Reflection
In the article, “Rape: The All-American Crime,” Susan Griffin writes about rape and how it is a part of our society. One point that I thought was interesting was when the author quoted Professor Menachem Amir, who stated, “Studies indicate that sex offenders do not constitute a unique or psychopathological type; nor are they as a group invariably more disturbed than the control groups to which they are compared” (pg.513). This quote is stating that most rapists do not have psychological problems, they are just normal people. This quote is interesting to me because it shows that most rapists are normal people with normal lives, they were just taught at a young age that rape was okay and men have a right to a woman's body. I
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felt like I related to what Griffin was saying when she stated, “...not only does a woman mean ‘yes’ when she says ‘no,’ but that a really decent woman ought to begin by saying ‘no,’ and then be led the primrose path to acquiescence” (pg.515). As a woman, I feel like people sometimes don’t take me seriously when I say ‘yes’ or ‘no’ because women live under the stereotype of being indecisive. I can’t say yes or no to something without be questioned on whether or not I’m saying what I really mean. This relates to rape culture because when a woman says no to sex, she is questioned on whether or not she really wants to have sex, even though she already said no. In the article, “Rape Law Reform,” Amy Silvestro writes about rape laws and how they have been a failure in the past. I thought it was interesting when Silvestro stated, “once a woman says yes, she is no longer entitled to say no” (pg.520). Silvestro’s statement reminds me of a girl I went to highschool with. The girl from my school was considered a ‘slut’ and when she told people that she had been raped no one believed her because she had slept with people in the past. Because the girl had said yes to sex in the past, her right to say no was taken away. In the third article, “Whose Body is it Anyway,” Pamela Fletcher writes about her abusive relationship and seeing others who had been raped growing up.
One part of the article that stood out to me was when Fletcher wrote about a girl named Rachel who had been raped at her high school. Fletcher describes Rachael as “a face none of us girls wanted to look into”(pg.521). I believe that the girls at Fletcher’s high school treated Rachael badly because they were afraid. They knew that what happened to Rachael was not her fault and they knew what happened to her could have easily happened to them. However, it was easier to hate Rachel and believe she was a “bitch in heat” then to face that there was no reason she was attacked (pg.521). Another part of the article that stood out to me was when Fletcher wrote about her abusive high school relationship, stating, “We didn’t define what they did to us as rape, molestation, or sexual abuse. We called it love…… We called it love because we had tasted that sweet taste of pain. Weren’t they one in the same” (pg.522)? Many times in our society, people are taught that their body belongs to their significant other. Through movies, music, and literature, women are taught that love and pain are synonyms. However, women need to learn that a healthy relationship does not involve pain and that they are the only ones who have control over their
bodies. In “Rape and Gender Violence: From Impunity to Accountability in International Law,” Rhonda Copelon discusses rape as a war crime. One statement I agreed with was when Copelon stated, “Rape and sexual violence are products of long-standing male entitlement to control and abuse of the bodies and lives of women and perpetuate women’s economic, political, cultural, sexual, and psychological subordination” (pg.525). I thought that this statement related to the other passages, men believe that they are entitled to a woman's body whenever they want. The final source from the class website describes what rape culture is and some examples. One example of rape culture is trivializing sexual assault by saying “boys will be boys”. I found a video to show in class titled, “Dear Daddy”. In the video, a girl discusses how she had been called derogatory terms growing up, how she had been raped, and how she had been in an abusive relationship. The video is meant to show that excusing young boys behavior can lead to serious consequences.
Rape is a hidden epidemic that affects many lives world wide. It is a problem that is so terrifying and uncomfortable that people do not talk about it. John Krakauer, author of Missoula, focuses on this issue of rape in the college town of Missoula, Montana. His focus is specifically on the case of Allison Huguet and Beau Donaldson. As the progression of Allison 's case continues we learn of more and more rape cases that happened to women on this same campus. A majority of women do not report these cases, we later learn as Krakauer continues through Allison 's case, because reporting and pursuing the case would be giving their life away. [4] Of course Allison decides to go through the trails of Beau Donaldson, however it is obvious that it is extremely difficult to convict someone with little evidence. As hard of a read as Missoula
“Ruling Out Rape” by Lisa Wade, Brian Sweeney, Amelia Seraphia Derr, Michael A. Messner, and Carol Burke discusses the views of five experts about the factors involved in rape. One viewpoint reviews about college campus’ rapes and who are likely to do it. In addition, the viewpoints also includes that officials need to understand what are the factors involved in these rapes in order to create policies to contain sexual assaults. Wade also includes that rape is a culture that is not deemed as real rape as it is claim that women would falsely report being assaulted by a man. However, this also is partly due to campus policy as alcohol is one factor that can contribute to men committing sexual assault.
