Rape Culture And Its Effect On Society

Many individuals might wonder, what is rape culture? “Rape Culture is an environment in which rape is prevalent and in which sexual violence against women is normalized and excused in the media and popular culture. Rape culture is perpetuated through the use of misogynistic language, the objectification of women’s bodies, and the glamorization of sexual violence, thereby creating a society that disregards women’s rights and safety.” Most women limit their behavior because of the existence of rape. (Marshall University)

America has a proud history of being a country that has many different ethnicities and cultures living within its borders. But one of the most prevalent cultures is one that transcends race or country of origin, rape culture. The term used by modern day feminist and gender activist defines a culture which normalizes rape and sexual assaults because of the deeply rooted societal attitudes towards gender and sexuality. In a rape culture the instances of rape are accepted as everyday occurrences and even as the prerogative of men, resulting in the stigmatization and blame placing of rape victims. Although the phrase “rape culture” is relatively modern, the

As kids we were taught about “stranger danger;” we were taught to protect ourselves from strangers and as we got older, females were told to protect themselves from getting raped. In this paper, I will discuss how living in a rape culture affects women and men, how does rape myths affect society and how we can change the negative effects of living in a rape culture and rape myths. In order to understand this, we must first define what rape is.

Now as a College student, speaking of rape culture is definitely an obligation. Reading the “The myth of the college ‘rape culture’” article in the NY post by Naomi Schaefer, she talks about the survey Harvard did as part of an effort by the American Association of Universities to quantify sexual assault on campus. The survey where bit vague but it looked like it was more of an alcohol problem more than a rape problem. The statistics show that most of the victims and the offenders drank alcohol or did drugs voluntarily. Yes there are some cases where the rapist was just a mad man that like raping but on campuses this is rarely seen. Quoting two things from Scaefer “On campuses where students are encouraged to see every bad sexual decision as an assault, incapacitated is a way students can explain away their behavior” and “Once you dig through all of the data collected here, there is no evidence that women are

Before the emergence of the Westernized “anti-rape” movement, there was a distinctly rape supportive discourse in our society, supported by myths and justifications for the act of raping another human being. The resulting trauma for the victims of rape was greatly ignored as society

With a rape happening at regular intervals in the United States, calling assault a significant issue is just putting it gently. Today's era was brought up in a society that has driven numerous individuals to accept that, in certain occasions, an assault is okay. It has turned into a social standard in numerous nations, most dominatingly in the United States. From a youthful age, young ladies are taught to not get assaulted as opposed to young men being taught not to assault. This is all a piece of assault society. Assault society is the social standardization of assault. It is the externalization of ladies and the animalization of men. Assault society lets us know that "young men will be young men" and there is nothing that

Although the term Rape culture wasn’t coined until the 1970’s the practices associated with the term have been used to mistreat women for several centuries. Rape culture refers to the several aspects of culture such as art, science, and history that tolerates the sexual assault of women; people often mistake rape culture as something that is only seen through music or in the past, but the act of using vituperating language towards women and telling sexual explicit jokes are examples of rape culture. The political, social, and philosophical practices of the American society contributes to the oppression of women in the form of rape culture; although rape culture is deeply rooted in our society it could be diminished by enforcing stricter rape

In class today, we discussed a topic of rape culture in society which is a taboo subject in American custom that is often brushed under the rug because of the sensitivity towards the topic. Individual tend to shy away from rape culture conversations because they do not like to believe that it is happening, and by remaining ignorant to the situation it continues and grows. Rape culture can also be tied into human sex trafficking which has been national epidemic in recent years. In class, I learned more about the statistics to rape culture which is that 1 in 3 women are likely to be a victim of rape or sexual assault, 1 in 3 girls are likely to be a victim of rape or sexual assault, and 1 in 9 boys would be likely to be a victim of rape or assault.

As defined by Marshall University’s Women’s Center, “rape culture is an environment in which rape is prevalent and in which sexual violence against women is normalized and excused in the media and popular culture.” According to this definition, because of the prevalence of rape in American society, this society could be called a “rape culture.” Approximately 237,868 people are raped in the United States every year, according to the Rape, Abuse, and Incest National Network (RAINN). This is roughly one person every two minutes. Approximately 1 in every 6 women will experience rape or attempted rape in their lifetime(compared to only 1 in 33 men).

