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rape culture with fraternities in college
rape culture with fraternities in college
sociology of rape culture
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Rape Culture is defined as “… a culture in which dominant cultural ideologies, media images, social practices, and societal institutions support and condone sexual abuse by normalizing, trivializing and eroticizing male violence against women and blaming victims for their own abuse (Phillips cited in Kacmarek).” In today’s society, rape culture is prevalent in essentially every person’s life. While there are many different ways rape culture can present itself, all aspects of the culture are disturbing and in most cases, quite harmful – whether physically or emotionally. In this essay, I will bring to light many issues with current universities’ policies regarding rape and/or sexual assault. I will discuss the dangerous affects rape culture …show more content…
Slut shaming, the act of humiliating someone for their sexual behaviors and dressing in what may be perceived as “slutty” clothes, may be the most typical type of harassment. Slut shaming usually refers to women, although can be used to persecute people of all genders and sexual orientations. When pertaining to women, slut shaming most frequently involves being called “slut” or “whore” for behaving in a way that is not seen as “modest” or “feminine” according to antiquated ideas of such subjects. “Slut-shaming, as it’s called, is coarse, retrograde, the opposite of feminist. Calling a girl a slut warns her that there’s a line: she can be sexual, but not too sexual.” (Bazelon) If a woman expresses her sexuality, she is ridiculed and called humiliating names and told she is less of a person; Meanwhile, men are rewarded as sex gods and are praised for their sexual conquests of the same (if not more promiscuous) nature. Slut shaming further maintains the idea that a woman wearing clothing that is “slutty” or anything that is “too” tight or “too” revealing is “asking” to be raped or sexually …show more content…
Cat calling is the act of making “A shrill whistle or shout of disapproval, typically one made at a public meeting or performance.” The stereotypic example of this is when construction workers whistle and make comments to women passing by on the street. The act of cat calling truly makes women feel uncomfortable in a public place where all people should feel welcome and not objectified. No one has the right to call out to a woman who is just trying to go about her day. Cat calling and street harassment are what cause a majority of women to feel afraid to walk down the street by themselves. “Street harassment is about exerting power over someone, treating them with disrespect, and it 's often about sexually objectifying someone without their consent” (Holly Kearl qtd in Maxwell). As with rape, the harassment is not about sex – It is about power. Street harassment lets men tell women on the street that their bodies are not their own and men can objectify and torment them in public places. In a video for the Street HarassmentVideo youtube channel, director Rob Bliss films Shoshana B Roberts walking for ten hours in Manhattan, New York. Through out the video many men are seen and heard commenting on her appearance with such phrases as “What’s up beautiful..”, “Damn!”, and “Nice!” One man even says “Somebody’s acknowledging you for being beautiful. You
When university or police find out about the sexual assault, they immediately blame the victim or question what the victim was wearing, drinking, or doing. “Brownmiller identified four basic rape myths: (1) All women want to be raped; (2) a woman cannot be raped against her will; (3) a woman who is raped is asking for it; and (4) if a woman is going to be raped, she might as well enjoy it” (Helgeson, 2012, p. 432). In The Hunting Ground, the rape myth, which a woman who is raped is asking for it, is seen throughout the testimonies of the survivors. Clark, herself, was told by her dean that “rape is like a football game” and asked if “looking back, what would you have done differently?” (Ziering & Dick, 2015). These rape myths affect how many victims actually report and how seriously sexual assaults are taken within universities and the justice system. For example, some women, themselves, subscribe to rape myths because they see how current cases are handled. “Women who did not physically fight off the person who raped them and who subscribed to the rape myth that “it can’t be rape if a woman doesn’t fight back” were less likely to acknowledge that they had been raped” (Helgeson, 2012, p. 434). Universities need to teach first-year students about consent and how to
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 it comes to sexual assault on college campuses there is also the question of what can colleges do to decrease the amount of sexual assaults. Bradford Richardson and Jon A Shields wondered the same thing, so they conducted an ...
