Trigger Warning: Rape and Sexual Assault
What is rape culture, and how can you help stop it? Well, first things first is understanding what people mean when they say the phrase "rape culture." This phrase, according to Women Against Violence Against Women (WAVAW), was coined by feminists in the 1970s to refer to the ways in which society normalizes rape and sexual assault against women, but also blames the victims for the occurrence of the crime.
What our current culture now says is women should know better to not go out at night or wear certain clothing items and always watch their drinks. What we don’t do is tell our young boys that women are not simply there for their pleasure and that sexual contact with anyone without their explicit consent is wrong. We have normalized women as somehow responsible for the actions done upon their bodies without their consent and sometimes without their knowledge (i.e. if they are impaired by or passed out from alcohol). Because of this, women are "whores", "sluts", "dumb bitches" and "deserving" of the rape or sexual assault that occurs to them simply because it is normal for a man’s sexual pleasure to come first and a woman’s humanity to come second.
Modern rape culture can also be seen in cases like Brock Turner’s, where the court system rules in favor of the assailant rather than the victim. When this lackadaisical sentencing occurs, it usually is a male assailant and female victim, which perpetuates the idea that it is OK and completely normal for women to be assaulted, and men don’t have to worry about the consequences.
In order to fight back against the violence that occurs towards women’s bodies, we have to stop blaming the victims. We have to stop asking if women were drinking or what they were wearing. It is not their fault that another person forced themselves upon them-- that should be basic second-grade knowledge of the personal bubble: don’t pop it! Additionally, for the men who are raped or sexually assaulted, we need to get rid of the idea that men cannot be raped because they inherently enjoy all sexual acts simply because they are men. Victims in no way, shape or form asked or deserved to be assaulted.
We need to teach young children what consent is and what it is not. I love the ‘cup of tea’ example going around on Facebook. I think that is a good and easy way for children to understand (minus a few curse words) what consent is and what it isn’t. I also think it sheds light on how uncomplicated rape or sexual assault is. In all other instances a yes or no is sufficient, but when it comes to rape accusations, now all of a sudden law enforcement needs to know the clothing, if there was drinking or drug use, what time of day, if they were alone, the placement of the moon and stars and so on. If a person did not give consent for sexual action, then no sexual action should take place (especially if one party is unconscious behind a dumpster while the other party is coherent).
We also need to get rid of violent behavior towards women. This is all tied up in the hypermasculinity our culture keeps perpetuating. Men, and white men at that, are thought to be the epitome of what sexy is, and what is sexy to them is all constructed by them and perpetuated in the media (i.e. sexy women and housewives in movies and TV). We need more loving, caring, racially diverse role models for boys to see and not just white muscle-y superheroes or military men. We need to get rid of the notion that men are sexually uncontrollable. A fifth grader's tank top strap thickness or whether or not a young lady chooses to wear a bra or not does not affect anyone’s learning, and by sending girls home or pulling them from the classroom in order to have them cover up perpetuates that boys’ education is more important, as well as them not being able to control themselves.
The list can go on, but these are just a few points to consider in how early rape culture can start rooting itself in people’s minds. How do you fight back against rape culture perpetuation?
