Wow! I had no idea there was such an interesting discussion board on here! I just came on to see why there hadn't been any new episodes lately, I may have to come back to get in on these convos!
I'd like to briefly chime in about what I thought about the story.
I am really grateful that this story is opening up a conversation about "what is rape?" in a culture that seldom has the stomach to look at the issue for very long.
I think it is very unfortunate that we live in a society in which victims of sexual assault of any kind feel the need to remain silent for fear of stigmatization.
did the tribble rape etan? Here I think that we've really assumed that the creature is capable of understanding human emotions. If you are defining his rape as: intentionally invoking fear and alarm for sexual gain, than from Etan's perspective, then yes. What are not considering is does the creature understand that the particular vibrations he prefers are from fear? from anger? Can he understand that sex is a power/control/trust issue in humans? Can he be committing a crime if he's unaware of the implications?
Now I am NOT trying to promote that human rapists/sexual violators can/should be freed from this idea of intent, since they are part of and in tune with the human condition. I think it's interesting that no one so far (that I read) has questioned our automatic assumption that the Tribble experiences life the way we do and can conceptualize harm/fear/rape. Very anthropomorphic.
The navigator is obviously uncomfortable with what he is perceiving as a sexual violation. He passes that concept onto Etan. Had the navigator never mentioned sex, Etan would never have thought of it in that way, and hence (because of the lack of physical intimacy) would not have been violated in anyway other than the way we all feel after encountering a indolent, crazy person on the bus.
What if the navigator is misinterpreting the creatures feelings of sexual satisfaction? How can we really know if that's what's going on, or if that's the navigators interpretation of events?
I'm just saying, let's not assume that we can understand Tribbles.
Welcome, elleasea! I'm glad you've decided to check out the forum and join the discussion.
Interesting points! I assumed that the alien understood human fear/reactions/taboos because of the presence of the navigator. The navigator seemed to be both dedicated to doing his job well and also prone to talk, so I would assume that he would've told his employer at great length about whatever he wanted to know. Then again, the alien might just not be interested in explanations as long as he gets his satisfaction, and could've ignored any explanation.
And your questioning of the assumption that the navigator understands the alien to any great degree is also a good point. We don't know if he made that interpretation up himself or if his employer told him directly. Even if he was told directly, that doesn't mean that he wasn't misled or that he didn't misunderstand. If I had an assistant of another species, I doubt I'd tell him certain details such as details of certain "taboo" subjects, and the definition of "taboo" varies widely even between human cultures.
And is this alien's "sexual" feeling necessarily the same as what we'd interpret as sexual? Our minds can have other strong reactions provoked by sounds or scents. If I walk past a music hall and hear the sounds of a beautiful symphony I might be overcome with emotion. If I tried to explain this to a member of another sentient species, would they really understand that this human emotion caused by music is any different than human sexual pleasure? So in the story, when the navigator is explaining this, I don't think it's far-fetched to speculate that the navigator doesn't entirely understand his employer. Would this story be any less creepy if the alien were only experiencing an emotional reaction to an auditory cue that triggers something in its brain that has nothing to do with sex, much like a beautiful symphony might have on me? Could it still be construed as rape if neither Etan nor the alien see it as sexual at the time of the event, but the navigator convinces Etan's it was sexual after the fact?
And in the case of experiencing strong emotion when walking past a music hall--could that be considered a violation? If this alien responds sexually to different noises, maybe the sound of a violin simulates a similar feeling in its mind as being raped. If you invited the alien to a symphony, is that a crime?