Rape Culture
Rape Culture
Every two minutes, a person in America is sexually assaulted (“How often does sexual assault occur?”). Rape is not rare; it is not something that happens only to women walking the streets alone at night, or to women who wear revealing clothing, or to women who enjoy drinking. Rape is something that can happen to any woman, anywhere in the world, at any time. Similarly, a rapist is not just a shadowy figure lurking in the bushes; he can be a father, a friend, a boyfriend, a husband, a neighbor, a teacher, a pastor. In fact, “[a]lmost two-thirds of all rapes are committed by someone who is known to the victim” (“The Offenders”). A common misconception is that rape is about sex; that if a woman refrains from dressing “provocatively”, getting drunk, and behaves in a very reserved manner, she will not be raped. What rape is actually about is power, control, and ownership; it has nothing to do with sexual attraction (“Rape”). We see images, use language, and partake in behavior that normalizes rape every day in our society. We are living in a rape culture.
Rape culture is not a phrase with a simple and all-encompassing definition. However, it is best defined by Emilie Buchwald, Pamela R. Fletcher, and Martha Roth in Transforming a Rape Culture:
[Rape culture] is a complex set of beliefs that encourages male sexual aggression and supports violence against women. It is a society where violence is seen as sexy and sexuality as violent. In a rape culture, women perceive a continuum of threatened violence that ranges from sexual remarks to sexual touching to rape itself. A rape culture condones physical and emotional terrorism against women and presents it as the norm. (Buchwald, Fletcher, and Roth XI)
Rape culture can be seen in dozens of films, television shows, and books; in advertisements, in politics, in religion, in everyday conversations. It is so prevalent in our world that we hardly give it a second thought when we're face to face with it.
Gender
Every two minutes, a person in America is sexually assaulted (“How often does sexual assault occur?”). Rape is not rare; it is not something that happens only to women walking the streets alone at night, or to women who wear revealing clothing, or to women who enjoy drinking. Rape is something that can happen to any woman, anywhere in the world, at any time. Similarly, a rapist is not just a shadowy figure lurking in the bushes; he can be a father, a friend, a boyfriend, a husband, a neighbor, a teacher, a pastor. In fact, “[a]lmost two-thirds of all rapes are committed by someone who is known to the victim” (“The Offenders”). A common misconception is that rape is about sex; that if a woman refrains from dressing “provocatively”, getting drunk, and behaves in a very reserved manner, she will not be raped. What rape is actually about is power, control, and ownership; it has nothing to do with sexual attraction (“Rape”). We see images, use language, and partake in behavior that normalizes rape every day in our society. We are living in a rape culture.
Rape culture is not a phrase with a simple and all-encompassing definition. However, it is best defined by Emilie Buchwald, Pamela R. Fletcher, and Martha Roth in Transforming a Rape Culture:
[Rape culture] is a complex set of beliefs that encourages male sexual aggression and supports violence against women. It is a society where violence is seen as sexy and sexuality as violent. In a rape culture, women perceive a continuum of threatened violence that ranges from sexual remarks to sexual touching to rape itself. A rape culture condones physical and emotional terrorism against women and presents it as the norm. (Buchwald, Fletcher, and Roth XI)
Rape culture can be seen in dozens of films, television shows, and books; in advertisements, in politics, in religion, in everyday conversations. It is so prevalent in our world that we hardly give it a second thought when we're face to face with it.
Gender