Violence against pregnant characters? Why?

[Lady_Alizarin]

This sounds like a touchy subject.... but I want to know why some people feel the need to bestow violence on a character that is supposed to be an expecting mother.
I have been part of roleplays where there is a character who is an expecting mother (and sometimes she will have the "unborn(s)" sitting next to her or underneath her). Suddenly, out of no where, some random strangers come around to pick a fight with the pack/pride/clan I'm in. They will mostly fight over the territory, or because their species is a rival with our species. When the fighting begins, they will often times go to the preganant female (who isn't even fighting and wanting to stay out of it) and start saying -Kicks hard at Lily's stomach to kill her unborn-  "Now your baby is dead!" I mean...really? -_- Not only is that a powerplaying kind of move, but it's also a very cruel, heartless thing to do to someone who isn't even fighting.

I've seen it happen many times. It happened to me once a long time ago when my fox character was supposed to be pregnant in a roleplay. Suddenly these clan cats start to pick a fight with our fox clan, they attack us, and one of them says, "This fox is pregnant! Lets kill the unborns to ensure our safety and survival for the future!" And then a few proceed to attack me and start kicking at my character's pregnant stomach. 
And then there was that time in another RP where I was helping a she-cat give birth to kit. Well there was a fight going on at the time, because these rogue apprentices wanted to prove they were strong enough to take on a full grown bobcat (my character) and some experienced warriors (my RP partners). Well while my character is trying to help the she-cat with the birth process and one warrior is trying to fight off the apprentices, one of the apprentices flies over and knocks her in her pregnant stomach to do harm to the unborn. Why?! She's not even involved, yet he went and did a cheap shot move like that.
And I saw an incident in Bonfire Island where a mare was kicking at the stomach of a pregnant mare because of some jealousy issue. I forget what it was all about, but one mare was trying to kill another mare's unborn foal.
There are many other stories and instances where I've seen violence against pregant characters, but there's too many to tell here.

What I don't understand is why some people would want do something so cruel to a character? Is it out of meanness? Is it to be cruel? To ruin the mood of a roleplay? Why? It's really nothing to be taken lightly. It's a very cruel and heartless thing to do. To interupt someone's roleplay and just go over to a pregnant character and "kick the stomach to kill unborn" is just terrible. Not only are you powerplaying, but you're being insensitive and rude.

What are your thoughts on this? Have you seen anything like this before? Has it happened to you during a roleplay?

[Chunky_Squirrel]

Well, I've seen one time, but it was a very long time ago.
Reading your post here about the rude peeps made me angry.
If there was a technoligy that kicks rude peeps out of the game.
The game itself would be very awesome. :I

[WhiteLightHeart]

I've never actually thought of this before, but you're right, that actually is a fairly prevalent occurrence in roleplay, with a pregnant (especially heavily-pregnant) character.

It kinda makes my blood boil, honestly, and could possibly be attributed to a lot of different things out in the real world, too (insensitivity to life, "unborn" life, and even whether it is a living soul, etc.).
But we're not touching that, for fears of this discussion going pro-life/pro-whatnot political, if you know what I mean.
That gets touchy.

My guess with this, though, is that it's another effect of the over-glorification of violence you see in many roleplays.

Let's look at one of the biggest and surprisingly most glorified character archetypes we see out in the public maps-- "The big, savage, cold, heinous heartless blah blah BRUTE." (Slightly exaggerated here, but you see my point.)

While some characters, especially testosterone-pumped males, may be pre-disposed to aggressive behavior, there are cases where roleplayers want to augment this fact by making their character... Well, more aggressive, or appear to be. They'll do this by making troubled-past bios like, "I killed my whole pack," or "I killed my father/brother/mate/etc.," and make them out to be ruthless characters.

Now, while these ruthless characters might like a big fight with a tough enemy.. But.
How fitting is it for this "big, savage, remorseless fighter" to hurt an 'enemy' in perhaps one of the most cruel and saddistic ways possible? Attacking a pregnant female, who is heavier and slower from carrying her precious baby, and kicking/attacking her until she has a miscarriage? Bereaving her, of her own cubs, kits or pups? Being forced to give birth to lifeless young, and not to mention the emotional trauma of the entire incident? What if it kills her, too? What of her mate?
That player's big brute would certainly look like a big, vicious beast now.
And so, the vicious, "standing up and fighting," "taking everything away from my enemy"-type character sometimes equals glorified in some roleplays, even if this "enemy" is a mother with helpless young. Not always, but it is a recurring theme.

I feel that--even if it isn't intentional--this is an underlying cause of why some players might see pregnant characters and their helpless unborn young as an easy target, and a "great way to boost their kill count," perhaps.

