Over The Years Many Feminists Have Sculpted What The Definition

A society only becomes a rape culture when “rape is prevalent and in which sexual violence against women is normalized and excused in the media and popular culture” (“Rape Culture,” n.d.). The United States is a rape culture because of

The term ‘rape culture’ was coined by feminists in the United States in 1970. The term itself was designed to illustrate the ways in which society blamed victims of sexual assault, and how the normalization of male sexual violence was acceptable. Rape culture can stem from the acceptance of rape as a daily occurrence, manifested as a male prerogative. There is a hesitation by the authorities to go against the patriarchal cultural norms, hence linking nonconsensual sex to the cultural disposition of society. The patriarchal perspective of rape culture, embedded with gender inequality and misogyny are passed through generations which ultimately leads to the extensive institutional and social acceptance of rape. Actions which advocate sexist ideals are utilized to justify and validate normative misogynistic perceptions. Rape culture sexualizes violence inflicted upon women, as it serves as a continuum of a society which views a women’s body to be sexually available by default, deriving from the overall domination and objectification of a female. The underlying cause of rape culture is localized as it based upon the social aspects of culture. For example, countries with a prolific ‘war culture’ tend to emphasize violence and masculinity, and therefore rape is viewed as a normal facet of society. I intend to parallel the element of rape culture to the enforcement of social rules and the conditioning of gender roles. I plan on analyzing the notion that within the encompassment of

I have read the article “In Mocking Rape Culture, My University Revealed Our Own” from the Ms Magazine. It happened in Western Kentucky University for a football game. This time rape culture reared its head in the enthusiasm leading up to Saturday’s football game against Vanderbilt University, a rival school just one hour south rocked by a 2013 gang rape involving football players. It made me for a deep thinking. The Raped - a porn, the vulgarization of the social problems, the original is essentially a very serious academic problem, we can completely like the wild of ancient times society, down to the modern pictures of gossip, will go searching and grasp. We can probe into the male and female genitalia characteristics and specific characteristics

It is a society where violence is seen as sexy and sexuality as violent.” This term, rape culture, has become a phrase we hear abundantly. And, we don’t have to look far to see examples of it these days. Whether it’s advertising, movies, music videos, or social media, it’s all out there, depicting men dominating women. This language of rape culture exists in our everyday conversation.

“rape culture includes jokes, TV, music, advertising, legal jargon, laws, words and imagery, that make violence against women and sexual coercion seem so normal that people believe that rape is inevitable. Rather than viewing the culture of rape as a problem to change, people in a rape culture think about the persistence of rape as ‘just the way things are’” (Wavaw,)

According to the Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network (RAINN), approximately 207,500 rapes occur annually in the United States (“Statistics RAINN”). If we were to spread that out evenly over the 365 days of a year, that would equate to a sexual assault occurring every two minutes. Although the amount of rapes occurring annually has decreased by 60% since 1993 (“Statistics about Sexual Violence”), that’s still an incredible amount of sexual violence occurring yearly--- a facet of American culture that must be addressed. Although women are not the only victims of rape, and men are not the only perpetrators of rape, this essay will strictly refer to male-on-female cases of rape. The factors present in a society that naturalize or rationalize rape and sexual violence are known in Women’s Studies as ‘rape culture’. Many would deny its existence, but here in the United States, ‘rape culture’ is prevalent in the media, social roles, and in the way we educate our children about rape prevention. This gives rise to a society wherein rape is tolerated and even ignored, and it absolutely must be stopped. I will first outline the problematic facets of society that perpetuate rape culture, and then identify solutions to help eradicate the problem.

Rape is one of the crimes committed in the US. Rape is also one of the most underreported crimes in America and has low prosecution and conviction rates compared to any other violent crimes in America. "Rape Culture" has become a popular term when it comes to rape prevention education and advocacy; it refers to a society that contains within it practices and beliefs that minimize the negative impacts of victimization while accepting and continuing the perpetration of acts of sexual violence.

It is quite evident that such popular culture is the most influencing for the rape culture. Rape, as defined by Merriam-Webster is, “An outrageous violation; unlawful sexual intercourse or any other sexual penetration of the vagina, anus, or mouth of another person, with or without force, by a sex organ, another body part, or foreign object, without the consent of the victim.” Thus, if we were to combine the definition of culture and rape, then the definition would state, in short, rape culture is an integrated pattern of human knowledge, belief, and behavior. Now that we understand the definition, we must now look at the influences.

