First let us get an understanding of what Rape Culture is…
According to Connecticut Sexual Assault Crisis Services Rape Culture is an environment in which rape is prevalent and in which sexual violence is normalized and excused in the media and popular culture.
Rape culture is perpetuated through the use of misogynistic language, the objectification of women’s bodies, and the glamorization of sexual violence, thereby creating a society that disregards women’s rights and safety.
Lets see some examples of RAPE CULTURE…
- Blaming the victim (“She asked for it!”)
- Trivializing sexual assault (“Boys will be boys!”)
- Sexually explicit jokes
- Tolerance of sexual harassment
- Inflating false rape report statistics
- Publicly scrutinizing a victim’s dress, mental state, motives, and history
- Gratuitous gendered violence in movies and television
- Defining “manhood” as dominant and sexually aggressive
- Defining “womanhood” as submissive and sexually passive
- Pressure on men to “score”
- Pressure on women to not appear “cold”
- Assuming only promiscuous women get raped
- Assuming that men don’t get raped or that only “weak” men get raped
- Refusing to take rape accusations seriously
- Teaching women to avoid getting raped
- Discussion and threat of rape becomes an acceptable part of public discourse
IT IS NEVER THE VICTIM’S FAULT!!!!!
Let’s share and raise awareness!!
Sources: SCSU