"Rape myths are attitudes and generally false beliefs about rape that are widely and persistently held, and that serve to deny and justify male sexual aggression against women" (Lonsway and Fitzgerald, 1994:133). These false beliefs can be about rape itself, rape victims, or rapists. People learn rape myths in the same way that they acquire other attitudes and beliefs - through friends, family, movies, from the media and so on. These myths are a mechanism which are used to justify or dismiss incidents of rape and sexual assault. They often shift the blame of rape from the offender to the victim which is unjust and harmful to the victim; but it also avoids confronting the realities of rape and sexual assault in society. These myths impair societies …show more content…
The issue with victim blaming in incidents of acquaintance rape is that that the victim has often engaged in some sort of voluntary interaction. This seems to allow people to make assumptions that the victim consented. "The problem is determining whether a 'real' rape occurred then becomes perceiving that the voluntary interaction ended and coercion began" (Burt, 1998: 130). The National Crime Victimization Survey (N.C.V.S.) reported that stranger rape accounts for only 22% of all sexual assaults, meaning the majority of assaults are committed by an acquaintance (Mallicoat, 2015). There is still confusion around the legal definition of rape and the myths associated with it. It has historically generated much debate, particularly in relation to acquaintance rape and rape within marriage. Up until recently it excluded marital partners and some victims are still unsure about spousal rape. It was only in 1991 that rape within marriage became illegal within the common law system (Silvestri and Crowther-Dowey, 2014). Within marital rape it is easy for victims to disassociate themselves with the term rape and in turn blame themselves due to their own perceptions of what rape is, which often come from persistent rape …show more content…
This ideology enforces the idea that rape victims deserve their misfortune because it reflects their bad behaviour; reaffirming other individuals false sense of security that they are somehow immune to rape. Burt (1991) also made note of this myth that only 'certain types of women' get raped, primarily women with 'bad reputations'. Walklate (2001) claims that women on the jury or elsewhere often believe that 'they would not let rape happen to them' or that 'they would never get themselves into such a situation' - this also ties in with the 'just world' theory many people choose to believe. "Any group of women stereotyped as being sexually active outside of marriage...run the risk of being dismissed as unworthy of the law's protection or sympathetic concern when they press a charge of rape" (Burt, 1991:133). Women who are stereotyped within this group are often questioned on whether it was 'real' rape, particularly women who wore revealing clothing or acted promiscuously. Prostitutes in particular were treated by many as if their claim of rape was implausible - "prostitutes are a special case of open territory victim, so devalued that many people believe that prostitutes cannot be raped" (Silbert, 1988, cited in Burt, 1991:133). On a whole women do
Rape is a virus that infects every nation, culture and society. It is constantly referred to as “the unfinished murder”, because of the deep state of despair the rapist leaves the victim in. There is no common identifiable trend that determines who will be a rape victim. Women are not assaulted because of their attitudes or actions, they are attacked simply because they are present. With rapists, just as with their victims, there is no identifiable trend. The old myth that only “sick, dirty, old, perverted men” commit rapes is a lie that society tells itself in order to sleep better at night. The startling truth is that most rapists work under a veil of normalcy. In order for the percentage of rapes to decrease, we have to change our ideas about rape and let go of the old myths of the past. And until this happens, rape will continue to plague our world at large.
Sometimes the victim does not look like a stereotypical victim. Smoked a lot, drank a lot, dressed provocatively, wasn’t she asking for it? Doesn’t that make her less credible? With our justice system, the standard for whether rape occurred is placed upon the victim entirely. Their thoughts, sexual history, and actions are opened up for scrutiny, criticism, sometimes outright disbelief. It is no wonder that around 66% of sexual assault cases go unreported and less than 2% of rapists are ever actually incarcerated [2]. (These are generous estimates; the reality is probably much worse.) When they are reported, people think they’re lying. Disregarding the fact that reporting rape is a very traumatizing process, statistically only 2-8% of rape reports are false reports [3]. We must dispel the idea that rape victims are lying, because the overwhelming majority of the time, they are not. This kind of mentality creates a toxic environment that prevents the victims from speaking
One of the most horrible things that has erupted from the subjugation of women is rape culture. Rape culture is the downplaying of the crime of rape to appease the violator, the accusation that the victim made a choice that led to their rape, or even jokes that suggest rape. According to Jessica Valenti’s, “In Rape Tragedies, the Shame Is Ours,” in today's world many people give in to rape culture by participating in these acts that somehow change our mindsets into believing that, “it is more shameful to be raped than to be a rapist”. Once ...
When people think about rape, they usually think of a stranger with a knife hiding in the bushes. He waits for a woman to walk by and then attacks. But that is not the only kind of rape. The majority of victims are raped by individuals they know or acquaintances. This rape is known as “acquaintance rape” or “date rape.” Eighty percent of all rapes are, in fact, acquaintance rapes. This kind of rape happens when a man and a woman go out on a date together. The man forces the woman to have sex with him when she does not want to. Also called simple rape, which differs from real rape, because real rape involves weapons, violence and attackers. This kind of rape is recognized as rape in courtrooms, where simple rape is dismissed as not real rape and it is more common that the offender will be found not guilty.
One of the most common misconceptions about rape is that is it committed by strangers most of the time. However, this is not the case. Date rape is an epidemic affecting tens of thousands of people across the world at staggering rates. The rape stereotype in our culture today is a jumping out of the shadows type of rape. Most people think that when someone is raped either their house is broken into and they are attacked, they are kidnapped, or something along those lines. Actually, 84% of women know their attacker (Hammond). This can become problematic for our society because victims are looking out for an attack that most likely will not take place, while ignoring assaults that are far more likely.
