Rape Culture

Sexual assault is defined as any vaginal, oral, or anal penetration that is forced upon another, regardless of sex and sexual orientation, using any object or body part. The issue of sexual assault in America is primarily encouraged by rape culture. Women Against Violence Against Women is an organization that defines rape culture as a complex set of beliefs that encourage male sexual aggression and supports violence against women. The acceptance of rape culture, rape myths, and the disregard for sexual consent also allow for the perpetuation of sexual assault against women on college campuses. Recent examples of sexual assault on college campuses show how prominent this issue has become and how hostile campuses have become for female students. Some examples include the University of Southern California’s “Gullet Report,” Miami University of Ohio’s “Top Ten Ways to Get Away with Rape,” and a sexual assault on the campus of Kansas University. Sexual assault is perpetuated by the acceptance of rape myths and rape culture, lack of effective sexual education, and the disregard for consent. The solution to this issue lies with defeating rape culture, increasing awareness and funding for campus sexual assault crisis centers, and enacting more prevention programs on campus.

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.

A majority of women, fifty percent, say they give consent using verbal cues, while a mere nine percent of men interpret consent in this way (Kitroeff). These numbers give truth to the meaning of rape culture and its prevalence on college campuses. Despite the fact that this rape-tolerant culture has been engrained in the minds of most adolescents, it ultimately has the potential to be changed.

College campus sexual assault has become a growing epidemic. Victims are assaulted by strangers, friends, or acquaintances, and receive no support when reported to the school staff. The importance of making this epidemic more aware to students or school faculty is to show the impact sexual assault has on a victim and their family, but also make it easier for victims to report and discuss their assault. Rape culture is becoming increasingly normalized within college campuses, and poses dangers to all students. The normalization of rape on college campuses promotes a mindset that suppresses victims and does not hold the attacker responsible for his or her actions.

Currently, a surplus of major issues is disturbing the United States of America. One controversy that I am particularly passionate about handling is rape culture at college, especially in fraternities. A study conducted in 2014 found that 11.7% of students attending the 27 colleges surveyed had experienced nonconsensual sexual contact by force, threats of force, or incapacitation. Females surveyed reported a significantly higher percentage of these assaults compared to men.

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

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 the minds of many high school boys, rape isn 't always wrong. A Patriot Ledger survey of 527 high school students conducted for this series found that 7 percent of boys said it was OK to force a girl to have sex on a date” (Eschbacher).The media needs to redefine and differently represent rape because it is portrayed as being too hard to define, the media has begun stereotyping the victims and rapists alike, and rape is not being reported because students are afraid of the stigma created by the media. Rape culture, or the media’s portrayal of rape is ridiculously inaccurate and overly pigeonholed. Rape needs to be redefined, as evidence by the staggering statistic stated. In the following paragraphs, the reasoning behind the thesis stated will be explained.

Over the years many feminists have sculpted what the definition of rape culture is. This term aims to shine a light on the different ways in which society has shifted blame from perpetrator to victims of sexual assault and in doing so, normalized male sexual violence. This is a complex set of beliefs developed within society that encourage male superiority and sexual aggression. This is dangerous because it creates an atmosphere where violence against women is supported. We, as a society, need to be more conscious about our values and ideals. We need to not only be aware of what is going on, but also stand up and see it for what it truly is.

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

Our time is high school is preparing us for the exciting times of college. It is nearing the time of year when seniors are applying to schools, juniors are preparing for the SATs, and underclassmen are anticipating all of this chaos. It is an exciting time for mos but with the looming statistic that 1 in 4 college women will be victims of rape, I can admit I’m a bit scared to venture into what is supposed to be the best 4 years of our young lives.

In recent years the term rape culture has been used more frequently in social media and mainstream news media. Mass media is an integral component of our everyday life, whether it’s the news, television shows, movies, social media, etc. Individuals look to the media to figure out what to know, what to be aware of and overall what is going on in society. Victim blaming occurs more frequently in the media because of the way the media shapes the perception of various issues. The media hardly ever have factual evidence to make their point. The media frequently use framing techniques to present information to an audience and these techniques highlight on certain aspects of information and obscure others. In other words the media only shows us what they want us to see instead of showing us the whole picture or discussing the whole situation. The way the media portray sexual assault can have detrimental consequences for how the audience interpret sexual violence and victims of sexual assault. For example, movies and advertising often reinforce rape myths that trivialized sexual assault as being pleasurable and romantic. Not only does the media outlets underplay the true issues of sexual assault, they depict women as sexualized objects, and sexual aggression and pornography is portrayed as a normative behavior.

European colonists carried over quite a lot when they arrived on our eastern shores: hope, bravery, a sense of independence, the will to explore, and a patriarchal system that created a rape culture fed by the unwavering idea that women are lesser than men and should just respect that fact of life. They were quick to force this way of life on the local Native American populations, and these ideals are the reason that rape culture exists to the extent it does today. The modern normalization of rape and sexual violence is, like it was for the Native Americans and slaves, a way to keep control over women and minority populations. Once one recognizes this, the reason why rapists (especially ones that assault those of a minority population) are generally given light sentences or even allowed to roam free becomes clear. Although the patriarchy constantly casts rape as a horrible crime that should be punished to the highest degree, it doesn’t truly walk the walk. It still sees women as a lesser being, and therefore doesn’t prosecute rape to the fullest in order to scare women and keep them in line.