Feminist scholarship has argued that rape ideology encourages and justifies sexual coercion, trivializes sexual violence and demeans and devalues women who have experienced sexual assault. The foundation of this argument is based on women's experiences in patriarchal societies. Due to the fact that

One might often ask what importance is there to fight against rape. Statistics have shown that the pillage of a person’s personal space have been steadily increasing since before the 1950s. Every two minutes, there is at least one American being sexually assaulted. (www.rainn.org ‘Sexual Assault Statistics”) these are just two of the millions of statistics that have been taking away many people’s privacy, natural rights, and their trust in others. Instead , due to rape culture women are commonly taught that ‘boys will be boys” or [concerning being bothered or harassed by the opposite sex] “ that just means they like you!” rape culture not only teaches women that its normal to be sexually assaulted , but it teaches them not to bother to correct the rapists, just to take it. In news, press reporters mourn the athletic career of two highschoolers’ who raped and nearly killed a 15 year old girl rather than mourning the victim. The only way to stop these situations from ever happening again is to stop

Rape culture is an environment in which social attitudes have the effect of normalizing sexual violence against women and excusing it in the media and other popular cultures. Rape culture attempts to rationalize a continuum of sexual violence that range from sexist remarks to unwanted sexual touching, and rape itself. Rape culture has become so desensitized by society that perpetrators may not be aware of their wrongdoings and victims may not realize they are being victimized. It is a culture in which victims are suppressed when they decide to speak up about their traumatic attack, because they are seen as being dramatic or untruthful while the perpetrator's actions are left unpunished. While the majority of victims are women, rape culture is not solemnly an issue of female oppression, it is a general disconnect between human beings. It is a culture that many of us refuse to accept exist, however there are numerous examples that normalize rape and sexual assault on a daily basis. Rape culture is not a new topic. The term was first used back in the 1970’s by a group of feminist to raise the awareness of the normalization of sexual violence in society. In recent years the topic has become a popular, controversial issue and has come to permeate virtually every aspect of our lives through media, song lyrics, and everyday jargon.

Sitting in my living room next to my perfectly decorated tree and “Baby it’s cold outside” by Frank Loesser popped on the radio. What I always found to be a fun Christmas song has become tainted by my feministic ideals, and hatred for the rape culture that has persisted through the years. The lyrical dance of the woman saying she really should go, the man coaxing her to stay, the so very complicated line about what is in that drink. Outside the context of the 1940s these things are a veritable sexual harassment public service announcement. However, when you consider the history of the 1940’s slang and expectations of women the message becomes more about female empowerment. Baby it’s cold outside is both a song about an empowered woman giving into her sexual desires, and a song that perpetuates rape culture in modern society.

To effectively assess themes in music that promote or make light of sexual violence and/or rape culture, one must define the following terms. As of 2012, rape is defined as “the penetration, no matter how slight, of the vagina or anus with any body part or object, or oral penetration by a sex organ of another person, without the consent of the victim”. This definition excludes gender and does not describe a given scenario, which opens up the concept to various interpretations (“An Updated Definition,” 2012). Two terms that are often used interchangeably with rape are sexual harassment and sexual assault. Sexual harassment will be defined in this paper as “unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct,” and within this definition, examples include acts such as: sexual jokes, degrading remarks, and inappropriate touching. Sexual assault will be defined as “unwanted behaviors,” not including penetration, “that are attempted or completed against a victim's will or when a victim cannot consent” (“Rape and Sexual Violence,” n.d.). In regards to these definitions, sexual harassment is the use of words or slight actions that make one feel uncomfortable, sexual assault is the use of action when one does not, or unwillingly consents, and rape is the act of penetration. Rape culture is essential to understand in the context of this paper as the encouragement of sexual aggression that supports a violent society in which brutality and sexual

The myths that were detailed in the Rape culture prezi highlights the bias, and unjust reality that we live in and how rape culture is deepened. The myths that only young pretty women are assaulted, that is most cases rape is caused by black men against black women and that people who dress or act provocatively they deserved to be raped since they “asked” for it reinforces the unjustness of Griffen’s theory on rape culture. Griffen’s theory on rape culture indicates that it is embedded into our social institutions and it is evident in the family structure. W.I.R. reveals how the wife is possession to her husband. It also talks about how society is a male hierarchy and that we live in a male dominated culture that denies women’s power (pg.518). Women are perceived to be the true oppression of men.