“I felt his hands start to move down towards my shorts as if he was trying to unbutton them or pull them off. I was still crying at this point and felt so scared that I couldn’t move” (Henneberger, 2012). These are words written by a college freshman after she had been raped, but they are true for many others as well. According to the Rape Crisis Center of Medina and Summit Counties, “every two minutes someone in the US is sexually assaulted” (Get the Facts). “Girls ages 16-19 are four times more likely than the than the general population to be victims of sexual assault” (Get the Facts). These women may be described as slut, cheap, or ready for action, rather than victim, sufferer, or survivor. Rape myths encourage these demeaning terms for women and conceal the reality of rape culture. I will describe the pervasiveness of sexual assault on college campuses as well as the systems and procedures in place to address it. Power plays a role in this issue, including the powerful men on campus such as athletes and fraternity members as well as the administrators in power who regulate the punishments and actions that are taken against the perpetrators. The influence of those in power often goes overlooked in our society because it has become so intertwined with our culture.
Rape is currently on the rise on American college campuses and it is the most common committed crime among college students today. In their time in college 1 out of every 5 women and 1 out of every 71 men will experience some form of sexual harassment as reported by the National Sexual Violence Resource Center. These numbers are growing each year and have raised a lot of concern in the administrative level of higher education institutions. In an effort to try and prevent these occurrences universities have begun to implement mandatory curriculum to educate students on the subject and have even begun to hold campus wide events and create clubs to spread awareness and show support because of the repetitive nature of this crime. While it is good
To date, “between 10 to 40 percent of female students [. . .] have been raped while [. . .] up to 60 percent of males students [have] commit[ed] actions that meet the legal definition of sexual assault” (Bretz 19). This percentage demonstrates the ineffectiveness of university policies and signifies a drastic change to procedures is in order if educational institutions want to see improvement. In order to see an effective change, policies must “explicitly define key terms such as “‘consent’, ‘force’ [,]‘incapacity’ and cover [a] range of sexually violent behavior” (Gunraj 9). Furthermore, since the age of fourteen 58.7% of females “ha[ve] experienced one or more forms of victimization[. . .] 35.0% ha[ve] experienced at least one completed or attempted rape and 23.5% ha[ve] been raped” (Senn et. al. Results). First-year female students are not prepared for the perpetrators they will face on campus, and as a result, are more vulnerable to sexual violence. Universities need to develop effective policies and procedures to not only prepare women for the challenges they may face but to reduce the overall number of sexual assaults and make school a safer environment for
In "Fraternities and Collegiate Rape Culture" Ayres Boswell and Joan Z. Spade analyze the social perspective of the gendered relations in male fraternities that add to the high rate of violence against women on many college campuses. They list a host of factors that distinguish higher-risk from lower-risk atmospheres discussing the rates of rape in colleges and state how "1 out of 4 college women say they were raped or experienced an attempted rape" (217). Additionally, "1 out of 12 college men say they forced a woman to have sexual intercourse against her will" (Boswell, Spade 217). In other words Boswell and Spade indicated that the rates were high when it came down to women getting raped in colleges by men who also attended those colleges. In addition, Boswell and Spade specify in how most people are aware of rape but know very little about rape culture (Boswell, Spade 217).
Dress Codes are commonplace in today's society but in recent years, outrage at restrictive dress codes are increasing. A report by The Guardian illustrates an example of a restrictive dress code. Stephanie Hughes was called to the Principal’s office because the outfit she was wearing revealed her collar bones. Her outfit, comprising of a cardigan with a tank top underneath and jeans, was deemed as by her School Principal as inappropriate attire. The Principal explains that because her outfit revealed her collar bones, it would distract fellow male students and was hence not appropriate for school. Such dress codes only highlight the objectification of females, teaching males that while it is their responsibility to study, attaining poor scores can be explained as a result of distraction by the female students’ revealing clothes. Such dress codes teach males, in this case teenage boys, that they have the right to push the blame onto the females and shirk responsibility. While dress codes are tied to professionalism and etiquette, enforcing unreasonable dress codes that place emphasis on covering up the female body only ascertains the fact that Rape Culture is
What is rape culture? Rape culture is something created by society that sexualizes rude and violent behavior as sexy or sexual, inforced mostly be men. Rape is a big problem all around the world, and in some countries, it is accepted by law. It has been stated that 105,000 rapes happen every year in the United States. Most rape happens to female between the ages of 14 and 30. Rape culture is not something that can be ignored, it is a very serious issue that must be addressed. Women are not the only people getting raped however, ⅙ of all men are sexually assaulted in their lifetime. But due to masculinity and the patriarchy, men are afraid to come out and say they were raped. Only 6% of men have committed 5-6 rapes each (Rape Culture).
