Violence In America

Americans internally picture a fight scene from a movie or recall the latest news story on mass shootings in schools as violent acts. Other types of violence are almost never part of the equation. While physical may be the most eminent form of violence, others do exist. Violence comes in three main forms: physical, psychological, and sexual, each with their own unique and equally destructive means of causing harm. Violence occurs every day, and many victims suffer in silence because American culture teaches them that their suffering is not important. American culture has normalized violence through movies and lack of action in response to repetitive violent acts throughout the country. Consequently, this normalization has caused us to ignore

Victims of sexual violence often go unheard and suffer in silence. Those who do speak out get shut down or don’t get justice. One out of every six American women has been raped or has experienced an attempted rape in their lifetime, according to the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network. And that is half of how many women would have been raped fifty years ago. This commonality should bring more attention to sexual violence and its effects. Politicians and citizens are quick to argue whether rape victims should have the right to have an abortion if they become pregnant but do not even touch on if the victim should receive any mental health treatment. Many victims don’t even report the incident because their rapists often don’t receive punishment. Perhaps even worse, alleged rapists’ defense attorneys often publicly portray the victim, exposing them to the public eye. They hear “What were you wearing,” and “Were you drunk,” instead of “Are you okay,” and “How can I help?” American society has begun to place the blame of rape onto the victims instead of the rapists. This social mentality damages the mental health of rape victims who have already been stripped of their feelings of security and safety. American culture should help these victims instead of adding to their

They fought their way to a point of general acceptance in society. But American society still treats women as objects. Almost every woman can say that they have been “catcalled” at least once in their life. This harassment starts as soon as the girls begin to go through puberty. When someone catcalls a woman in the street, everyone around lets it slide. Sexual harassment has become commonplace for girls of all ages. Americans even coined the phrase “boys will be boys” as some sort of excuse for their objectification of women. American culture has placed a double standard on boys and girls. Boys receive praise for their ability to “get in the pants” of multiple girls, but a girl does the same and she becomes a slut. When a man rapes a drunk woman, society says that she shouldn’t have been drinking instead of that he shouldn’t have raped her. American culture sees all of this as completely normal. This teaches girls that boys will always receive better treatment even when the boys do wrong, which puts girls in danger for as long as they believe this