Rape Culture : Rape Is Acceptable

Common phrases college students toss around during their time spent on campus are “freshman 15”, “syllabus week”, or “rape culture”. Culture is understood to be something that people engage in together as a society. Rape culture is when people of a society excuse or tolerate sexual violence. It is when sexual assault, rape, and harassment are ignored, belittled, normalized, or made into jokes. Rape Culture is when pop music tells women “you know you want it” because of these “blurred lines” (Thicke), when society supports athletes who are charged with rape and then calling their victims career-destroyers, when companies create advertisements using women in order to promote business, when people believe that girls allow themselves to be raped,

According to Marshall University’s Women Center, the definition of 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.”) This can be found in ideas such as victim-blaming, trivialization of assault, and pressure for individuals to adhere to strict gender roles. This culture is

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

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

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.

Unfortunately, the United State has become accustomed and used to this type of “rape culture.” Main stream images of hyper sexed individuals flood the media. Pornography is just a click away. We live in a place where young men are growing up thinking that purchasing sex from a “prostitute” is perfectly acceptable.

Rape culture is an issue that has gained moment through the feminist movement within the last couple of decades. Rape itself has been around since the beginning of time and its definition has changed over the years. In the United

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

“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.

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” (Understanding Rape Culture). The intentional and unintentional glamorization and trend in rape has increased dramatically since the beginning of the 20th century. Rape culture is now a concept that is institutionalized all throughout the world that makes the acts of sexual violence inevitable and indistinguishable from normal human ethics. The US is a country of Rape Culture because mainstream media excuses and creates an environment and society where this culture is normalized. Television, music, books, and even schools are filled with obstinate objectification of women’s bodies.

Not just morally but also legally. Women are often stereotyped and degraded in mainstream media and this impacts all women and their lived experiences. Of the 1,494,000 women aged 18 years and over who had been sexually assaulted since the age of 15, an estimated 1,310,900 women (15% of all women) had been sexually assaulted by a known person compared to 335,000 women (3.8% of all women) who had been sexually assaulted by a stranger. Rape Culture isn’t something made up by feminists. Feminists invented the phrase as a description of an active culture of abuse and exploitation occurring every hour, every minute and every second of every day. Rape Culture is an extension of a very real culture of privilege and entitlement men use to exploit, objectify, control and ultimately rape (or kill) women and children. Rape Culture is women being belittled and shamed into silence. It’s a media, political and legal fraternity that would telegraph to the world that what a woman wears, where she walks at night, whether or not she’s alone or how much alcohol she’s imbibed somehow correlates with her asking for it. Rape Culture is the culture of underreporting that exists with regards to rape due to the victim shame

Merril Smith’s Encycolpedia of Rape defines the term “rape culture” as “one in which rape and other sexual violence against women . . . [is] both prevalent and considered the norm” (174). Rape is not a new subject in today’s society, its origins reaching far back into history. What causes rape, though? Is it the primal drive of men to exhibit dominance over all women, or do the women share the blame because of the way they dress, act, or do their makeup? Modern American culture would place the blame on the woman who “provoked” the attack; however, a woman should not have to park closer to the building she is entering, nor should she have to carry protection just in case a sexual predator decides that she is his next victim. Men are just as

Many people are under the impression that rape culture is a made up thing, created so that people, specifically women, could get attention. When in fact that is the complete opposite of what it is. “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.” (Marshall University).

Most people would agree that as you grow up you learn by seeing, feeling ,touching , smelling, and hearing . Albert Bandura supports this by a theory he created called the Social Learning Theory (McLeod, 2011). Social Learning Theory is a theory that explains that behavior is learned by your social environment, interactions and observations of others. With this theory I would say it supports opinion in which I would say that rape is not something somebody just decides one day to do. I believe that rape is learned throughout time. There are many social and even media factors that sometimes may come off with the intention that rape is acceptable. In some media factors they may even perceive that being forcibly raped is pleasurable. Movies tend to do it often and sometimes movies don 't realize that what people see on television can sometimes influence people to see these acts as a norm. For instance the fact that a college kid is in a frat and he 's in a party there is a good percentage that he would reenact what television had stereotype frats boys to do. Television would label the frat boys as potential rapist and the human mind would consider that when you take on that role as a frat boy. One of the biggest media factors all the way from television to the internet that for so many years that perceive rape as acceptable is pornography.