“ Now should we treat women as independent agents, responsible for themselves? Of course. But being responsible has nothing to do with being raped. Women do not get raped because they were drinking or taking drugs. Women do not get raped because they were not careful enough. Women get raped because someone raped them.”; as Jessica(2010) states. Society now is so quick to blame the female for their rape. How is blaming the women going to stop rape? We need to stop blaming the females and start making the males responsible for their actions. Females are the victims not the perpetrators, rapist are walking freely amongst us with not one consequence and others will say that women provoke the men, rape is their fault.
Males in rape cases are the perpetrators not the females. In today's society it seems like the females are the perpetrators. Society is so quick to blame the female for the offense. Some rape cases, women are quick to be blamed because the rapist is either a family friend or an ex (boyfriend or girlfriend); as Hayley(2011) states. Females are the ones who have to change their lifestyles in order to live a secure life, but yet the perpetrator continues to live their life peacefully. The trouble with that is that the victim is changing their lifestyle instead of the
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perpetrator. As a society we need to stop telling the females how to act and dress, instead we need to start teaching the males how to control themselves! If we persistently accuse the victim instead of the offender then in reality we won’t be getting anywhere with terminating rape. Rapist are walking away with a crime without getting charged with anything. Unfortunately punishments for stealing a car is greater than the punishment for getting raped; as Matthew(2013) points out. Most rapes are not reported due to backlash. Due to the victims being intimidated not being able to speak up for themselves, out of 100 rape cases 97 of them will walk free; RAINN(2009) states. So if these criminals do not get any punishment what makes us think that they will stop raping? When there is a consequences to something negative the outcome is that, that problem starts to decrease. We are not succeeding in preventing rape when we are not even taking the source seriously. We need to commence on making the offender responsible for their unlawful act to diminish rape! Some may say that the women are the reason why males rape them. The way that some females dress, it intimately attracts the males, but that does not give the privilege to the males to rape the women. Yes the female was dressed provocatively, but females should be free to wear what they want without getting abused. When female drink they get drunk and vulnerable and end up going to a sexual predator; as Emily(2013) points out. So it is as if the intoxicated female just handed herself to the rapist, but it is nothing like that. An intoxicated female would not hand herself in like that. When a person is intoxicated their mental and physical abilities are impaired ; as Jerry(2014) states. Which concludes that an intoxicated person does not really know what they are doing nor stop what is happening to them. So we cannot blame someone who does not know what is going on to someone who does and takes advantage of the situation. The only way we can stop sexual violence against women is if we start to blame the source of the problem and stop blaming the victim; Matthew(2013) states. We as a society need to stop teaching how not to get rape and start teaching to not rape! In addition we need to stop intimidating the victims and start to comfort them! This whole rape issue will not go anywhere if we continue to blame the victims who do not cause the rape. Works Cited Balentine, Jerry R.
"Alcohol Intoxication." Emedicinehealth. WebMD, 2 Dec. 2014. Web. 6 Nov. 2015.
Horzepa, Haley Rose. "Common Response to Sexual Response." Huffington Post. N.p., 22 Apr. 2011. Web. 4 Nov. 2015.
Horzepa, Hayley Rose. "Common Response to Sexual Assault." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, n.d. Web. 04 Nov. 2015.
Valenti, Jessica. The Purity Myth: How America's Obsession with Virginity Is Hurting Young Women. Berkeley, CA: Seal, 2009. Print.
Whitaker, Matthew C. "Dont Blame Women's Drinking for Rape." CNN. N.p., 6 Nov. 2013. Web. 4 Nov. 2015.
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2015.
In today’s society, there is evidence that gender roles hold high standards in forming an identity, whether that gender is male or female. These standards put pressure on either gender to uphold them and commit to specific behaviors/actions that validate their very being. For men, this includes being considered masculine, or portraying the sense that they are authoritative over others, in which this includes displaying attitudes that contribute to female subordination. According to Pascoe (2016) in his article “Good Guys Don’t Rape” men are given the opportunity to challenge rape yet reinforce rape attitudes at the same time that are contained within rape culture and masculinity considered “norms.” Pascoe, illustrates that rape can be seen
Performing rape accidentally, or knowingly I do agree with Yoffe’s statement “Let’s be totally clear: Perpetrators are the ones responsible for committing their crimes.” In Yoffe’s article she covers both the perpetrator as well as the victim, though spending more time on the latter. I feel that perhaps an understanding of whether it really is a majority rule, where rapists are surveying the streets preying on unsuspecting women. According to Amanda Hess’s Article “To prevent Rape on College Campuses, Focus on the Rapist, Not the Victim”, rapist drink, so they can find their next victim! After all wherever one person can get drunk another can join in as well.
One of the most horrible things that has erupted from the subjugation of women is rape culture. Rape culture is the downplaying of the crime of rape to appease the violator, the accusation that the victim made a choice that led to their rape, or even jokes that suggest rape. According to Jessica Valenti’s, “In Rape Tragedies, the Shame Is Ours,” in today's world many people give in to rape culture by participating in these acts that somehow change our mindsets into believing that, “it is more shameful to be raped than to be a rapist”. Once ...
