Rape Culture.
It’s something ingrained in society.
You hear it everywhere, in different ways.
“What were you wearing?”
“Well you didn’t say no…”
“It was just… surprise sex!”
“Grab them by the pussy.”
Oh, that last one? Yea, that’s a direct quote from our current presidential nominee, everyone’s favorite person right now, Donald Trump.
Let me repeat that for you, in case you don’t quite understand because I know it took me a few minutes to properly process this.
There is a man running for the most powerful position in the world right now, named Donald Trump, who was recorded as saying that because of his celebrity status he could do whatever he wanted to do to women including grabbing them by the vagina.
And there are people that support him STILL. There are STILL people who justify this as “locker room” talk. There are people that justify this as simply “guys being guys” and we let this happen. What does it say about a modern society that claims to be so morally righteous that allows this kind of behavior?
Brock Turner, the Stanford Rapist, has been released after three months of jail time from his six month jail sentence. Articles published about him are still addressing him as a swimmer fallen from grace, instead of what he really is- a rapist. During the Steubenville rape case back in 2013, the headlines never let you forget about how the teens were just teenagers, how they were well accomplished football players, and how they broke down in tears during their trial.
Johnny Depp was recently charged with domestic violence but instead of receiving jail time and backlash, he paid out seven million dollars to drop the charges and his wife was the one receiving the backlash. She was called a gold-digger, her name was smeared as a cheater (because that obviously excuses any and all abuse she suffered), and she was criticized for not speaking up sooner or more loudly.
Ray Rice beat his wife unconscious in an elevator, which was all recorded, and was suspended from the NFL, and then had his suspension lifted because he’s just too good of a football player. Ben Roethlisberger went out and raped two girls, was suspended for a few weeks, and then got to keep his job even to this day.
Society prioritizes men’s feelings and how men interpret things over anything else.
Instead of “Hey, if a girl isn’t say yes then she’s saying no.” we hear “Well, did you ACTUALLY say no, or were you really wishy washy about it?”
Instead of “Raping people is bad, don’t do it.” We get “Here are 10 Helpful Tips for How To Not Be Raped!”
Instead of men being punished for their crimes, we have to walk on egg shells to preserve their egos and make sure they don’t feel bad.
Instead of putting them in jail, we let them go out and run for POTUS, the most powerful position in the world.
The worst part of all of this is that when these injustices are brought up to the surface, instead of listening to the experiences of these women and even other men who have suffered this kind of violation and destruction of mind, soul, and body people simply blame the victim and move on with their lives.
When did we become such a backwards country? And moreover, if we are supposed to be such a progressive and free nation then why do we hold up victims to the standard of always being in the defensive instead of holding up attackers to the simple standard of not being an awful person to others?
