The Rising Problem Of Rape Culture In Everyday Media

The mass media has become a big part of our society and its counterparts. In a time span of 50 years this medium has influenced society to an extent where it has created wonders. This immaculate tool can control almost every action we perform, from speaking to the actions that every human being performs in society. The mass media has brought upon a new era of idea's and changes in the world we live in. As we analysis media in depth we will find many aspects of media which overlap and some of the smallest factors and aspects of media, which create the biggest impact on society.

“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” (1a) Today you can't turn the television on without hearing references to rape culture. Jokes about sexual abuse plague every sitcom and news channels question rape victim’s every move. Even entire shows are dedicated to the topic such as Law and Order SVU. The media trivializes rape leading to a rape culture in America.

“I am about to rape this exam.” In today’s society, rape and rape culture has become second nature. The extent of lax attitude towards rape and its stigma has seemed to become the new “norm.” From popular movies and music, to social media, to simple everyday conversations, our environment is strewn with this notion of men with the sole purpose of forcefully obtaining sex. Our culture, in which sexual violence and where people aren’t taught not to rape, but taught not to be raped, has become the new normal. This term, “rape culture,” first began in 1970 by feminists, but has soon become increasingly popular over the recent years as more survivors share their stories (What is Rape Culture). Many feminists have provided substantial definition

Young adults between the ages of 16 and 30 are the most likely age group to consume rap/hip-hop music, and in turn, may become desensitized to the derogatory lyrics condoning relationship violence and sexual aggression (Smith, 2005). Specifically, college-aged individuals have been influenced by the prevalence of sexually explicit media and the negative images of women presented in hip-hop culture, which “teach men that aggression

In this assignment one can expect to see the discussions on effect of mass communication on people and

Mass media has long been a communication tool for people to socialise and exchange ideas with one another. It is the

The harmful nature of different media types has been analyzed within the course. In specific, this course has discussed the objectification/sexualization of women throughout media sources. It seems most relevant to draw a correlation between the music industry and the perception of women that continues to be exploited through this media outlet as well.

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

“Stop freaking out; you’re acting like I raped you.” It is so sad and disgusting how this generation is so desensitized about rape, or any sexual abuse. In the recent media, the public has seen high profile cases such as Bill Cosby, where more than forty women have come out with assault allegations. Instead of support and sympathy, some of the reactions were that the women were all lying because family man Bill Cosby could never do that. Others went as far as to make a Halloween theme costume of the alleged rape. Also, who would have thought that a 16-year old girl’s rape would be made viral, but not for the right reason. It was a trending topic on Twitter as Houston-area teen; Jade was shown passed out and undresses, with thousands

But this causes that some crimes are to be thought as not important enough to get coverage. Most of the victims of these crimes hide in the dark. ““Few studies have examined newspaper rape coverage and concluded that rape stories have fewer details than stories about murder or assault and do not provide information that puts the crime into perspective (1602).” Some solutions to this problematic representation of rape victims in the news media are education and social media. Because of rape culture in our society, many of the rape aggressors are often times tried for a minimum sentence which is not enough for the action he committed. Many who don’t agree can have a voice through social media. “Today feminist bloggers utilize social media in order to respond to rape culture, and hold accountable those responsible for its practices when mainstream news media, police and school authorities do not. (67) Education is another possible solution for this problem. ““Project Sister, a Pomona-based organization dedicated to helping victims of sexual and domestic violence, offers several education programs, with age-specific lessons for kindergarteners through the

The United States has the highest rate of teenage pregnancy among other countries in the western world, and the rate of STD’s is rising. The rise of STDs is largely contributed to the sexual activity of the adolescent age group.(source?) The crucial developmental period in a teenager’s life is from age 13 to 18, which is primarily when sexual education begins to grow greater in detail. I want to (Lit reviews aim to analyze specific topics with as little bias as possible. First person is an inappropriate tense for this particular kind of paper.) examine the media’s influence on female teenagers’ decisions surrounding their choices and decisions regarding sexual endeavors. Because it is such a frequent leisure activity, they are readily exposed to sexual imagery. I will consider aspects found in research such as the negative way sex is portrayed, its consequences, how television works as a flawed sexual educator, and the main themes regarding sex in television. Yet, I will highlight how media, along with parental guidance, can be used to create positivity for sex, and how it can be manipulated to exhibit healthy imagery regarding the subject.

The effects of music videos on adolescences have been the subject of controversy for decades. The common reason for the concern has been appropriately summed by Arnett (a Research Professor of Psychology at Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts), who explained, women are used as props for the illusive life the music video is portraying the artist to have. The concern that hip-hop culture, as seen in music videos, has become heavily influential on young people’s views of sexuality. The concern about mainstream hip-hop music and music videos sexualizing women, in particular, is so omnipresent, many can even be referenced as “rape culture” by embedded sexual violence in the lyrics being disguised as pleasurable elements of hip-hop. The Kaiser Family Foundation in the year 2001 reported that teenagers rank entertainment media as the main source for information about sexuality and sexual health [3]. Descriptive language and sexual imagery in music videos directly affect

Rape culture has been seen in many ways throughout the media. For example, during one of our readings we learned how rape and violence against women were being seen as normal, in song lyrics. Rape culture is also reinforced in films and movies. But, I decided to focus my manifesto project on how rape culture is represented in the news media. I have personally read and seen how the news media often blames the victim for being raped. Although they don’t state it so obvious, if you pay close attention you can see it. I believe this is an important issue given that it reinforces the idea that a victim of rape is responsible for it, which isn’t the true. Anyone who is raped is not responsible for what happened to them. If the news media, along with

From Eminem’s hardcore explicit lyrics, to Lil Kim’s outrageous outfits to the late Tupac Shakur’s “thug life” image, the rap subculture has been under a lot of speculation. Many rappers lyrics contain violent messages that parents fear are encouraging youth to become violent. The media has a field day covering protests against rappers, such as Eminem about their explicit lyrics towards gays, women and their promotion of violence. The main concern is how rap is influencing today, particularly towards the youth community, and the answer can be found in the media. There are a lot of articles, books, movies and documentaries written and produced each year with hip-hop being the main subject. This great plethora of media not only affects the

Mass society theory is an idea that media has strong influence towards people, it plays a role of shaping people’s mind and perception of the social world and it is also to manipulate people’s action with delicate, subtle and effective ways (Baran and Davis 2006, p.43). Mass society theory has first introduced in the nineteenth century when there are disruptive consequences caused by modernization (Baran and Davis 2006, p.52). At that time, mass media considered as a cause of social problems (Baran and Davis 2006, p.52). That was the yellow journalism era for mass newspapers (Baran and Davis 2006, p.52). For instance, newspapers irresponsibly give out information, probably some sensational information which directly