The story of Alice Sebold’s memoir begins with her as a freshman at Syracuse University and the scene in which she is brutally raped. Sebold writes in vivid detail on how the rape went throughout the beginning of the chapter. She was walking back to her dormitory through a park during nighttime when she was suddenly assaulted and raped by a black man. After the traumatizing experience, she makes her back to her dorm where she told her friends about the rape. One of her roommate’s black friends gives her a hug in order to apologize on behalf of the black men and to make her not judge them as rapists due to the incident. After meeting with her friends, they take her emergency room. A police officer later tells her that she was “lucky” because a female was also raped at the same place but had been murdered and dismembered instead. Sebold soon officially starts her story after arriving back to her home in Pennsylvania with her mother by writing, “My life was over; my life had just begun” (33), implying that her life has been dramatically altered and wouldn’t be the same again.
Susan Griffin’s Rape: The All-American Crime touches on many issues within American society. She begins by recounting how she was taught to be afraid of strange men from such a young age that she had not yet learned what it was she was so afraid of, and then goes into her experience with harassment, an experience shared by every woman at some point in her life. Griffin recounts the belief that all rapists are insane and the proof that they are just normal men and dispels the myth that rape is normal activity that is prohibited by society. However, she goes on to clarify that our culture views rape: “as an illegal, but still understandable, form of behavior” (Griffin 514). It seems that the wrongness of rape is determined by the situation in
...eneficial due to the suggestions Simmons gives to teachers, parents and the victims themselves on effective ways to avoid and prevent this abusive behavior from continuing. I would highly recommend this book to girls of all ages, parents, teachers, school faculty or anyone who has contact with girls. Simmons believes we need to teach girls that it is okay to expose their most uncomfortable feelings. There are many dangerous warning signs of girls giving themselves over to someone else’s terms and denying their own feelings which worry Simmons the most. This behavior is dangerous and could lead to victims staying in violent relationships in the future if we do not teach girls early to know how to resist the signs of abuse.
Rape is a virus that infects every nation, culture and society. It is constantly referred to as “the unfinished murder”, because of the deep state of despair the rapist leaves the victim in. There is no common identifiable trend that determines who will be a rape victim. Women are not assaulted because of their attitudes or actions, they are attacked simply because they are present. With rapists, just as with their victims, there is no identifiable trend. The old myth that only “sick, dirty, old, perverted men” commit rapes is a lie that society tells itself in order to sleep better at night. The startling truth is that most rapists work under a veil of normalcy. In order for the percentage of rapes to decrease, we have to change our ideas about rape and let go of the old myths of the past. And until this happens, rape will continue to plague our world at large.
Generally, the public views women as nurturers, motherly and incapable of harming a child. Research indicates that female sex offenders capable of committing such acts have serious psychiatric and psychological problems. In comparison, research indicates male sex offenders are more callous, more antisocial, and promiscuous, involved in the criminal justice system, and have more victims (Miccio-Fenseca, 2012, slide 7). The consensus is that men commit their acts for sexual pleasure while women commit their acts due to psychiatric and psychological problems. Law enforcement, juries, and judges tend to empathize more when there are additional mitigating factors, such as emotional or psychological problems.
Sexual assault and rape on college campuses is a serious public issue. Before applying to these accredited institutions most students do not look up the school 's past records of sexual assault and rape on their campus.College campuses have failed to keep students safe the system they use has failed to protect and obtain justice for those that have been victims of sexual assault. Society plays a huge part in how young adults view sexual assault. From young age girls are told “if he’s bothering you it 's because he likes you”, and boys aren 't held accountable for their actions because “boys will be boys”. At what time does it stop being a game. At what age is it not acceptable for boys to mistreat girls, when is the line drawn and, what is the punishment for when this line is crossed.
