Western civilization has had a long history of patriarchal constructs. Even today our social structure still contains echoes of our patriarchal past, in the same way we still hold echoes of racial supremacy structures. The control asserted by patriarchy consists on a spectrum ranging from economic disenfranchisement to exploitation for profit, to being perceived as property and dehumanization and enslavement. Rape is a prime example as one of the most antithetical experience to inflict upon a person, especially a woman. Rape has always been a tool employed to psychologically and physically control; to the extent of subverting more than half of the species.
It is interesting to note that when the human species was younger, dating back further than 12,000 years; women were worshiped as goddesses. However, during the Younger Dryas mass extinction the human population was reduced to roughly 2000 at one point; with only about 50 fertile females remaining of the species. Disproportionately altering structures of social coagulation and organization rapidly. It is the following millennia that we see the transformation of women being worshiped as goddesses into women being perceived as dehumanized property. The perception of divinity altered during this period from a pantheistic and paganistic perspective as feminine to one of masculinity such as the Abrahamic monotheistic religions. It is arguable that the extensive catastrophes that occurred during the mass extinction delusioned the male half of the species into a form of psychosis out of desperation for survival.
What originally started as guardianship and mutual respect, descended into a form of madness as the egotistical primeval brute within the male population's psyche had an unchecked majority in the species. If we extrapolate the perception of that ancient perspective of women being goddesses, then one of the most antithetical thing imaginable would be desecrating the temple of life (metaphorically speaking), which is precisely what rape does. Furthermore from a philosophical perspective, the repercussions of such horrifying treatment on a large scale installs the same mental destruction suffered by any terrorized population. Women are raised to think sexual assault and abuse is normal in the same way populations in the Middle East are taught that drone bombardments are normal.
Additionally the inherent respect of treating women with the recognition they deserve for preserving the species becomes completely lost and forgotten by those apathetic to the systematic atrocities like rape. The dehumanization via asinine anti-feminists, men's rights activists, and meninists movements and groups utilize wit, sarcasm, and cleverness in place of intelligence, wisdom, and understanding to harass women in concerted efforts. However, other portions of society absorb these ideas and exasperate the dehumanization as well; largely as a result of apathy.
The problem of rape is the responsibility of those taking such hostile actions. The person raped is not the one to blame, no matter the circumstances. A woman could walk down the street naked and that would still not be an excuse for someone to force themselves upon her. The archaic continuation of rape as an acceptable event has reached a maxim; the behavior has never been excused, merely ignored. That ignore-ance that has perpetuated this historic atrocity does not stand to last longer into the 21st century. New generations are documenting its occurrence and are making an effort to eliminated it as a tool of oppression. Patriarchy is a shell of what it once was, but it's subtle repercussions still cast an influential shadow of our society. Even with counterrevolutionary forces preventing patriarchy from falling into history, the light of the reality of these atrocities will still shine through and the terrorizing of over half the species will finally end.