[peete]

Hmm....to me it sounds like these players just want something to happen to make the Rp more interesting or whatever. I mean come on....violence is the one key thing to drama or suspense in rps, especially rivalry. Kind of like how in some roleplays the cubs and pups are always getting in trouble (sneaking out, fighting, etc.). They'll go out, do something dangerous, and the whole group is jumped up and things get crazy.
If killing pregnant characters (or their unborns) is done correctly without powerplay and with a legit goal/reason (can't think of a word...), to me personally it's not a bad thing.

Now... if they see some random preggo and start attacking them for no apparent reason whatsoever, that player being attacked can either:
1. Tell them to stop.
2. Roll with it (just play along with the scenario)
3. Block them if all else fails

[Kerriki]

This has always bugged me. I personally have never experienced this or have seen a friend experience this, but I've listened to some people's roleplays before. It's a very cruel thing to do, in my opinion. Even in the real world criminals won't murder a pregnant woman, right? It's just so heartless.

[Tenturo]

I was in a roleplay not long ago for a horse herd (because I am amazing o.o)  any I was a character as a young filly.  Another mare who I shared a bond with as friends was pregnant, expecting a colt.  She'd picked out a name, when randomly a flock of squirrels comes along.  They said, "Scan the area secretly.  If you see any young or pregnant ones, kill them, or at least the babies."  And then a random squirrel named "Deathvibe" starts attacking the colt-expectant mare.  I was just like "o.o the hell is happening..."

I guess I never really noticed how often it happened until I started to roleplay a bit more in game.  I usually sat and chatted with my friends and barely noticed it.  But I also noticed that it happens in many books.  For example, the warriors series.  Often, there are kidnapping times where a clan invades and steals or kills the kits of the clan It is invading.  If you have started on Dawn of the Clans, the 2nd or 3rd book involves a lot of protection of kits being killed or kidnapped. (I don't want to give too much away for those who haven't gotten there yet.)  I guess I never really noticed how often It occurred.  I agree, it is violent and cruel, especially if the mother and/or kits are trying to avoid the fighting.  It bothers me the most when they either powerplay about it, or only when the seek out the pregnant females and the young.  So.  Yeah.  Meow.

[Lady_Alizarin]

It's a very cruel thing to do, in my opinion. Even in the real world criminals won't murder a pregnant woman, right? It's just so heartless.

Oh you'd be surprised to know that there are criminals in this world who actually will do that to women. Most of the time criminals will not care who the victim is. They will not feel any remorse or regret for killing or harming someone, not even a woman who is with child. Someone told me a story about how they knew someone who robbed a gas station convinient store, and shot the pregnant woman behind the register. Shot her right between the eyes and killed her. When she died, so did the unborn baby. When the police caught the guy and asked him why he killed her, his response was, "Eh, just for the fun of it." So he was locked up in prison for the charges of killing her. He was only charged for murdering her, and not her unborn baby... even though he should have been.
The sad truth is, there are cruel people in this world who would not hesitate to kill a woman who is expecting. They hold no value for the lives of others, and have no remorse whatsoever.  

@DevilBurgers.

Well... I suppose if it's part of the story plot and everyone is in agreement that that's what's part of the RP, then I suppose it's okay.
I was basically refering to the kind of people who show up out of no where and pretty much barge into an RP for the sake of starting a fight and harming characters. If they show up and start kicking at a pregnant character for no particular reason but just to disrupt an RP, that's when it gets annoying.

[flomfloat83]

Some people just to make the characters' seem cruel and heartless.
That's the only scenario I've ever seen. Not just to annoy.

But it is damn pretty annoying when some bub comes over like this:

Stranger: The dark, cold brujo stepped over the expecting femora and began to beat her stomach ruthlessly. "Now, your stupid spawn will never infect our perfect pack" He growled, his ivories baring.

Me: O.o
Why would anyone do that? It's actually disgusting.

[Dirrane]

It does get quite stressful when you are indeed trying to escape a rival attack, or just the drama, and some other comes up and attacks an expecting mother. They may just be trying to increase their kill count or make their brute of a character seem bigger, almost more powerful than intended, as WhiteLightHeart stated before me. I might add, though, that some animals may pull an attack on, or kill, an expecting mother and their offspring if they do not belong to the attacker. Otherwise, it does bug some people.

I myself have never been in a roleplay in which someone pulled an attack on any of my expecting characters, but have been in other situations similar to such a thing. It does seem like a cruel, seemingly cold and heartless thing to do.

[Jango_Fett]

When one is with child, you are a lot weaker, as it progresses.

Tired, and, sometimes, immobile, when the mother giving birth.

Most animals, before and after they have children, are vulnerable.  Thus, making them easier targets.

And it looks like, to, my, dismay... These people know that too.

It's pure cruelty.

That is all.