Rape Culture and its effects on the Society
Daniela Fernandez
Gabriela Rodriguez
Victor Rivero
Rape Culture
It is rather difficult to give an exact definition to a social problem. Some may say a social problem is defined when the issue is affecting large groups of people. But who defines “large” and why must multiple people be negatively affected by something for it to capture global attention? Our book tells us a social problem exists when an influential group defines a social condition as threatening its values; when the condition affects a large number of people; and when the condition can be remedied by collective action (Loseke, 2003; Spector and Kitsuse, 2000). This definition is obscure as well, what makes a group influential? Economic status? Social standing? If this were it; then would the problems of poverty, lack of healthcare, and flawed educational systems that affect the lower classes even be considered as social problems? Through out the semester we have discussed the prevalence and magnitude of social problems our society faces. We have decided to highlight a major problem our developed society faces everyday commonly referred to as “Rape Culture”. Rape Culture is a concept that links rape and sexual violence to the culture of a society, and in which prevalent attitudes and practices normalize, excuse, tolerate, and even condone rape. Although the problem had long existed prior to being framed. Feminists in the United States coined the term in the 1970’s. What exactly makes rape culture a societal problem? First and foremost its prevalence in our modern society is overwhelming aspects of rape culture are found in the media, educational systems, societal norms/structures, and legal systems. We encounter rape culture everyday even without realizing it examples include: victim blaming, trivializing sexual assault (boys will be boys!), teaching women to avoid getting raped rather than teaching men not to rape, Publicly scrutinizing a victim’s dress, mental state, motives, and
Gabriela Rodriguez
Victor Rivero
Rape Culture
It is rather difficult to give an exact definition to a social problem. Some may say a social problem is defined when the issue is affecting large groups of people. But who defines “large” and why must multiple people be negatively affected by something for it to capture global attention? Our book tells us a social problem exists when an influential group defines a social condition as threatening its values; when the condition affects a large number of people; and when the condition can be remedied by collective action (Loseke, 2003; Spector and Kitsuse, 2000). This definition is obscure as well, what makes a group influential? Economic status? Social standing? If this were it; then would the problems of poverty, lack of healthcare, and flawed educational systems that affect the lower classes even be considered as social problems? Through out the semester we have discussed the prevalence and magnitude of social problems our society faces. We have decided to highlight a major problem our developed society faces everyday commonly referred to as “Rape Culture”. Rape Culture is a concept that links rape and sexual violence to the culture of a society, and in which prevalent attitudes and practices normalize, excuse, tolerate, and even condone rape. Although the problem had long existed prior to being framed. Feminists in the United States coined the term in the 1970’s. What exactly makes rape culture a societal problem? First and foremost its prevalence in our modern society is overwhelming aspects of rape culture are found in the media, educational systems, societal norms/structures, and legal systems. We encounter rape culture everyday even without realizing it examples include: victim blaming, trivializing sexual assault (boys will be boys!), teaching women to avoid getting raped rather than teaching men not to rape, Publicly scrutinizing a victim’s dress, mental state, motives, and