Rape Culture In America

1043 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Sociology of rape culture

Clinical psychologist, Mary Piper, once said, “Young men need to be socialized in such a way that rape is as unthinkable to them as cannibalism”. Too often, society blames rape victims for not behaving or dressing appropriately, suggesting it’s the victim’s own fault for getting abused and assaulted. Women are entitled to wear what they want when they want to, and it’s time that society directs men not to rape, instead of disciplining women not to get raped. Consent is defined as, “involving the will or feelings and indicates compliance with what is requested or desired” (Merriam-Webster Dictionary). Wearing revealing clothing, drinking too much and flirting doesn’t cause rape။ rapists cause rape.
‘Rape Culture’ is a phrase that’s frequently thrown around in our society, but what exactly is rape culture? Reinforced by the media, rape culture is a socially constructed concept regarding …show more content…

It’s imperative for both men and women in America to become self-aware of how they perpetuate a culture that justifies sexual violence against women. According to feminist and television editor, Anna Holtzman, “we have to transform our everyday culture. We have to raise our awareness of the 'little things' that add up to rape culture… things like the casual use of gendered slurs (like bitch and slut) in everyday speech and media… things like the notion that romance is boys chasing girls” (Ask a Raging Feminist: How do we end rape culture?) in order to dismantle rape culture in our society. Additionally, another way to end rape culture is to believe survivors of sexual violence because “It'll make rapists less likely to rape. It'll make communities do more to prevent and address sexual violence. It'll reduce instances of the media normalizing gender-based violence” (Ask a Raging Feminist: How do we end rape

Show More
Related

  • Good Guys Don T Rape: The Influence Of Gender According To Pascoe

    1080 Words  | 3 Pages

    In today’s society, there is evidence that gender roles hold high standards in forming an identity, whether that gender is male or female. These standards put pressure on either gender to uphold them and commit to specific behaviors/actions that validate their very being. For men, this includes being considered masculine, or portraying the sense that they are authoritative over others, in which this includes displaying attitudes that contribute to female subordination. According to Pascoe (2016) in his article “Good Guys Don’t Rape” men are given the opportunity to challenge rape yet reinforce rape attitudes at the same time that are contained within rape culture and masculinity considered “norms.” Pascoe, illustrates that rape can be seen

    Read More

  • All Men Are Created Equal: Except Women

    1347 Words  | 3 Pages

    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 ...

    Read More

  • The Man Box

    2796 Words  | 6 Pages

    In the past century, America has made great leaps in terms of equality. With the efforts made by the civil rights and suffrage movements, all people gained the right to vote. We are even moving forward with marriage equality, and currently fifteen states recognize same-sex marriage. But regardless of all of our progressive institutional movements forward, we continue to socially oppress women. Men’s violence against women has grown to be an internationally recognized epidemic, and will continue to grow unless measures be made to stop it. Domestic violence continues to be prevalent in the lives of many families, and is the primary cause of homelessness in half of cases for women in children. Many women have been forced to alter their behaviors out of fear of being sexually or physically assaulted. One out of every three women is sexually or physically abused in their lifetimes. The first thing that comes to mind is, there are a lot of people abusing women out there. Many people with opposing ideas may claim that men can be victims of violence perpetrated by women, but in instances not used for self-defense, it is rarely part of a systematic pattern of power and control through force or threat of force. In fact, 99% of rape is perpetrated by men, but when confronting men about the issue of violence against women, it is often combated with denial. Jackson Katz writes in his book, The Macho Paradox, “We take comfort in the idea of the aforementioned child-rapist murderer as a horrible aberration. A monster. We’re nothing like him.”(Katz 30). The sad truth is that most women who are raped are raped by men they know, or even men they love. Many men have a hard time believing that saying that most violence is perpetuated by men does not...

    Read More

  • Rape Culture

    1619 Words  | 4 Pages

    Rape Culture 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 “it would do some women good to get raped,” from a historical perspective, leads us to better understanding how they evolved. 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.

    Read More

  • Rape Culture Essay

    2028 Words  | 5 Pages

    Their reason for first utilizing the term was to “show the ways in which society blamed victims of sexual assault and normalized male sexual violence”. Almost half a century later, Southern Connecticut State University defines the term rape culture as “an environment in which rape is prevalent and in which sexual violence against women is normalized and excused in the media and popular culture”. Forms of rape culture include but are not limited to: blaming the victim of sexual assault, the assumption that men are weak if they experience sexual assault, making sexual assault seem less of a serious crime, rape jokes/sexually explicit jokes, as well as defining gender roles. All of these forms are seen in today’s society through “jokes, T.V., music, advertising, legal jargon, laws, words, and imagery”.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Susan Griffin's Rape: The All-American Crime

    928 Words  | 2 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • Conflict Theory: The Functionalist View Of Rape

    753 Words  | 2 Pages

    Firstly, Rape culture can be defined as the normalization and excusing of sexual violent behavior towards women in everyday media and culture (marshall.edu). Rape culture can also be the over sexualization of women’s bodies and misogynistic attitudes. These images and attitudes may not seem like they are obvious or even present but they are subtly weaved into many of the symbols and daily interactions in society. This is what causes rape and rape culture to be normalized. For example, if a young woman is sexually assaulted in a club, instead of asking details about the person who committed the act, the questions are reversed onto the victim. There are questions that arise such as, “what was she wearing?”, “was she drunk?”, “was she flirting with him/her at first?”. These questions are problematic because they suggest that the victim is the one is at fault for being sexaually assaulted. This idea is pushed by the symbolic interaction that if someone is trying to get lucky the other individual has to follow through, especially in party settings. I often see this especially in music and movies where stalking and harassing a person to the point of being uncomfortable is chalked up as a heated “romantic” pursuit.. For another example, women’s bodies (and often men’s too) are oversexualized. The is especially in the advertising industry and again in the media.

