American culture is currently experiencing a wave of introspection, discussion, and consequences – one that I hope will have lasting effects – around how we treat other people, specifically minority groups. It is a relief to feel voices are finally being heard, abusers and oppressors are finally being brought into the light to face repercussions both socially and legally, and that we can as a people shine a light into the dark and cobwebby corners of our collective consciousness to do some much needed analyzing and remodeling of the status quo.

There is so much more work to be done, but every step we take against misogyny and racism is a victory. As a woman, I feel like this pervasive misogyny manifesting in rape culture has been the norm for so long that it’s difficult now to point out the boundaries, the lines and shapes of it within our larger culture. The infection has spread so far, and has such deep roots, there is no place or community where it does not exist. The trouble now is putting in the work to uncover all its dens and hidey-holes, and not just exterminating what we find, but filling in the gaps with something positive and worthwhile -- equality. As a female aspiring writer and a graduate student of literature, the academic and literary communities are a major and ever growing part of my life. Though these communities have the outward appearance of being intellectual and progressive, they are not immune or exempt from the patriarchal structure and rape culture. They are, in fact, a major player in the system that keeps women and minorities in a lower station. We've only scratched the surface with the victims in Hollywood who have come forward with their experiences, but it is worthwhile, too, to examine the art produced and consumed by our culture in addition to the artists behind the work.

I recently read a thought piece, “On Rape Culture In Crime Fiction” by Lisa Levy which examines the question, “Do we like reading about fictional rape” and why? This question applies to all genres of film as well, but specifically horror and mystery/suspense films - especially as so many popular movies and TV shows today are adapted from novels. As a reader, I love to read murder mystery novels and crime fiction with all levels of gore and violence, except for rape scenes. It is not uncommon for me to skip paragraphs or whole pages (or fast forward or even leave the theatre as was the case with Girl with the Dragon Tattoo) when I can tell that some kind of detailed sexual brutality is coming. In my experience, that danger is too real, the occurrences too common in life, and the risk something that I and every woman I know face on a nearly daily basis for it to be something I can read or watch for enjoyment. I do not need help imagining the horrors because I have seen it hundreds of times on the news. It bleeds into my nightmares. So when a rape is a pivotal plot point in a novel or movie, I struggle. I either skip or skim it, which has the consequence of a diminished experience of the work, or if the writing isn’t skilled enough, the quality of the film high enough, I’ll ditch the piece altogether for something more female friendly.

But Levy poses a poignant question. Why do so many enjoy reading and watching about the abuse of women? An argument can be made that there is a catharsis perhaps for male readers who have either restrained from violence their whole lives or who have witnessed violence against women they love and seek some outlet of retribution. Personally, and I would guess this to be true for a lot of women, it resembles a revenge fantasy in reading or watching about the rape victim who takes down her attacker both literally and metaphorically. I feel so much anger for all these women who have experienced a horrible trauma, some of whom cannot come forward to name their rapist or abuser, and some of whom are only ridiculed and blamed when they do. I am angry that I and every woman I know have to be on guard against all manner of attack for every moment of our lives, and in Crime Fiction or suspense films, the villain (almost) always gets punished one way or another. Levy points out that there is the “irresistible pull of the ugly” and postulates “that reading about rape inspires a strain of magical thinking, that if we experience it vicariously we are inoculated from it happening to us,” and I have to agree. There is a psychological lightning strike effect; a subconscious hope that this trauma can’t possibly happen twice, so the vicarious reading or watching would somehow trick the fates into sparing us the pain.

It’s not just crime fiction and mystery/suspense film, although they might be the genres most guilty of it, as Levy points out, “it is in every missing girl or woman. It is in every female cop protagonist who is slighted or doubted by her colleagues and her superiors. It’s in every PI novel with a woman at its center, as she negotiates a sexually hostile world to do her job,” and obviously in the victims too. The misogyny and rape culture are ever present in these novels and movies, but the real trouble lies in the way it is used. When the norm is for female characters to be raped, there is a connotation that the sexual violation is the only reason the audience should care; her trauma becomes her defining characteristic. A female murder victim who was not raped or violated, is automatically less interesting; and it’s a very small leap from there to the conclusion living women who are not sexualized, are not interesting. There are a number of novels and films who use rape and the oppression of women to draw attention to its ugliness, who create female characters who are well rounded and interesting without needing a trauma to make them so, but I don’t think they can be said to be in the majority.

As life imitates art and art recreates life in a kind of Ouroboros, how do we change the treatment of women and representation of rape culture in books and movies? One way is to support and promote more female writers and directors. Support female stories that are not dependent on their trauma, but rather well rounded and interesting without their overt sexualization. Doubly support the work of female minorities as artists and characters. Don't feed into stereotypes. Above all, recognize the problems where they exist instead of excusing them.