I know that this is only one of many articles and pieces written on the same subject. I know that there have, especially recently, been tons of headlines that include the word rape. I know that thousands of victims, both men and women, are putting their voices out there and trying to get the world to understand their pain. There have been screams of outrage from the general public when a rape has become an event known nationally.

But that's just it. The American public has fallen into the mindset that only the rapes that they hear about are important. That only the ones that gain media attention mean anything, and even then people are wary. Is the victim really telling the truth? What about the rapist, why did they do it? Did they have a good reason? What was the victim wearing?

First, it doesn't matter what the victim was wearing. No one walks out in a specific outfit and thinks to themselves "Wow, I hope someone sees this and realizes that this means I want to be raped." As Anna Binkovitz so eloquently puts in her poem titled "Asking For It," "If someone wants something, they ask for it. For instance when I'm at dinner with my mom and I want her to pass the salt, I don't put on my special salt costume, I ask for the salt."

Also, there is never a good reason for someone to rape someone else. It doesn't matter what the victim's or the rapist's background is, rape is rape. It is never the victims fault, despite what radical conservatives and some religious groups believe. The rapist is the one at fault here, although cultural expectations and stereotypes share the blame as well. Rape culture is real, and it affects everyone.

Men and women are bombarded with different types of media that all say the same thing: they want it. Even if they say they don't they're just playing hard to get. It's alright if you don't remember giving consent to the person you woke up next to that one Saturday morning after a night out with your friends. That happens to everyone in movies and tv shows. It's no big deal, they assure you. Well, they're lying.

Your body is your body. It's the only one you've got and you decide what happens to it. No one has the right to your body but you, and you have the power to say no. No, I don't want to have sex with you, I don't feel well, I have a headache. If you don't want it, then they should respect that. Obviously, that is not always the case. People, men especially, have been taught that what they want means more than what another person wants when it comes to sex. People seem to think that they can control what happens to another person's body because it's what they want. That's not true. A person's body is their property,; it's not something someone else can have control over.

It's important to realize that every rape matters. Every single one. Every instance that someone is sexually assaulted in any way means something. People's lives are forever altered by sexual assault, by rape, and no, I'm not talking about how the rapist is affected. I'm talking about how victims live the rest of their lives in fear of physical contact. I'm talking about how they have nightmares and can't sleep because they keep reliving it. Just because no one talks about it, doesn't mean it's not important. It just means people don't want to talk about it. Rape culture and sexual assault in general need to be talked about.

As I said before, there have been so many articles that have talked about rape. This one is another to add to the ever growing conversation. So why bother, right? As long as people continue to say things like "she/he deserved it, she/he was asking for it" then there will always be a reason for people like me to speak out against rape culture.