He said, she said: short story
June 26, 2010 7:53 AM   Subscribe

Short Story Filter: What story did I read decades ago about a (possible) rape in a cornfield? A simple, classic tale of ambiguity.
posted by LonnieK to Writing & Language (5 answers total) 1 user marked this as a favorite
 
not sure about the cornfield, but Joyce Carol Oates' "Where are you going, where have you been?" sounds kind of similar.
posted by thinkingwoman at 8:03 AM on June 26, 2010


There is an excerpt from Lisa Alther's Kinflicks in the anthology The Best of Modern Humor (Mordecai Richler, editor).

It's told from the POV of a Ginny Babcock, whose lesbian (bi?) lover Laverne gets involved with an impromptu "football" game in the commune where they live. Her lover enthusiastically agrees to be a "skin," (as in, shirts and skins to denote who's on who's side) and peels her shirt off, revealing some gorgeous breasts.

The whole thing, in which the football is actually a squash, appears to be a pretext for a lot of horseplay, which soon heads off from Ginny's view or Ginny turns away because of her jealousy. When she hears noises, she looks again in the corn patch and thinks the men have started raping her. While a closer look does confirm they are each having sex with her in turn, Laverne is unequivocally consenting in words and deeds. "Faster, faster... don't stop now, you son of a bitch..."
posted by randomkeystrike at 8:43 AM on June 26, 2010


Best answer: Dorothy Canfield Fisher: Sex Education? Here is a synopsis from Google Books .
posted by prenominal at 8:46 AM on June 26, 2010


Response by poster: Thanks all -- I'm sure prenominal ID'd the one I remember. Can't beat the hive for something like this.
posted by LonnieK at 8:51 AM on June 26, 2010


Well, anyway, I thought mine was more interesting.

j/k, glad you found it. I know how it is to try to find something you read ages ago.
posted by randomkeystrike at 9:02 AM on June 26, 2010


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