When most people hear the phrase “rape culture”, they tend to ponder if there is such a culture that exists, promoting and engaging in sexual assault. After all the definition of culture is the characteristics and knowledge of a particular group of people or society, defined by their practices, beliefs, religion, language, cuisine and even arts, but rape culture is something entirely different. Rape culture is a setting in which rape is normalized due to society’s views and behaviors. When we talk about rape culture (though it’s not talked about it enough), we’re talking about cultural practices that exist in society today that seem to excuse rape or even make a joke out of it. There will never and can never be an excuse for rape or sexual assault/violence and it is not a topic to joke about when millions have been unfortunate enough to become victims of it. Though many who are blinded by their own ignorance go ahead and say that rape culture is not real, I think it is important for us all to educate ourselves on the topic and come to the realization that rape culture does exist.
Rape culture is when a woman is sexually assaulted yet her clothing is blamed for it. Wearing short skirts and tight shirts is not asking for it. There have been many instances where a woman has had her body completely covered and is still sexually assaulted; was she asking for it too? Or the ten-year-old girl who was dressed in a nightgown; was she asking for it? What a woman chooses to wear does not define her as a whole human being or make her any less of one. This kind of response to rape stems from society’s view of women who wear provocative clothing to be promiscuous and ‘easy’. Sexually violating another human being is inexcusable and their choice of clothing cannot be blamed.
I was reading an article online some time ago and saw a comment that said something along the lines of, “If a woman is wearing little to no clothing, she is more likely to be raped just like my car is more likely to be stolen if I left it parked with the doors unlocked and the keys in the ignition.” This is what’s wrong with society today; we degrade, belittle, and shame women by what they wear or how many partners they have been with so when she’s raped, the famous phrase that we hear is, “She was asking for it.”
And let’s not compare a breathing, living human being with feelings and emotions to an inanimate object such as a car.
Rape culture is when a woman is sexually assaulted and the first thing people ask her is how much she had to drink that night because if a woman drinks alcohol, maybe even more than what is considered to be recreational, then she must be ‘sloppy’ and ‘wild’ according to today’s society. Consent is always needed. I’ll say it again for the people in the back; consent is always needed and if a woman is too drunk to even muster out a word or is unconscious, that is a definite no.
Yes means yes, and no means no. It does not matter if a woman was teasing a man or giving him the wrong impression all night when she says no, that means she has changed her mind and that should be the end of it. A woman does not have an obligation to sleep with a man, but a man does have an obligation not to take advantage of her.
Rape culture is when we teach women at a young age how not to get raped when we really should be teaching men not to rape in the first place. Rape culture is lyrics to songs that make sexual assault/violence seem okay. Rape culture is when politicians use the term ‘legitimate rape’. Rape culture is when a video or a picture of sexual assault goes viral and the comments underneath are all laughing emojis. Rape culture is when we tell young girls at school not to wear sleeveless shirts or skirts that reach mid-thigh because the boys cannot focus in class. Rape culture is when colleges are more concerned with preserving their reputation than they actually are with helping victims in the process of healing and serving justice to the ones who raped them. Rape culture is when we question the legitimacy of a woman’s account based on other irrelevant factors.
1 out of every 6 American women has been a victim of an attempted or completed rape in her lifetime. 17.7 million American women have been victims of attempted or completed rape. The numbers are too high. The numbers speak for themselves.
Rape culture is real, and it’s time we put an end to it.