Rape culture, two words that many in the Western world have heard, and are all too familiar with. Rape culture itself is a societal problem and has been perfectly defined by Melissa McEwan, who says that a rape culture is a society that condones male aggression both emotionally and physically towards women. It is a society that has made sexual remarks, sexual touching, to rape itself, a norm for all members of the community and inflicts fear into the hearts of all women everywhere and anywhere they may go (McEwan, 2009). Since the women’s movement began rape and sexual violence has been a pressing concern that many have tried to address and stop. Although back then it may not have been labeled rape culture it was most definitely present and is still present today. One particular place that harbors rape culture and attempts to

Every generation before and after mine will have been exposed to some type of aspect surrounding rape culture. We should be reversing the mindset of learning to prevent rape and find a solution to cease rape all together.There have been countless inventions to prevent rape such as nail polish to see if a drink has been roofied, and even ordinary items (i.e. lipstick) are being manufactured as concealed weapons to be carried in case of emergency. Even schools are enforcing dress codes that further perpetrate rape culture by telling girls that dressing provocatively will incite the uncontrollable sexual desires of others. That’s the most mind-blowing aspect of rape culture that occurred to me, that there’s so many prevention tips plastered online as well as taught in schools but it hasn’t dawned upon us to understand that rape is not the outcome of dressing seductively or drinking too much

Boys grow up being taught, by the images circulated throughout media, that masculinity is strength, determination and persistence and that sexual conquests demonstrate power. Girls grow up being taught that wearing short skirts and walking around after dark are “asking for it”. This effectively removes the blame from boys, and places the responsibility of not getting raped onto girl’s shoulders. Images of women being overly sexualized are everywhere. Magazines, advertisements, movies, and television, all these media outlets create a society in which women are valued for the image they project out to society, not for who they are. The “male gaze” is used to portray women through the desires of men, sexualizing the female body in a way designed specifically for male pleasure. As a result, men believe they have a right to women’s bodies and women believe they are responsible for attracting unwanted attention. However, many people believe that training girls to hide themselves away for their own protection is not the answer. Author Jessica Valenti, in her book The Purity Myth: How America's Obsession with Virginity is Hurting Young Women, stated “Now, should we treat women as independent agents, responsible for themselves? Of course. But being responsible has nothing to do with being raped. Women don’t get raped because they were drinking or took drugs. Women do not get raped because they weren’t careful enough. Women get raped because someone raped

In today's’ world, rape is a word that is often used, but rarely understood. I have researched four articles that I believe help get the conversation about the realities of rape culture started. In my first article, Jennifer Baumgardner writes of a rape victim whose occupation got in the way of justice. In the second article I reviewed, Andrew Bretz, a discouraged professor, questions whether or not lectures and classes on rape culture are really teaching the students anything. The third article, which was written by Tyler Kingkade, tells the heartbreaking story of a student that was raped while studying abroad, and received no help from her university in the United States. The final article I reviewed was written by Jo McGowan, who writes

Rape culture. This is a term that was coined in the 1970’s feminism movement that has been rehashed with 4th wave feminism amongst millennials in the 2000’s. Though the term seems to irritate many that attempt to refute that the systematic tolerance of rape in America is a non-issue that would disappear if “women just stopped getting so drunk” (Judge Mary Jane Mowat, 2009) it is in fact a perpetuated problem that plagues todays society. By definition, rape culture is the embodiment that of the “complex set of beliefs that sexual aggression" and can be further defined as being found "is in a society that embodies rape culture that women receive a continuum of overly sexualized remarks (cat-calling), to the act of rape itself, and condones that these physical and emotional acts against women are an inevitable fact of life”. Sound familiar? Welcome to our great nation. Though this perpetuation of sexual violence is a normalcy is harmful to women and even men, across the entire nation, its main impact targets the women and children of low socioeconomic areas, female students on university campuses, and of course, the women who choose to seek justice against our everyday superheroes- the famous, and the athletes.

I’ve become increasingly aware of the presence of rape culture in today’s society. We have become apathetic towards rape and it is increasingly normalised and fetishized. it leaves me speechless that in this day and age people’s approach to rape is still victim blaming.

It is not only the fact that women are feeling unsafe to report that has a tendency to perpetuate rape culture; it runs much deeper than that. In a scholarly journal Dianne Herman asserts, “Because of the aggressive-passive, dominant-submissive, me-Tarzan-you-Jane nature of the relationship between the sexes in our culture, there is a close association between violence and sexuality.” She continues making her assertion by saying, “The imagery of sexual relations between males and females in books, songs, advertising, and films is frequently that of a sadomasochistic relationships thinly veiled by a romantic facade. Thus, it is very difficult in our society to differentiate rape from ‘normal’ heterosexual relations.” In essence, the author is saying that, with a male dominant society, untangling the threads connecting sex and violence is difficult and not doing so may have dire repercussions. As for another point raised by her writings, the lines of “normal heterosexual relations” are also becoming blurred. Women are not the only victims within this rape culture. Men are also at a great risk today, whether