The Importance Of Rape Culture

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.

It is six o’clock in the evening, a special news segment on world affairs is on the television. The journalist is doing a piece on inhumane practices that occur in third world countries, one of these travesties being rape. The voices of women who have been stolen from their homes and have been taken advantage of against their own will infiltrate the air. These personal stories have an incredulously powerful impact on those listening and make one think “How could such an outrageous thing happen?” Truth be told, these horrors are not just happening in far-off places, but they are happening right now in the United States of America. The very simple fact that one is oblivious to the magnitude of sexual violence in their very own country is an

Rape culture is everywhere. Advertisements, dress codes, and articles objectify women everyday. Women are taught their whole life that “boys will be boys’ and we need to dress accordingly so we do not distract them. One in four college women report surviving attempted or

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

A rape-prone culture is one where sexual violence has become common and little action is taken due to these behaviors often being dismissed providing the perfect environment that almost promotes it. It almost becomes a daily part of life and when no consequences are being placed into action to prevent sexual violence the more often it will occur. A rape-free culture on the other hand is one that reinforces sexual equality for example, males are often seen and dominant over women and in a rape-free culture people would be taught otherwise and more awareness of this being an issue would be spread. These topics are often brought to the table in discussion of college environments and safety. In the college atmosphere, fraternities are often accused

Even though the first amendment states freedom of expression, statistics show rape and sexual assault numbers have risen due to the presence of rape culture in modern society. Rape culture promotes more assaults and violent acts, not only towards women but also towards men. Some evidence rape culture is present in today’s society are rising statistics showing that only three out of a hundred rapists see jail time and that over 17 million American women are victims of sexual assault every year. Rape culture is seen in every aspect of daily American life, even if people do not realize it.

In class this semester, we’ve spent a particularly long time defining and addressing the problems associated with rape culture. Rape culture can be 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” (Huffington Post). Rape culture can be as simple as a T.V. commercial or as complex as a rapist blaming the victim for “asking for it” and everything in between. Rape culture is something that effects everyone; not just women, but men too. I’m really glad that we were given the opportunity to spread the word throughout the community;

The topic that I have chosen to discuss in this paper is the “rape culture” that occurs on college campuses throughout the United States; and the rationale society uses to normalize this egregious act. Rape culture refers to society’s existing idea that rape or sexual assault is inconsequential and only happens to individuals who behave a certain way.

When the term gender gets brought up, double standards are very much strongly alive. Despite all of the advancements regarding gender equality, countless people still expect different things from females and males. Issues connected to gender are the double standard, rape culture, and slut shaming. Most people acknowledge the fact that females are criticized and judged much more brutally than males for participating in the exact behavior, especially when those behaviors are sex-related. Whether it is sex with multiple sexual partners or casual sex, this act is looked down upon when females engage in it. Males are applauded studs for doing this, but women are labeled sluts. Society as a whole, expect more from females because they are emotional beings that are victims to tougher perception. Meanwhile, the rape culture has been an issue that social media and the internet have taken to become part of our social vernacular. Rape culture happens when the act of rape is exercised often and is overlooked (Esguerra, 2017). There is also shut shaming that has become a socially constructed word used to describe a female that participates in behaviors outside of the “norm”.I stumbled across the viral Brock Turner case back when it first appeared on my Facebook news feed last year. This case is a modern day example of the term rape culture as we know it to me. It was something that is totally new to me, someone that should have gotten six years in prison, got released after three months

Consequently, rape culture is so ingrained in our society that we rarely notice it. It is there every time the victim gets blamed because of the clothing she was wearing. It is there every time doubt is cast on a rape case because it does not conform to society's idea of how a ‘real’ rape happens.

Enculturation is a gradual process by which individuals learn how to adapt to the norms within a society. Social norms stand as principles that are understood by aggregate individuals to manage their behaviours; therefore, culture is a set of accepted behaviours (Cachon, 2017). In the 1970’s, during the second wave of feminism, woman activists in the United States popularized the rape culture approach (Cole, 2017). Rape culture is present in a society when rape and other forms of sexual violence are fueled by social norms; normally, these acts are excused when committed by men against women (Cole, 2017). The position of women within this domain is clear; “men systematically target women for acts of sexual objectification, degradation, and abuse” (Ezzell, 2008). Women are submissive to a sexist society. One of the most powerful aspects of socialization that provide a dominant male culture is the universal media (Ezzell, 2008). This paper will argue to clearly identify the elements of rape culture while illustrating how today’s media promotes it.

Women that experience rape lives are changed forever. People that are raped no longer feel safe in the world. A 49-year-old woman who lives in a middle class neighborhood remembers from her own experience, “That’s my big issue — trying to continue to feel safe in my own house. I will always be looking over my shoulder and checking the back seat of my truck and always trying to second guess where somebody could be hiding,” (Dickson). When women get raped their lives are changed forever. They are never able to look at the world the same way as before. People who are raped no longer feel safe in the world, they feel as if everyone is watching them every second of the day. Anyone who is affected by rape feels as though they should hide because they feel intimidated by all men. When women get raped it is

These past two weeks, we have focused on the prevalent rape culture in the United States and how that affects society. We found that sexual violence has become somewhat of a norm in the U.S., and that it is no longer broadcasted in the media like the atrocity it is. This, along with the inherent gender stereotypes within society, contributes to rape culture, which is defined by the Oxford Living Dictionary as “a society or environment whose prevailing social attitudes have the effect of normalizing or trivializing sexual assault and abuse.” Our society bombards us with acts of sexual violence, through music and visual media. It is treated like a despicable act that must not be tolerated, one where the perpetrators must be held accountable. Yet, at the same time, it is tolerated, and the perpetrators are often allowed to roam free without punishment, while their victims are tortured with what happened to them for the rest of their lives. This is rape culture, and although the term is circulating more and more, the populous does not regard it as a serious issue, but as a problem made up “hysterical feminists” (Rape Culture is When, Maxwell).

“She was asking for it by wearing such provocative clothing and drinking so much!” Although our society does not directly promote rape, people have created a faulty societal environment in which victims are blamed for their own assaults, rape perpetrators are viewed sympathetically, and the mainstream media glamorizes rape attitudes. One of the most tragic downfalls of our society is its tendency to normalize and often times even romanticize sexual assault and abuse. Unfortunately, rape culture is a major issue that is downplayed in the eye of the general public, yet it is extremely dangerous and creates such a dangerous environment for the female population.

A common image found online when talking about rape culture is a protest sign. The sign reads “Don’t get raped” but the word “get” is crossed out and also the “d” of raped. The new message is saying “Don’t rape.” The parts that are crossed out are in black letters and the rest is written in red so that it stands out. In the article “Men, Women, Fame, and the Rape Culture in America,” Robert Cox argues that society needs to change because if not men, both famous and average, will continue to get away with committing rape. Zerlina Maxwell states rape culture is a real and serious issue that will only change once society listens to and supports the victims of these crimes in her article “Rape Culture is Real.” All of these sources are revealing shocking information. Shock factor is a very effective way to get a point across. Together all of these sources create a strong