In the past century, America has made great leaps in terms of equality. With the efforts made by the civil rights and suffrage movements, all people gained the right to vote. We are even moving forward with marriage equality, and currently fifteen states recognize same-sex marriage. But regardless of all of our progressive institutional movements forward, we continue to socially oppress women. Men’s violence against women has grown to be an internationally recognized epidemic, and will continue to grow unless measures be made to stop it. Domestic violence continues to be prevalent in the lives of many families, and is the primary cause of homelessness in half of cases for women in children. Many women have been forced to alter their behaviors out of fear of being sexually or physically assaulted. One out of every three women is sexually or physically abused in their lifetimes. The first thing that comes to mind is, there are a lot of people abusing women out there. Many people with opposing ideas may claim that men can be victims of violence perpetrated by women, but in instances not used for self-defense, it is rarely part of a systematic pattern of power and control through force or threat of force. In fact, 99% of rape is perpetrated by men, but when confronting men about the issue of violence against women, it is often combated with denial. Jackson Katz writes in his book, The Macho Paradox, “We take comfort in the idea of the aforementioned child-rapist murderer as a horrible aberration. A monster. We’re nothing like him.”(Katz 30). The sad truth is that most women who are raped are raped by men they know, or even men they love. Many men have a hard time believing that saying that most violence is perpetuated by men does not...
What is date rape? Is date rape different from rape? In a traditional date, a man and a woman meet for dinner and hope that it goes well so they can continue to see each other. In some cases, things go terribly wrong causing law enforcement to get involved. According to Paglia, all women have want men want. Thus, we must be extremely careful when meeting someone for the first time, as we do not know if we can yet trust. We cannot trust that they will not place a drug in our drink when we go to the restroom. Some may argue that men should be taught to never to that to a woman. But shouldn’t a woman be taught to not leave a drink unattended during a date or during a party?
In this research paper, we will evaluate how sexual assault is handled on a college campus. What system is used and how does it
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
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
As the term “rape culture” grows in popularity, it is imperative to break it down to understand what it actually means. According to a report by the Marshall University Women’s Center, “Rape Culture is an environment in which rape is prevalent and in which sexual violence against women is normalized and excused in the media and popular culture”. Rape culture is supplemented by the objectification of women’s bodies, glamorization of sexual violence, as well as many other saddening realities in society. A sad outcome of rape culture in todays society is that women are often seen as the one at fault in rape. Commonly excuses are immediately made for them men, such as blaming the girl for being too intoxicated, blaming the girl for the way she was dressed, or even blaming the girl for speaking out about it at all. A perfect example of rape culture in the media took place in Steubenville, Ohio. A 16-year-old girl, incapacitated by alcohol, was gang raped by two high school football players who then shared photos of the assault on their social networking sites and with their friends. Immediately, mainstream news and media began to blame the victim saying she should not have chosen to get so intoxicated in the first place. The two boys were given the minimum allowed sentence of 1 and 2 years. This court case caused an uproar and a
It is very troubling to hear that 1 in 5 women in University will be victims of sexual assault, and even more so that less than 60% of cases get reported. The purpose of my paper is to put emphasis on how important it is that more people be informed about rape culture, but to also explain how men are just as important in working towards prevention as are women.
At the 2016 Academy Awards, Lady Gaga took the stage for her performance of “Til It Happens to You” from The Hunting Ground – a documentary highlighting the nature of rape and sexual assault on college campuses in the United States. This powerful performance featured dozens of sexual assault survivors joined hand-in-hand, and was introduced by U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, who brought light to his previously launched campaign against sexual assault called It’s On Us. The aforementioned celebrity engagements are only a piece of the larger conversation about rape and sexual assault on college campuses that has become increasingly prevalent in recent years. Whereas this discussion has brought significant attention to the issue of these crimes
There are many variables that come into play when mixing under-age drinking and sexual assault. First, women are most commonly the ideal target for predators simply because of their lowered inhibitions when consuming alcohol. This is especially prevalent when under-age drinking is involved. The second variable in most sexual assault cases is under-age drinking. Many college towns are well aware that once a teen leaves to go off to college the chances of that person drinking or becoming drunk is about 82% (Alcohol 101). Just because a person is under-age does not mean that they are not allowed into bars. Several college towns will allow patrons at the age of eighteen to enter a bar. However, the under-age patron will be stamped or marked in some way to be quickly identified if they are drinking. Even with these types of markings, under-age patrons still figure out ways to get drinks illegally and become intoxicated. With such large fines and penalties surrounding under-age drinking, many bars are moving to only allowing patrons that are twenty-one and older to enter. In the United States, in any given month there are 26.4% of underage persons drinking alcohol illegally (SADD). By adding the first two variables of women being the ideal targets and unexperienced and irrespons...
Many of the attitudes, beliefs, and mistaken ideas about rape have been with us for centuries. By looking at myths, such as “women ask for it,” and “it would do some women good to get raped,” from a historical perspective, lead us for better understanding how they evolved. Women are still seen as the property of men, are protected as such. Men and women are still taught to occupy very different roles in today’s world. Men are usually more aggressive, and women are seen as passive. (Vogelman) This socialization process is changing, but slowly.
Sexual assault is an offense that plagues many U.S. citizens. Although some studies show that rape is on the decline, other studies report that the phenomena actually occuring is that less rape victims are reporting the crime. In fact, approximately 68% of sexual assaults go unreported to the police according to the U.S. Department of Justice in a National Crime Victimization Survey from 2008-2012. It is common knowledge that rape victims are usually severely traumatized after the event, which leaves them susceptible to various emotions such as shame, anxiety, numbness, fear, denial, and guilt. Because of this, many rape victims decide to repress their experience and let it go unheard. However, not only does this prevent them from healing emotionally,
In an advertisement published in Vogue Paris in February 2009, Steven Klein photographs fashion model Lara Stone in a manner that brought much controversy to the world about women and violence. In the photograph, a fashionably clad woman in lingerie is forcibly held down by a naked man, while a police officer poses suggestively on her legs and points a gun in her face. This advertisement seems excessively violent for a fashion magazine that young girls and the majority of the mainstream world idolize. By condoning and making the type of violence that is popular in fashion magazines ‘cool’, people begin to recreate the scenes in these photographs in real life because they are constantly exposed to it. Furthermore, this constant exposure to violence