Let’s talk about rape culture.Rape culture is the kind of environment which encourages individuals to tolerate (and even enforce) sexual coercion and violence. Rape culture manifests itself through media, social interactions, legislation, and other modes.
Just as every organization, group, and individual leaves a carbon footprint, every person also leaves a rape culture footprint (RCF).
Think about it: a culture is formed by its people, by their attitudes, characteristics, and actions. If you are reading this blog, you are a member of society, whether you like it or not. Thus, your speech and your actions directly affect today’s pervasive rape culture.
So are you contributing to that rape culture or fighting against it? Ask yourself the following questions to gain a better understanding of your RCF.
- Do I make rape jokes or laugh when others make them?
- Have I ever labeled a girl who wears less-than-modest clothing or participates in a lot of physical relationships as "a slut" or any other demeaning term?
- Do I hold women to different standards than men? (Did I criticize Miley for her infamous VMA performance but disregard Robin Thicke's participation in it?)
- Do I encourage victims to stay quiet about their rape stories, for fear of ruining the attackers' lives?
- Have I ever discredited a rape victim's story because it was someone he or she knew, because it was not textbook-definition sexual intercourse, or because the victim did not try hard enough to resist?
- Do I buy into the sexualization or objectification of women and young girls? Or even that of men, in some cases?
- Have I ever pushed a significant other past his or her physical comfort zone?
- Have I ever said or thought, after hearing a rape story, that the victim deserved it because he or she teased the attacker, dressed provocatively, went out alone, etc.?
If you answered yes to any of the above questions, please take the time to reconsider the impact your words and actions have on other people. Victim blaming/shaming, justification, and lighthearted attitudes toward sexual violence/coercion perpetuate the pernicious rape culture dominant in society today. Rape culture allows attackers to justify or disguise their actions. It discourages victims from speaking up or starting on the road to recovery. It morphs the blameless into the blamed, and the perpetrator into the innocent. How backward is that?
Rape is never the victim's fault, it is always wrong, and it is not even close to funny. Be a Voice of Courage by refusing to tolerate sexism and any kind of sexual assault. Keep close tabs on your own personal RCF, as well as that of others.
Kelsey Allan is a senior studying English and editing.
Rape is never the victim's fault, it is always wrong, and it is not even close to funny. Be a Voice of Courage by refusing to tolerate sexism and any kind of sexual assault. Keep close tabs on your own personal RCF, as well as that of others.
Kelsey Allan is a senior studying English and editing.