(More on the "Hate Crime" aspect of it.)

I think that the problem is not that people refuse to dub rape a hate crime, but that people refuse to state that women are oppressed.

If "hate crime" = violent oppression, then when someone rapes a woman, they should be tried for both the rape, AND the hate crime. Rape, in and of itself, is NOT the oppression of women, even though in most cases it contributes to, or is a form of, the oppression of women. There's no way that I'll ever believe that a person who rapes a woman should get a different sentence than someone who rapes someone who is not a woman. Rape is Rape. HOWEVER, I cannot say that I do not believe that violent oppression should go unpunished.

So... no, I don't think that rape should be automatically considered a hate crime, but yes, I think that if someone rapes a woman they should be held accountable for both the rape and for contributing to the oppression of women (not to mention contributing to the bad reputation of men, if the rapist is a man). If rape is dubbed a crime against women, then anytime a person who is not a woman is raped, you cannot charge their attacker with rape, because it doesn't contribute to the oppression of women. What then, do you charge them with? Assault? I'm not ok with that. To me, rape is rape. Period. Oppression is not ok, and should be dealt with, but I don't think that redefining "rape" in the eyes of the law is the way to go.