According to Hague, genocidal rape during war settings is different to normal rape other than the traumatization the victim’s experience and that it is a horrible crime. No one can explain how or why the practice of sexual violence got involved with war. It is used as an excuse for military tactic and political tool. People believe that it is” normal” or “natural” for men to rape and that it is usually women who are the victims. Also the stigma it holds that the victim is to blame instead of the rapist. Others argue against this idea about rape and try to explain the mentality behind it. This is about masculinization and feminization of certain ideas. All kinds of rape is about power and dominance for the perpetrator along with degradation and humiliation for the victims. Rape is defined as loss of control of one to the will of the other. The rapists or in this case the soldiers, has control of the situation (Hague, 51).
In Euan Hague’s “Rape, Power, and Masculinity”, it said that whatever motivation it is, “male sexuality and
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Femininity is seen as “subordinate” compare to masculinity. People who are “feminine” are seen as “weak”, “fragile”, “emotional”, and “natural peacemakers”. Because of this mentality, it is believed that only women gets rape. Women struggle to have their voice heard and are often silenced. In many cultures, it would be the victim’s fault for being raped. It brings shame not only to the victim, but to the family which results in the victims being shunned and exiled or worse killed. In a “man’s setting”, such as the military or in any work places that consists of mostly men, women has to be “one of the guys” to be accepted, but not completely because it is not acceptable and it would declare that she’s a “lesbian”. According to Hague, “hegemonic masculinity” consist of acting rationally, controlling emotions, having control, making decisions, and having physical strength
In 1996, Captain Derrick Robinson, Sergeant Delmar Simpson, and Sergeant Nathanael Beech were arraigned for their suspected involvement in one of the biggest sex scandals the United States Military had seen. According to CNN, between these three men, charges of rape and adultery were pending in a huge case of sexual misconduct against female soldiers at Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland (CNN, 2996). Following this incident, the United States Military took it upon themselves to open a telephone hotline to encourage the reporting of similar harsh crimes. Furthermore, the spike in reporting influenced extensive research to examine the prevalence of rape against women soldiers in the U.S. Military (Titunik, 2000). This paper will explore the dynamics of rape against women soldiers in the military and the research done on its prevalence.
Cross-cultural research has shown that rape is most common in cultures that are dominated by males and violence. This means cultures in which males dominate the political decisions and cultures adhering to the male ideology of toughness, interpersonal violence and war (Groth 7). In a culture of people with more traditional or sexist gender role, attitudes are more tolerant of rape than are people with more nontraditional attitudes. Traditional men are more likely to report that they would commit rape if they knew they would not be caught; some researchers have found that a traditional man is much more likely to commit a rape than a nontraditional man is. Many attitudes in our culture perpetuate rape, for example: A husband is entitled to have sex with his wife," "A 'real man' never passes up a chance to have sex," and, "A women who 'leads a man on' deserves what she gets (Growth 7). “ Some media depictions may promote rape. Many movies make violence appear attractive and some movies convey myths about rape. Such as slasher films that make violence seem exciting, or movies suggesting that women like to be forced to have sex or that women's only value...
Kitfield, James. “The Enemy Within”. The National Journal. 13 September 2012. Web. 4 November 2013 http://www.nationaljournal.com/magazine/the-military-s-rape-problem-20120913
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 ...
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, lead us for better understanding how they evolved. Women are still seen as the property of men, are protected as such. Men and women are still taught to occupy very different roles in today’s world. Men are usually more aggressive, and women are seen as passive. (Vogelman) This socialization process is changing, but slowly.
The Feminist theory is based around gender inequalities and the concept of an imbalance of power between men and women and within men themselves. This theory argues that male sexual offenders are like normal men, however they have been conditioned within society and culture that when their masculinity is questioned, this creates a reaction where males sexually assault females to boost their male status within society. The feminist theory highlights how women’s experiences are often based around the struggle of male domination or patriarchy (Moore, 2008, p. 5) in relation to sexual offences. This article links closely with the Feminist Theory as
It can be set forth that men and women live their lives differently; a man spends his day working on his car or a woman hitting up all the great deals at Marshalls and Tj Maxx. The idea is women cannot live a normal life without being paranoid of rape or physical harm. Rebecca Solnit titles her article “The Longest War,” which speaks of rape and violence against women. Truly, women fought for decades for equal rights; now, women fight for their safety and freedom from men. Genders cannot compare based on their daily lives because of how they conduct their day and what troubles enter into the brain.
The civilization of men is called chivalry and is earned by women at the price of their own civilization. “For the female, civilized behavior means chastity before marriage and faithfulness within it. Chivalrous behavior in the male is supposed to protect that chastity from involuntary defilement” (Griffin, 516). Unfortunately, the definition of civilization for women requires them to be feminine, dainty, and submissive while men are strong and dominant. This robs women of the mentality that they can be strong and independent and forces them to seek protection from men instead of finding it in themselves. This mentality and dependence deprives women of the ability to protect themselves from men creating a world of fear for them to live in. It also keeps women submissive because they do not want to step out of line and risk being hurt. Essentially, men keep women submissive by defining womanhood and using it like a cage to restrict their behavior and thoughts. In addition, their chivalrous protection does not apply to women who step outside of their required behavior. This means that women who act independently cannot be raped, they are beyond violation and an open target for all men. This double standard serves to make rape an acceptable and even encouraged behavior while keeping women quiet and well-behaved, lest they be mistaken for a bad girl worthy of
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
Zurbriggen, E. (). Rape, War, And The Socialization of Masculinity: Why Our Refusal To Give Up Was Ensures That Rape Cannot Be Eradicated. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 34, 538-539
“The sweetly sickening odor of decomposing bodies hung over many parts of Rwanda in July 1994: . . . at Nyarubuye in eastern Rwanda, where the cadaver of a little girl, otherwise intact, had been flattened by passing vehicles to the thinness of cardboard in front of the church steps,” (Deforges 6). The normalcy of horrible images like this one had cast a depressing gloom over Rwanda during the genocide, a time when an extreme divide caused mass killings of Tutsi by the Hutu. Many tactics such as physical assault or hate propaganda are well known and often used during times of war. Sexual assault and rape, however, during times of war is an unspoken secret – it is well known that rape occurs within combat zones and occupied territories, but people tend to ignore, or even worse, not speak of the act. There have been recorded cases of rape and sexual assault in almost every war in human history. Genocidal rape was used as a gendered war tactic in the Rwandan genocide in order to accomplish the Hutu goal of elimination of the Tutsi people in whole, or part.
... that occurs by men upon women is neither stopped nor prevented because our society has yet to decide whether it is within gender roles for a man to act this way or whether this violence must be changed. In society today, violence is accepted by some people, as a way to maintain control, which is why men still believe that sexism is the right way to act like the ideal man.
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...
Webster’s Dictionary describes rape as the crime of forcing another person to submit to sex acts, especially sexual intercourse. Rape is a crime in which most women cannot defend themselves. The fear of rape plagues every woman at some point or another in her life. The traumatic effects of rape vary from mild to severe, from psychological to physical. This paper will evaluate rape, as well as the effects it has on women, the theory behind male dominance and patriarchy, and differences in demographics.
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.