Rape culture, the growing problem of normalizing victim blaming, accepting sexually explicit jokes, teaching women how to prevent rape, and so much more. Rape culture is a very serious problem and must be put to an end. Rape culture can be defined as an environment in which rape is widespread and sexual violence is normalized and excused in popular culture and the media. If we separate rape and culture, rape is then defined as “unlawful sexual intercourse or any other sexual penetration of the vagina, anus or mouth of another person, with or without force, by a sexual organ, of another part of the body or a foreign object”. , without the consent of the victim." (Merriam-Webster) Culture is now defined as “the customary beliefs, social forms, and material traits of a racial, religious, or social group, the set of associated values, conventions, or social practices to a particular field, activity, or social characteristic.” (Merriam-Webster) Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned” Get an Original Essay You need to better understand what the rape culture to stand completely against or in favor of it. Rape culture is a learned behavior, which includes but is not limited to “misogynistic language, sexualization and objectification of women's bodies, victim blaming, and glorification of sexual violence, creating thus a society that ignores women's rights and safety." (Southern Connecticut State University) In many situations victim blaming is caused by one's own denial, for example the saying "I wouldn't do what he/she did so it wouldn't happen." to me." Some commonly mentioned questions when talking about rape are “well, what were you wearing? How much did you have to drink? Well, you were kissing him earlier, obviously you wanted it. "(Say no more) None of this is okay, there is a clear line of consent and if both parties do not agree then no further action should take place. Rape culture is hidden everywhere, if you think you don't notice it, try reading more deeply into what people have to say on the topic of rape. Another common type of rape culture is the trivialization of sexual violence, such as "but he's a star athlete, he wouldn't do it." " and "boys will be boys." No, boys will be held accountable for their actions, regardless of athletic standing. When did it become okay to rape or sexually assault someone and get away with it because he's "such a nice guy"? Let's take this for good measure the case of Brock Turner, he was a star athlete who raped an unconscious woman. Brock Turner was a great swimmer, and due to his high social position and brand of star athlete, he was granted leniency to delve into this issue of the "free pass", let's compare, only for a different crime now. For example, let's say you killed someone, in most cases murderers don't get a pat on the back and don't get to walk away with impunity. In most of these cases they are held accountable for their actions, they don't get a free pass simply on the basis of athletic history, employment status, ethnicity, or simply on the testimony of family and community members who swear otherwise. the killer is a good person. Rape culture isn't just specific to women: men are just as involved as women. Whether it's peer pressure on men to score (get laid) or the idea that "real men" don't get raped and only the weak do isabsurd. It can happen to anyone at any time, there doesn't have to be a reason. Approximately 17.7 million women have been victims of attempted or completed rape, and the statistic for men is 2.78 million (Rainn). Society puts this unrealistic pressure on men and women to fuck, for example after a girl turned eighteen she went to a club with her friends to celebrate. Immediately a group of men started looking at her and her friends, one of them finally came over and said to one of the friends "Hey, my friend over there thinks you're sexy, why?" don't you go back to his room? It's his first time in Hawaii” The friend responded with “no thanks, I'm fine” and this man responded with “come on, he's my friend, my friends over there bet he couldn't get laid tonight and I 'I'm just trying to help him. This is where his jaw hit the floor and her friend got angry, so she continued to ask him “so, just because you guys made a bet, you expect my friend to jump into bed with a stranger? Because it's his first time in Hawaii and you're all pressuring him to fuck?" Needless to say, the mood had soured and this was the first thing he'd experienced first hand... The simple idea that sex was the goal of a bet was extremely disappointing. Southern Connecticut State University has some tips for combating victim blaming and rape culture. Tips include “avoid using language that objectifies or degrades women, say something if you feel someone who makes offensive jokes or trivializes rape, thinks critically about media messages about women, men, relationships, and violence, always communicates with sexual partners, and does not assume consent” (Southern Connecticut State University. There are many others but these are the ones that stood out the most. Speaking up when you hear jokes can make a big difference to someone else, it can help open the