Say "No" to Rape Culture
Rape has been around for thousands of years, and so has rape culture, the idea that men, as author Tara Culp-Ressler writes, �can�t control their aggressive sex drives, so...girls will inevitably become the subject of that aggression.� In the last half-century or so, rape culture started becoming a bigger and bigger issue through the introduction of readily-available television programming, movies, erotic novels, racy advertisements, and others ways of promoting rape culture. But what I believe has dug our society in this hole the furthest - and what has helped start the movement to dig us out - is social media and our lives on the Internet. With the introduction of the Internet, it has become easier to bully, victim-blame, and slut-shame, and it is harder for us to stay away from promoters of rape culture when they are literally everywhere. The most prominent promoters of rape culture are advertisements, especially the ones for high-end clothing or cosmetics. Here are some examples, taken from an Indian photoshoot that strongly resembled a 2012 gang rape and murder in New Delhi:
Images taken from Brown Girl Magazine
The Internet and the media�s representation of sexual assault has changed the way that men think they get to act around women, especially close family members and friends. In a 2010 survey funded by the CDC, only 13.8% of rapists were strangers to the female victims. This means that the majority of rapists were brothers, fathers, cousins, uncles, neighbors, friends, and boyfriends: people thought to be trustworthy who have been coerced into believing that rape culture is acceptable, when in reality it is a horrible thing.
Why don�t we defer to the facts? In the same survey as aforementioned, 18.3% of adult women reported having been raped in their lifetime. 18.3%. 18.3%? That means that almost one out of every five women has been raped. I, myself, am in the majority, having never been raped or sexually assaulted, but this fact blew me away. What is wrong with our society? The survey also showed that only 1.4% (1 in 71) of men reported having been raped. This most definitely shows that rape culture affects women more than men because of the targeting and objectifying of women through the media. Here�s another fact: 97% of rapists never spend one day in jail. What? Why? Is it that the police don�t see rape as a serious enough crime - although if rape isn�t a crime, then I don�t know what is - or is it that victims are too scared to get bullied and shamed that they do not report their assault? My bet is on the latter, as rape has become normalized and deeply ingrained in our society. Renowned sociologist Heather Hlavka recently published a study in which 100 young women, tagged as potential victims of sexual assault, were interviewed about their personal lives and sexual experiences. Most of the girls rationalized their assaults, accepting them and thinking that it was not unusual to be harassed or abused. Hlavka writes that, �objectification, abuse and harassment appear to part of the fabric of young women�s lives.� This normalization and acceptance of sexual abuse and violence is a direct effect of rape culture.
Some men or anti-feminists may argue that rape culture isn�t real, or that even if it is real, there is not enough evidence to say that rape is an issue in our society. These people call rape culture a �movement based on a foundation of dubious statistics and a distorted view of masculinity.� Really? Rape culture is everywhere. Rape culture is women being told that rape culture is not real. What evidence is there to say that rape is not an issue in our society? Yes, true rape statistics are hard to come by because of the rate of underreporting and the tendency for certain words such as �assault� to have multiple meanings. I understand. However, take a look around you. Rape culture is in books, in songs, in movies, in the news, in our sayings, in our words, in our ideas, in our actions. Rape culture bleeds into our daily lives and its hateful and misogynistic notions change the people that we are. In order to change rape culture and lower rape statistics, the opposition must realize that there is an issue. Denial will lead nowhere.
Thankfully, there are some movements going on to stop rape culture and to prevent it from influencing us. These include the many online victim-support networks and government-funded hotlines to help with sexual violence and abuse. They include the fact that the state of California has very recently passed a law that requires two affirmatives before engaging in sexual activity, which will cut down on cases of forced rape. They include the fact that an undergraduate at Columbia University is gaining national attention for carrying her mattress to class every day until her rapist is expelled. Articles and blog posts are being written, protests are happening, hashtags are trending, laws are changing. People are being encouraged to think about the role that they play in rape culture, and rape culture is slowly, but surely, dying out. Our digital lives are changing the way that we question things, that we see things, that we accept things, and this is exactly what needs to happen in order to stop rape culture. Rape is not something to be celebrated. Or desired. Or glamorized. And definitely not normalized. Women should not have to be told what to wear, how to act, and what to do. I am sick of this misogyny. We should instead be telling the media to stop promoting and glamorizing rape so that we can end rape culture. We should change our perspectives on rape, on gender roles, and on sexual consent. If we change this, then we change rape culture, and we stop the violence and abuse.
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Conclusion: Updated on 11 November 2014
This blog project really opened my eyes not only to the subject of rape culture, but more broadly, to the stereotypes that have been created by the media and that are now prevalent in our society. Whether these stereotypes revolve around gender, race, social status, or other topics, because of the blogging process and by reading others' blogs, I have learned to be wary of these stereotypes and to treat them with skepticism. I am very grateful for this experience, and for the chance to be introduced to more ideas, opinions, viewpoints, and alternate ways of thinking. For this project, my thesis was that rape culture promotes sexual violence and assault and leads to a society in which rape is normalized. My thesis related to digital citizenship because it showed the way that the media has influenced our lives by promoting rape culture, and it asked readers to think about the role that they might play in perpetuating rape culture. By receiving comments on my blog and by responding to those comments, I learned a lot. My thesis and stance on rape culture did not change, but the commenting process helped me to clarify my opinions on issues such as laws surrounding rape culture, gender bias in court, the root of rape culture and gender stereotypes, and the meaning of sexual consent. In order to reply to some comments, I had to think deeply, write persuasively, and do a little bit of extra research to prove my point. I am grateful to the commenting process for giving me the opportunity to expound upon my opinions through writing. All in all, the process of blogging was very fun and rewarding. I am happy that I have been given the chance to share my opinion with others and to make them aware of the topic of rape culture. I felt a certain satisfaction in blogging because it was kind of like writing an opinion essay, but it felt less restricting and more conversational and easy-going. I really enjoyed this process, and I hope to be able to continue raising awareness about rape culture in the future.
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Conclusion: Updated on 11 November 2014
This blog project really opened my eyes not only to the subject of rape culture, but more broadly, to the stereotypes that have been created by the media and that are now prevalent in our society. Whether these stereotypes revolve around gender, race, social status, or other topics, because of the blogging process and by reading others' blogs, I have learned to be wary of these stereotypes and to treat them with skepticism. I am very grateful for this experience, and for the chance to be introduced to more ideas, opinions, viewpoints, and alternate ways of thinking. For this project, my thesis was that rape culture promotes sexual violence and assault and leads to a society in which rape is normalized. My thesis related to digital citizenship because it showed the way that the media has influenced our lives by promoting rape culture, and it asked readers to think about the role that they might play in perpetuating rape culture. By receiving comments on my blog and by responding to those comments, I learned a lot. My thesis and stance on rape culture did not change, but the commenting process helped me to clarify my opinions on issues such as laws surrounding rape culture, gender bias in court, the root of rape culture and gender stereotypes, and the meaning of sexual consent. In order to reply to some comments, I had to think deeply, write persuasively, and do a little bit of extra research to prove my point. I am grateful to the commenting process for giving me the opportunity to expound upon my opinions through writing. All in all, the process of blogging was very fun and rewarding. I am happy that I have been given the chance to share my opinion with others and to make them aware of the topic of rape culture. I felt a certain satisfaction in blogging because it was kind of like writing an opinion essay, but it felt less restricting and more conversational and easy-going. I really enjoyed this process, and I hope to be able to continue raising awareness about rape culture in the future.
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