    Read More

  • Rape Myth Acceptance: The Blame On Women

    1166 Words  | 3 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • The Social Construction of Rape

    1580 Words  | 4 Pages

    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”.

    Read More

  • Rape Culture: How Society Reacts to Rape

    1011 Words  | 3 Pages

    What do you think and feel when you hear the word rape? Do you feel uncomfortable? Maybe even angry? Your certain feelings and emotions towards this word is a result of rape culture. Rape culture, essentially, is how a society as a whole sees and reacts towards rape or instances of rape. In 2013 rape was defined by the FBI as, “Penetration… of the vagina or anus with any body part or object, or oral penetration by a sex organ of another person, without the consent of the victim.” (Division’s Crime Statistics Management Unit 1). The definition was finally changed after the old definition deemed inappropriate by today’s standards, which beforehand, stated that physical force needed to be used for rape to be considered rape. This is good news for men and women who have been fighting for the definition to be changed, but unfortunately this does not mean that state laws are being changed the same way. Even though the FBI may acknowledge the older inappropriate definition, most states do not. Sexual assault is a commonly unreported crime, where only an average of 36% of sexual abuse is actually reported to the authorities (Planty 7). Some forms of rape can include physical harm, threats, and even death of the victim, and most victims do not want to tell others for fear of criticism, self-blame, or even the fear that their attackers will carry out on their threats. In many cases, victims do have a reason to be afraid. When someone is brave enough to come forward and say they were sexually assaulted, they are putting themselves in the position of being in not only a long legal process, but also having their motives questioned and misunderstood, which is the last thing they want after their experience. The legal system in the United States...

    Read More

  • Rape Culture

    2482 Words  | 5 Pages

    According to Marshall University, Rape Culture is defined as “an environment in which rape is prevalent and in which sexual violence against women is normalized and excused in media and popular culture.” In American society, it is not hard to find examples of rape culture. In popular movies, music, and current events there is an undeniable notion of victim blaming, and sympathizing with male perpetrators. People have begun to use the term rape as a casual adjective. For example “I just raped him in that game,” could be used to describe two people playing a game and one winning easily against the other. American society uses pop culture and current events to promote and justify the prominent rape culture.

    Read More

  • The Pros And Cons Of Rape Culture

    1934 Words  | 4 Pages

    Rape culture is a culture of normalizing rape and teaching young girls not to get raped instead of teaching young boys to not rape. This is a very dangerous culture to normalize because it is setup to blame the victim instead of the attacker. What victim blaming leads to is further mental damage in unison with the already damaged state causing the victim to act irregular to their normal selves. Victim-blaming, and rape culture leads to an unjust society and the only reason it has become the normal function in today's society is because it makes most of society feel

    Read More

  • Rape And Rape

    1539 Words  | 4 Pages

    Sexual violence is a national issue that permeates every aspect society. Sexual assault and rape is an ongoing problem, evident by the troubling statistic that roughly 20 million out of 112 million women (18.0%) in the United States have been raped during their lifetime (Kilpatrick, Resnick, Ruggiero, Conoscenti, McCauley, 2007). Despite the continuous push for gender equality, the current culture of society perpetuates victim-blaming tendencies towards innate cognitive processes and media influences.

    Read More

  • Women's Role In Precuirtatious Rape Culture

    830 Words  | 2 Pages

    The hazard of rape is something that many women live in constant fear of, and it can often negatively affect how they live their lives. Fear of being sexually assaulted may keep a woman from going out at night alone, living in certain areas, or even taking a specific job. It is only logical that in a world where women live in such fear, more laws and statutes would be put into place in order to protect women and even men from sexual assault, or at the very least ensure that the perpetrator is punished to the fullest extent of the law. However, most laws regarding sexual assault tend to reinforce traditional or religious attitudes on the matter, such as the idea that women can prevent being raped by dressing modestly and not engaging in flirtatious

    Read More

  • Rape: A Living Nightmare

    3121 Words  | 7 Pages

    The society we live in is rape-conducive, rape-friendly, if you will. Despite the anger I feel joining those two words together, I know the sad paradox holds within it a great deal of truth. We are a violent society that has shrouded rape in mystery and shame. To stop this nightmare’s venomous crusades, all people must wage a private war to eradicate their own acceptance of the savage crime. While it is only a minority of men that actually commit rape, it is everyone’s silence that tells them it’s ok.

    Read More

More about Rape Culture In America

Open Document