Why is rape worse than a beating?

Part of what makes rape so bad is not the anatomy of it - it is the hate crime aspect. Being denied a seat at a lunch counter would be a mere annoyance if it was done out of petty interpersonal meanness; being denied a seat at a lunch counter as a reminder that your entire race is both casually and systemically oppressed in the society where you have to live transforms a trivial annoyance into a deeply psychological experience.

Rape has a legacy of being used as a tool to control women in a system where our lives and bodies were historically the property of our husbands, fathers and pimps. This cultural mindset still persists and is what we call "rape culture." Even the most logical and self-aware women fear rape (and fear for our friends) because we know that centuries of cultural norms will mean that rapes committed by men with a relationship historically resembling ownership of a woman - a husband, a male companion, a pimp - will be doubted or denied by the overall culture.

Given a black eye, few will argue that you were not beaten; however, even with injuries from rape, one can expect that you will be told you caused or allowed your rape. Part of the assault is the psychology of it: women either believe that they are deserving of the rape in some way, or know that other people will act as if they are.
Seize on Jezebel