Given the sheer level of freakout I observed from the sidelines when s2 was broadcast - which presumably didn't get unnoticed by the shows' makers - there might be a connection, yes. But that doesn't excuse the show. Recently I stumbled across a post which quoted the sole female staff writer, Sera Something or the other, being asked (by a very dumb interviewer, by the sound of the quote) about the "ridiculous rape controversy". She replied in earnest and explained the idea that Sam raped a helpless woman every time he had sex with the demon possessing her body squicked her so she put something in her script to make it clear the "hosts" were dead and thus there wasn't a question of consent, but that the boys in the scriptroom all were disappointed in her for being so dainty and chickenish. This doesn't sound like a bunch of scriptwriters who need Wincesters to make them treat female characters badly to me.