Rape culture is a phrase that was made in the United States by feminists in the 1970s. It refers to how society holds the victims of sexual harassment accountable and support male sexual violence. The term has numerous definitions and its role in everyday life. The rape culture is created when members of the society learn and preserve rape myths. The media and popular culture influence the belief in the rape myths. The idea and practice of rape culture have existed for centuries. It is evident in the stories that exist from the Victorian societies, Medieval, and the Ancient Greek.
An example of an ancient story that promoted rape culture is the case of Medusa. She was raped by Poseidon in Athena’s temple, and she was blamed for the act even though she was the victim. The term originated from the release of a movie called “Rape Culture’ in 1975 by the feminists who promoted the awareness of ways in which sexual violence had been normalized (Messina-Dysert). The film was the first to explain how rape is related to the culture’s sexual fantasies by taking a look at the influence of media and popular culture. For a change to occur, the feminists had to declare their stand against the rape culture and to create awareness of its outcome.
The author of “Transforming a Rape Culture”, Emilie Buchwald, defines the term as a set of beliefs that support male sexual violence and encourage aggression against women (Rentschler). She explains that the society perceives sexuality as violent and violence is seen to be sexy. In a rape culture, women experience a lot of violence from sexual remarks, sexual touching to the rape act itself. A rape culture view emotional and physical terrorism against women as a norm. In such a culture, both men and women presume that sexual violence is part of life and thus considered inevitable. Rape culture entails everyday phenomena, laws, language, and images that people read and hear on a daily basis that validates and supports rape. When rape is considered normal, many people tend to think that it is inevitable. Instead of viewing rape as an issue which needs to be rectified, individuals in a rape culture believe that the endurance of rape is normal and part of life.
When society utilizes misogynistic language, objectifies the women’s bodies, and praise sexual violence, women’s rights and safety are compromised. All women are affected by the persistence of the rape culture. As a result, fear is created among the women which in turn encourages sexual violence. In a rape culture, the victim is usually blamed, and some will even say that the woman was asking for it (Fraser). Other acts include the making of sexually explicit jokes, dismissal of sexual assault, acceptance of sexual harassment in the society, publicly inspecting a victim’s dressing, and the approval of sexual violence in television and movies.
The victims of rape cases should be supported by their families and look for counseling. Also, the legislation is expected to punish rapists and not to praise them. It is clear that individuals interact with different things based on the meaning that they have been given by society. In a rape culture, the act of sexual violence has been applauded for centuries. As a result, many people believe that it should be encouraged.
Works cited
Fraser, Courtney. "From Ladies First to Asking for It: Benevolent Sexism in the Maintenance of Rape Culture." Cal. L. Rev. 103 (2015): 141.
Messina-Dysert, Gina. Rape culture and spiritual violence: Religion, testimony, and visions of healing. Routledge, 2015.
Rentschler, Carrie A. "Rape culture and the feminist politics of social media." Girlhood Studies 7.1 (2014): 65-82.
