Why is this metaphor different from others? From my point of view, it does just what you stated - adds emphasis. Nothing less, nothing more. To do that with a negative statement, you need a word with a negative meaning, so “rape” works well.
Thinking about it more, it’s a word that can be triggering for someone, because of the ugly meaning. But the ugliness of the meaning is also what makes it suitable for the metaphor. We can say the word, just like we can use words like “dying”, “torture” or religious stuff like “hell”, “heaven”, “godly” - it makes for effective metaphors, but I can see how someone could be offended.
Using metaphors is perfectly legitimate.
A broad statement in response to a specific complaint. Not every metaphor is “perfectly legitimate”
Why is this metaphor different from others? From my point of view, it does just what you stated - adds emphasis. Nothing less, nothing more. To do that with a negative statement, you need a word with a negative meaning, so “rape” works well.
Thinking about it more, it’s a word that can be triggering for someone, because of the ugly meaning. But the ugliness of the meaning is also what makes it suitable for the metaphor. We can say the word, just like we can use words like “dying”, “torture” or religious stuff like “hell”, “heaven”, “godly” - it makes for effective metaphors, but I can see how someone could be offended.