It is not a topic that is brought up often, especially at schools or at gatherings, yet it is crucial that everyone be educated, or at least informed on a topic that affects women every day. “Given that sexual violence continues to occur at high rates in the United States, it is vital that we understand attitudes and cultural norms that serve to minimize or foster tolerance of sexual violence” (Aosved, 481). Growing rates of sexual violence goes to prove that it is not taken seriously by many, especially when myths excuse the actions of the perpetrator and instead guilt victims into thinking they are responsible for the horrible act. Burt (1980), in her article titled, “Cultural myths and support for rape” attempts to make sense of the importance of stereotypes and myths, defined as prejudicial, stereotypes, or false beliefs about rape, rape victims and rapists- in creating a climate hostile to rape victims (Burt, 217). Examples of rape myths are such sayings as “only bad girls get raped”; “women ask for it”; “women cry rape” (Burt, 217). This only goes to prove that rape myths against women always blame and make it seem like it is the women’s fault she was raped and that she deserved it for “acting” a certain way. McMahon (2007), in her article titled, “Understanding community-specific rape myths” explains how Lonsway and Fitzgerald (1994) later described rape myths as “attitudes and beliefs that are generally
On November 19, 2014, rolling stone published an article called “A rape on campus” written by Sabrina Rubin Erdely. The Article was based on an alleged gang rape that happened at a college fraternity party at the University of Virginia. However, the article was retracted from rolling stone’s website on April 5, 2015, but they replaced the article with full text of the Columbia School of Journalism's findings the same day they removed the original article.
Rape is an issue that usually occurs to females and is more likely executed by males than females. Nonetheless, a female’s position in rape can and does go further than being the victim. Considering that women can be the perpetrator in this sexual assault, who are their victims? Rape can occur to anyone by anyone. In the same way a female can be a victim of rape, so can a male. According to RAINN, an anti-sexual assault organization, “About 3% of American men have experienced attempted or completed rape as of 1998, an estimated 4.5 million as of 2010” (Who Are the Victims?). However, men are not necessarily the victims of solely female-on-male rape. In fact, the majority of males who are raped are the victims of male-on-male rape and
In Time magazine online, Laura Bates’s article “How School Dress Codes Shame Girls and Perpetuate Rape Culture” talks extensively of first hand experiences with children and dress code violations. She believes that because schools are so strict on dress code for girls especially, there is a message being taught to little boys that when girls are wearing more revealing clothing they are asking to be sexually assaulted. Then this message gets carried with them as they enter college, where a significant proportion of girls report being sexually assaulted. So her main belief is that if dress codes weren’t as regulated based on gender, there would be a decrease in the number of women who are sexually assaulted in college. She thinks that dress codes are inherently sexist, and that girls get in trouble for violating code much more often than boys. Her argument is effective in that it uses many primary source examples of how young girls have been unfairly targeted, but this argument is ineffective because it does not have a way to directly connect the rapes in college to the dress codes that are seen in younger children's education.
Question 4 Susan Griffin said, everyone has a similar story to tell- the first man who attacked her may have been a neighbor, a family friend, an uncle, her doctor, or perhaps her own father. Myth 15 said that as long a child stays away from stranger they are in no danger of been assaulted. Which we find this myth to be untrue because Griffin was almost rape by a school mate a little older than her. It has been reported that 98% of assaulted by acquiesces and family member.
Every year, many young women around 18-19 years old leave their families and go to college in distant cities. These women are making a journey, filled with joy and happiness, seeking the education. Also, many of them are seeking to find someone special with whom they will spend the rest of their life. Colleges and universities might offer great opportunities and activities for socialization for the women; unfortunately, there are many kinds of danger that they might encounter. One of the biggest dangers is that they might encounter sexual predators.
The society we live in is rape-conducive, rape-friendly, if you will. Despite the anger I feel joining those two words together, I know the sad paradox holds within it a great deal of truth. We are a violent society that has shrouded rape in mystery and shame. To stop this nightmare’s venomous crusades, all people must wage a private war to eradicate their own acceptance of the savage crime. While it is only a minority of men that actually commit rape, it is everyone’s silence that tells them it’s ok.