"Dude, I TOTALLY raped you in that game."
"You're going out tonight? Don't get raped."
These statements, along with many others, are representative of the rape culture that has been established by modern day society. Instead of teaching our population not to rape, we seem to portray the message of not getting raped. We live in a society where the victim is blamed, and we don't seem to fully understand what is and what is not consent. We seem to take rape too lightly, throwing the word around as if it's some type of joke, but the reality is that the way we perceive and treat rape has led to a development of a warped rape culture.
This distorted culture is encapsulated and epitomized by Dan Turner, father of the Stanford student who raped an unconscious girl behind a dumpster. The rapist, Brock Turner, has been made out to be some type of privileged and put-together student by a lot of networks and family members. For example, it wasn't until a year after the night he raped the poor victim that his mugshot was finally released to the public. (pictured below.)
Until this photo was released, Brock was depicted with photos that showed as the loving college athlete who had a bright future ahead of him, rather than showing the public his mugshot. (pictured below)
Nothing was more disgusting than the response that his father, Dan Turner, had made regarding his son's situation. Perhaps the most offensive part of everything, in my opinion, was the fact that he belittled the rape, referring to it as "twenty minutes of action." His father goes on to talk about how his son has lost everything because of this case, and that he can barely even "enjoy steaks" or be himself anymore.
Really? Your son raped an unconscious girl behind a dumpster, and you think that the most prevalent part of all of this is the fact that your son can't eat steak in the same way? Also, the fact that his father sees Brock's six month sentencing as a "steep price for twenty minutes of action."
Brock's father, along with other people who have been posting and talking about Brock's circumstance, have used his past to try and justify his actions. Brock is constantly depicted as the one who is suffering in this circumstance. In the exact way that rape culture seems to work, people blame the victim and try to think of ways to justify and belittle the actions of the perpetrator. Brock's status as a swimmer at Stanford, his high GPA, and his promising future are all qualities that his father attempts to bring up, but the reality is that nothing can change what he did.
It is time to stop allowing this belittlement of rape, and it is time to force appropriate consequences upon the perpetrators. Six months in jail is almost nothing, and people have even claimed that if he avoids causing any type of trouble while imprisoned, he might even be let out early, possibly only making him stay for up to 3 months. A three months sentencing for taking away a girl's safety, comfort in her own body, identity, among many other things, is absolutely shameful and disgusting.
One of the most important things I have read regarding this case is definitely the statement that the victim made in response to and aloud to her attacker.
My independence, natural joy, gentleness, and steady lifestyle I had been enjoying became distorted beyond recognition. I became closed off, angry, self deprecating, tired, irritable, empty. The isolation at times was unbearable. You cannot give me back the life I had before that night either. While you worry about your shattered reputation, I refrigerated spoons every night so when I woke up, and my eyes were puffy from crying, I would hold the spoons to my eyes to lessen the swelling so that I could see. I showed up an hour late to work every morning, excused myself to cry in the stairwells, I can tell you all the best places in that building to cry where no one can hear you.
In her statement, the victim seems to do something that Brock and his father are unable to do. The victim recognizes that both sides have been affected by this situation. Brock and his father fail to recognize that this case has altered the way that the victim lives her life. They only seem to be concerned with how this case is going to affect him and his "bright and promising future." This is the epitome of rape culture. Once again, the perpetrator is made out to be innocent, and the victim is yet again left in the dark and neglected.
Thankfully, as the case has received more and more attention from the media, proper steps have been taken towards bringing attention to the cruel nature of our rape culture. There has been some proper punishment taken against Brock in the past few days. For example, USA Swimming has actually banned Brock Turner for life, in response to the inhumane things that he did.
Hopefully, our society will learn something from this case. Hopefully, this case will teach our population that it is time to demolish this shameful rape culture that we have developed. It is time to recognize that it is not the fault of the victim. It is time to end slut shaming. It is time to punish the perpetrator appropriately, regardless of what his or her reputation might have been previous to the assault. It is time to have serious conversations, regardless of how uncomfortable they may make us. Because if we don't talk about rape, then our future generations will never fully understand how to deal with it, leading to a continuous flow of shameful rape culture.
