It is so wrong that in today's society we teach girls to be fearful of being themselves because of rape. Why are we so set on teaching them how to be afraid, while we encourage men to be more aggressive and masculine? We build men up with a sort of confidence in having strength, power, and a sense of invincibility to the world while we teach girls to be less independent, more cautious, and more fearful.
We send our daughters off to college with pepper spray (maybe even with a taser) but most importantly fear. Fear that they can't walk outside past dark without someone to escort them, fear that their outfit might be "asking for it," fear that they can't stay safely alone in a dorm or apartment building, and the most prominent, fear of being assaulted. But, when we send our sons off to college, they are taught to be strong and aggressive. For the most part, they can go out without their parents worrying as much about their safety.
Besides, a guy can't carry a baby anyways so they are rarely seen as the victims in sexual assault cases... Right? It's easier in the public's eye to victimize girls and because of that, society focuses on the female side of rape.
WHY DO WE LET THIS HAPPEN?
Why do you never hear about male rape victims in the news? Rape exists not only in the women's world but also for men. So why is our society teaching women to fear it? Why do we have self-defense classes specifically for assault instead of stopping it right then and there? The most effective way to stop a problem is to find its root. The root is violent sexuality. Why are we not teaching how bad rape is? Why are we not openly communicating it in the first place? Why do we not teach girls and boys how to respect each other? Why is consent being over-looked in today's society?
Over the past few years, United States boasts of being the country with the highest number of sexual crimes. If we want to fix the world and truly make it safer, we need to be proactive. Start a movement. No problem is fixed by staying quiet.
We have to stop fearing rape and start stopping it.
Girls should no longer be seen as vulnerable while men boast about their strength even when they are possible victims. In order to stop this crime, both sides have to come together and fight it. Our world needs to acknowledge that each sex has their vulnerabilities and strong points. One sex is not weaker than the other. Both sexes should be treated with the same preventative actions with regards to rape. We are all equals here trying to stop one thing -- the Rape Culture.
I'll leave you with this last thought.
Could our society actually be creating a larger rape culture with how we raise our children to believe this double standard? Could our society be the reason why rape is becoming the largest crime in America? Are we encouraging the crime by teaching guys invincibility and girls fear?