eyes of the person you're joking about to what they're encouraging and supporting, even if they may not fully understand it. . Victim blaming is harmful because it makes it harder for them to come forward after an incident. If someone thinks you blame them for what happened, they won't want to talk to you about it, they'll feel like they can't talk to you because they're afraid of being blamed and being told they shouldn't have worn that dress or I shouldn't have had that drink. According to an article published by the International Society for the Study of Traumatic Stress, victim blaming can lead, among other things, to destructive behavior and depression (Lisa McCann). Here is an example of a victim blaming “Chassica was held down and raped at the age of fifteen by a close family friend. This friend, who was slightly older than her at the time, was so close that he was considered family. She told me that when she tried to tell people about her attack she was called a liar because "She would never do something like that." She was also called an “attention seeker” and was also told that just because she had made a mistake was no excuse to cry rape. Her claim was invalidated due to the “character” of her attacker. “ (Knipp) The rest of Chassica's story talks about how she experienced much of her childhood being called a liar. She also claims that it took her two years with the help of a close friend after she grew up to learn that it wasn't her fault. This is an example of how victim blaming can be harmful to a person and their mental state. It took years to overcome the psychological damage that was caused to her at such an early age. According to Rainn “only 344 sexual assaults out of1,000 are reported to the police. This means that approximately 2 out of 3 people are not reported” (Rainn). Rainn's website also states that the main reasons why victims do not immediately report crimes are "to protect the family or victim from further crimes by the offender, to stop the incident, or to prevent recurrence or escalation and catch/punish/prevent the offender from reoffending” (Rainn). Fear of the repercussions for the abuser and what society might say to the victim in response. The site also states that, among the crimes that were not reported to the police, these people “feared retaliation, believed the police would do nothing to help them, thought it was a personal matter, reported to another official, believed that it wasn't a personal matter." important enough to report and I didn't want to get the perpetrator in trouble. (Rainn) Fear is what stops them from speaking out, it's a shame that many people go unpunished for their crimes. We as a society need to work harder to get rid of this ridiculous problem. Rape culture means that in certain circumstances, rape can be cast aside as the victim's fault, made up, or simply taken because it's not our problem, so we don't do it. you don't have to worry about it. Once they published a magazine in which two pages were glued together, to open these pages one had to use force. This two-page magazine represented the force needed to rape someone. The message on the pages once opened was "if you have to use force, it's rape." That ad in particular stands out among the others, many have commented on print articles featuring this ad saying things like "the fact that it makes me uncomfortable probably means it's effective." (Natabee) as well as “Yes… I cringed and thousands of horrible images ran through my mind… it's effective.” (Erotes) When this ad was first published there was a very controversial debate whether the message was truly useful or just stupid. One user's comments on this advert showed "When I see pages stuck together in a magazine I tear them apart because I assume they're stuck together, it doesn't mean anything special" (mattyshot). Why should you care about rape culture? Or rape and sexual assault in general if it hasn't happened to you? Because it could happen to someone you care about, your mother, your sister, your brother or your father. It can happen to anyone at any time, it's unexpected. Rape is illegal and carries an average of 8-10 years in prison when convicted of the crime. Just to freshen things up and really get the message across, rape is defined by the Merriam-Webster Dictionary as “unlawful sexual activity and usually sexual intercourse conducted by force or under threat of injury against the will, usually of a woman or with a person who is under a certain age or incapable of expressing valid consent due to mental illness, mental deficiency, intoxication, loss of consciousness or deception." If this were to happen to you, would you want others to belittle your situation or make fun of it? Society teaches us not to be raped rather than not to rape, that's pretty messed up don't you think? On social media many people support rape culture without necessarily realizing it, for example if your favorite celebrity is accused of rape and said celebrity's fans start attacking victims and calling them "career busters" and harassing them for coming forward is a form of supporting rape culture. Take for example Sam Pepper, Marina Joyce among other YouTubers spoke.