Pop Culture: The Normalization Of Rape

In 2012, the FBI reported 84,376 crimes of rape. That is 231 per day and 9.6 every hour. Someone is raped every five minutes in the US alone. People constantly ask why the number is so high. The answer? The normalization of rape in society, by bolstering male aggression, usually targeting women. This is the reason that so few rapists are in jail, that one in four women will be raped in their lives, and that male rape victims are constantly forgotten. Rape culture is dangerous to everyone. It promotes victim blaming, and upholds harsh double standards. As well, it offers little to no support to male victims. Society as a whole is responsible for this, and as a whole, we need to change that.

~

Rape culture is harmful in the way that it promotes

Fifty percent of victims of rape, despite gender, develop Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. As well, a study shows male victims of rape have higher rates of depression than non-victims. This, in combination with PTSD, can seriously harm the mental health of victims, despite their gender. Many people believe that male victims of sexual abuse are weak, or “not man enough.” This is another example of double standards: men are expected to be on the aggressive and dominant. This is not true, and an example of how double standards hurt men as well as women and other genders. Men have a higher risk of being raped if they are gay or incarcerated. Fifty-four percent of male rape victims report being raped by another men, and about half of the victims reported were gay. As well, United States inmates reported almost one million counts of sexual violence in their collective years incarcerated. They report that their abusers were not only other inmates, but prison guards and staff as well. Many of the prisoners reporting sexual assault were young, smaller, weak, or queer, making them “easier targets” to larger, older inmates.

It places the blame on the victim, asking them what they were wearing, and how much they drank, as if they were responsible for being raped. This leads to low prosecution rates and questioning the integrity of the victim. Rape culture upholds double standards, such as that men must be assertive and violent, causing women to have no choice but to be modest and careful. Finally, the stigma surrounding male dominance has led to little or no support for male victims, most commonly who are gay or incarcerated. Male abuse victims are common, one in six, and report high rates of mental illness such as PTSD and