A survey from the Association of American Universities of 150,000 students found that more than one in four women experience sexual assault during their four years in college. Over the four year college period, 27.2% of female students are victims of unwanted sexual contact that ranges from touching to rape (6). Sexual assault is far too common and it is an epidemic that faces many students in college. Many students suffer from the consequences of sexual assault, which is a result of many social and cultural deficiencies, but it can be fixed through a multifaceted approach. The problem of sexual assault can be fixed through the education of the community, a positive and helpful school environment, and classes focused on prevention.
From parents telling their children to go back into their rooms to change because they’re “not leaving enough to the imagination” to rapist saying “well she was asking for it”. A woman’s clothing should never define who she is. Slut has become so commonly used that we throw it out of our mouths like it doesn’t hurt others or makes others feel very self-conscious. In today’s society very few women have gone their whole life without being called a “slut”, “whore”, “skank” or “hoe”. Most of the time in society we use these derogatory words to describe a woman’s appearance or attitude. For example, I have been told that I am a “slut” for wearing athletic shorts and a tank top while working out. With the word meaning a woman sleeps around a lot with multiple different guys how does this imply to my outfit? Looking into a rape cases there is always one person that believes that the survivor was “asking for it”. Keli Goff explains what happened to an eleven-year-old girl in her state “This became crystal clear to me upon reading coverage of the rape of an 11-year-old girl in my home state of Texas. In a New York Times article on the story, we hear from outraged community members who seem both appalled and embarrassed by the ordeal. Not so much by the fact that an 11-year-old girl was raped and that they live among a group of young men who could do such a thing, but appalled by the fact that she dressed
Slut-shaming is an issue which women have experienced and dealt with back to the time of The Odyssey and it still occurs today. The Odyssey displays an act of slut shaming when a women is exposed for how many men she has slept with and married. Many women deal with the harassment and criticism that is thrown in their faces, but one may ask why is slut shaming important and how can it be eliminated? Lee Suckling stated, “Slut-shaming is the act of making a female feel guilty and inferior for behaving in a way others deem to be sexually inappropriate. It could be for violating a dress code by dressing "provocatively", as the above example explains. It could be for making a woman feel "wrong" about casual sex, frequent sexual partners, or even just for
According to a statement addressing the sexual victimization of college women The Crime and Victimization in America states that, “ One out of four women will be sexually assaulted on a college campus.” This disturbing fact has not minimized throughout the years, instead it is continuing to worsen throughout college campuses. Sexual assault is not an act to be taken lightly. Society must stop pinpointing the individuals who commit these crimes one by one, but rather look at the problem as a whole and begin to understand the main cause of sexual assault and possible methods to reduce these acts of sexual coercion.
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.
Victims often find that they have to deal with a lot of harassment even after being shamed. For example, some men will come onto girls who have a reputation of being ‘sluts’ because they think the girls are going to be ‘easy’ and ‘into it”; thus, slut shaming can ruin how people, especially men, perceive and treat a woman. Slut shaming can also increase rape culture by discrediting a women’s allegation of rape due to her sexual history. In so many cases where rape is reported, officers and lawyers attack the victims by questioning how they were dressed prior to being rape, how they acted, were they being ‘promiscuous’, or were they flirting with their rapist; if any of the above questions were answered “yes” they would claim the victim was “asking for it”. In the Steubenville rape case, a 16 year old girl was recorded being raped by two football players at a party. The footage was later sent to other classmates and quickly spread throughout the whole school; as a result of the “stigma surrounding sexual assault, she [the victim] was labeled as a slut and viciously tormented by her classmates,” (Nelson, 3). In cases like these, girls are slut-shamed for being victims of sexual