submitted by 1945 (not verified) on Tue, 2008-02-19 17:51.
Hmmm... P. Burke has me thinking, now. There are a lot of men I refuse to have sex with... submissive and otherwise. And yet, I don't seem to be making much money out of it. Which must mean that they aren't getting off on my refusing to have sex with them? Seems rather a lose-lose situation. I guess I really should start charging for saying no. It's the generous thing to do.
Oh... except for the fact that it goes against everything I believe in as a human being.
[Well, Marianne, it's not anywhere near as bad as the implications about what kind of politics the forced-pregnancy porn crowd is into, but yeah, the idea that there might be guys out there getting their rocks off thanks to the abstinence/gatekeeper crowd is just... creepy! :-) --fl]
Submitted by 1945 (not verified) on Wed, 2008-02-20 00:40.
I've been worrying all night that I said declension in the comment above, and I see I did. Mrs Shepherd, please forgive me! mea culpa, mea maxima culpa.
But I'm greatly cheered up by the link to the Language Log. Thank you for that P. Burke :)
[Wow, A. Over the years I've noticed a lot of people have that kind of personal association with, especially, their childhood Latin teachers. --fl]