Some men claim that rape is just sex, however, if a women does not consent to it therefore it is considered rape. Women feel as though all men are rapists or at least contribute in some way to rape. Through this essay Men in Groups: Collective Responsibility for Rape, by Larry May and Robert Strikwerda, argues 4 different reasons of being or contributing to rape: as a loner, or demon, as a victim of biology, a victim of society, and as a group member. Throughout this essay the authors, give reasons to why most men in fact do contribute to the rape, even though they may not physically do the action, their involvement is still relevant. I think that men should indeed be held responsible for rape, and should
Susan Griffin’s Rape: The All-American Crime touches on many issues within American society. She begins by recounting how she was taught to be afraid of strange men from such a young age that she had not yet learned what it was she was so afraid of, and then goes into her experience with harassment, an experience shared by every woman at some point in her life. Griffin recounts the belief that all rapists are insane and the proof that they are just normal men and dispels the myth that rape is normal activity that is prohibited by society. However, she goes on to clarify that our culture views rape: “as an illegal, but still understandable, form of behavior” (Griffin 514). It seems that the wrongness of rape is determined by the situation in
...he “victims” of these rapes, should not all be looked upon as weak and helpless because, in a lot of cases, the sex is consensual.
...fute known assumptions about rape but this idea has persisted because it is easier to blame to victim. This can also been seen in anther statement made in the article “ the legal system has historically treated claims of rape with skepticism” (Flowe et al. 160). Women were supposedly known for claiming false accusations of rape and were; therefore, viewed as “promiscuous” and “inconsistent” (Flowe et al. 172). This deterred women from reporting their rape; also another deterrent was the process that they had to go to. Women had to publicly repeat intimate details of their story and sexual history to multiple people, undergo interrogations and be poked and prodded by doctors looking for evidence to support their claims. The system was not geared towards victims, but to protect perpetrators from false accusations.
It is not a topic that is brought up often, especially at schools or at gatherings, yet it is crucial that everyone be educated, or at least informed on a topic that affects women every day. “Given that sexual violence continues to occur at high rates in the United States, it is vital that we understand attitudes and cultural norms that serve to minimize or foster tolerance of sexual violence” (Aosved, 481). Growing rates of sexual violence goes to prove that it is not taken seriously by many, especially when myths excuse the actions of the perpetrator and instead guilt victims into thinking they are responsible for the horrible act. Burt (1980), in her article titled, “Cultural myths and support for rape” attempts to make sense of the importance of stereotypes and myths, defined as prejudicial, stereotypes, or false beliefs about rape, rape victims and rapists- in creating a climate hostile to rape victims (Burt, 217). Examples of rape myths are such sayings as “only bad girls get raped”; “women ask for it”; “women cry rape” (Burt, 217). This only goes to prove that rape myths against women always blame and make it seem like it is the women’s fault she was raped and that she deserved it for “acting” a certain way. McMahon (2007), in her article titled, “Understanding community-specific rape myths” explains how Lonsway and Fitzgerald (1994) later described rape myths as “attitudes and beliefs that are generally
Oftentimes, the things individuals take for granted as preexisting facts are merely the products of social construction, which exert tremendous impacts on belief and action. Men and women are socially constructed categories inscribed by norms of masculinity and femininity that enables rape to occur. Catharine MacKinnon claims that rape is defined in a male perspective, which lacks the account of female experience. On the other hand, Sharon Marcus argues that rape is a constructed language that scripts the female body. As bell hooks points out, black men celebrate “rape culture” as a mean of expressing patriarchal dominance and endorsing female subordination. In order to redefine rape and to develop effective rape prevention, it is crucial to deconstruct the predetermined assumptions about men and women. Rape is socially constructed, through the ways how individuals possess misogynistic ideologies and endorse patriarchal power, turning the erotic fantasy of male dominance into “reality”.
Rape and sexual violence is a very serious problem that affects millions of people each year. Rape is someone taking advantage of another person sexually. Sexual assault can be verbal, physical, visual, or anything that forces a person to join in unwanted sexual contact or attention. ("Sexual Assault.") Rape is one of the most underreported crimes. In 2002, only thirty-nine percent of rapes and sexual assaults were reported to law officials. ("Sexual Violence: Fact Sheet.") Victims sometimes do not report that they have raped because of shame or feeling that it was their fault. It is never the victim's fault. "Victim blaming" is holding the victim of a crime to be in a whole or in partly responsible for what had happened to them. Most victims believe this. ("Myths and Facts about Sexual Violence.")
Inertwined with rape myths, are subsequent rape scripts. As Ryan (2011) and Clay-Warner and McMahon-Howard (2009) showed, depending what script is prevalent or dominant, reporting rates and overall acknowledgement can be greatly affected. Our understanding of what constitutes a rape or sexual assault needs to significantly change otherwise countless victims will remained silenced. If the understanding of these crimes was broadened, and the acquaintance scenarios taken more seriously, more victims would come forward, report, and get the help they may desperately need, in addition to aiding the legal system in punishing the offender and improve society’s population.
Many of the attitudes, beliefs, and mistaken ideas about rape have been with us for centuries. By looking at myths, such as “women ask for it,” and “women secretly enjoy rape,” from a historical perspective, can lead us for better understanding how they evolved. Much stems back to the idea that women are still seen as the property of men, and are protected as such. Men and women are still taught to occupy very different roles in today’s world. Men a...
Society’s view of rape is that it only occurs at night to women in dark alleys by men they have never seen or met before. In reality there are two types of rape in which the victim knows the attacker. One of these is known as Acquaintance rape and the other being marital rape. All forms of rape have long term impacts on the victims, for a victim of acquaintance rape they can feel especially shameful if the attacker was a relative or superior at school or work. For victims of marital rape the assaults can be violent including verbal and physical abuse. In marital rape do to the fact the victim is married to their attacker it can lead to displacement, divorce, and codependency.