“Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”-Martin luther King Jr.
Darkness cannot drive out darkness. We can no longer fight dehumanizing topics in the world with an equally horrible solutions to the problem. Only light can be the solution. The light is a solution that no longer just quiets down the issue but ceases the problem all together. Hate cannot drive out the hate in the world. Wars fought everyday in every country are the hate against hate. The love against hate is the compromising light that then ceases the darkness. People think they can solve major world issues without stopping to think of the ones that affect millions yet little attention is brought to something
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Every 98 seconds someone in the U.S is raped, and 99% of the rapist will walk free without any consequence. No one can make an excuse for them. I have heard “Not all men.” This is equivalent to saying Russian Roulette is a safe game. Sure one of the chambers has a bullet in it, but not all the chambers. It only takes one bullet, one rape, one shot, one attack, to kill a person, and to kill a soul. It may not be all men but it is enough to frighten women when they see men walking on the same side of the street as them, or when they walk near a van, or alone in a parking garage and to have a common knowledge of strength in numbers. Or the fear that strikes a woman when she is walking and a man yells vulgar things from the comfort of his passing vehicle. I have heard women being blamed for their rape because of what they were wearing and what they had said prior to the …show more content…
A New York Times article from 2011 covers the story of an eleven year old girl who was walking home from the bus stop when she was dragged to a car and driven to a trailer home where she was gang raped by 18 men ranging from middle schoolers to 27 year olds. Instead of helping an eleven year old who was threatened to be beaten if she didn't coperate, the article says instead, “It’s just destroyed our community,” said Sheila Harrison, 48, a hospital worker who says she knows several of the defendants. “These boys have to live with this the rest of their lives.” The main concern was how these boys were doing. They didn’t blame the boys, the girl was blamed as it says later in the article, “She dressed older than her age, wearing makeup and fashions more appropriate to a woman in her 20s.” Later the mother was blamed as well. “Where was her mother? What was her mother thinking? How can you have an 11-year-old child missing down in the Quarters?” It is sickening to know that in a national well known newspaper they are blaming a child who was raped by eighteen men instead of turning their heads at the inhumane acts of the people who have damaged this girls life
Martin Luther King Jr. declared, “Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that” ( citation ) . Many people feel as Mr. King did, that love can fight hate, and ultimately love is the answer, the fixer, to this figurative darkness. The word’s love and hate express a strong and perhaps intense feeling for something or someone. However, these intense emotions are commonly used in opposition of each other. It is crucial, though, to note that these powerful emotions can easily cross lines and become blurred. Evidence of this claim is supported by Rempel and Burris’ “...Integrative Theory of Love and Hate,” which outlines what it means to love and what it means to hate, and how humans
The civilization of men is called chivalry and is earned by women at the price of their own civilization. “For the female, civilized behavior means chastity before marriage and faithfulness within it. Chivalrous behavior in the male is supposed to protect that chastity from involuntary defilement” (Griffin, 516). Unfortunately, the definition of civilization for women requires them to be feminine, dainty, and submissive while men are strong and dominant. This robs women of the mentality that they can be strong and independent and forces them to seek protection from men instead of finding it in themselves. This mentality and dependence deprives women of the ability to protect themselves from men creating a world of fear for them to live in. It also keeps women submissive because they do not want to step out of line and risk being hurt. Essentially, men keep women submissive by defining womanhood and using it like a cage to restrict their behavior and thoughts. In addition, their chivalrous protection does not apply to women who step outside of their required behavior. This means that women who act independently cannot be raped, they are beyond violation and an open target for all men. This double standard serves to make rape an acceptable and even encouraged behavior while keeping women quiet and well-behaved, lest they be mistaken for a bad girl worthy of
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 ...
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.
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...
I could not agree more. When people here some crazy rape story of something going wrong, a lot of the time it is true. Although it is very sad to say, people must accept the fact that this has been happening for a long time now but has recently been slowing down. For example, Burt conducted a sample in which individuals agree with statements such as states “A woman who goes to the home or apartment of a man on the first date implies she is willing to have sex” and "In the majority of rapes, the victim was promiscuous or had a bad reputation," and “when the same number think that 50% or more of reported rapes are reported as rape only because the woman was trying to get back at a man she was angry with or was trying to cover up an illegitimate pregnancy, the world is indeed not a safe place for rape victims.” (Burt 229) Many people in today’s generation know right from wrong as they are usually taught as young teens. In many cases, if a woman does not want to have sex, it will not happen. Then again, in few other cases, the matter of rape will come up in which it hurts a woman for life. The matter of rape is extremely serious and can effect an individual forever, which is why people need to think before they
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 the night of September 7th, 2001 16-year-old Lindsay Armstrong was walking home after spending the evening with her friends in her small hometown of New Cumnock, Scotland. She rode the bus as far as it would go and then began to walk home as the clock ticked past 10 PM. As she was walking, a 14-year-old boy who Lindsay knew caught up to her, beat her, dragged her into a park, and raped her. He then threatened her life if she spoke about the incident and ran off. Filled to the brim with Scottish fight and determined to better the world, Lindsay promptly told her parents and the local authorities. Soon after Lindsay began to suffer from the common symptoms faced by rape victims and withdrew from her friends, her family, and her school due to severe depression. Through a lengthy trial, Lindsay was forced to hold up the underwear she was wearing under her clothes, verbally attacked by defense lawyers and her own accuser, and berated on the stand. Lindsay’s rapist was sentenced four years to juvenile detention and was released after two. Lindsay on the other hand killed herself a short time after the trial. Her father later commented “She said [the trial] was like being raped all over again.”(Beaven) In standing up in her own defense, reporting her trauma to the police, and facing her attacker in court, Lindsay did what 60% of rape victims refuse to do (RAINN). The judicial system of our society repaid her bravery with psychological and emotional torture. The treatment of rape victims in our society today is shrouded in blame, disbelief, and insensitivity. Furthermore, the culture surrounding the crime itself is one of downplaying, humor, acceptance, understanding, and even more insensitivity. Society’s immoral and uneducated outlo...
Every two minutes, an American is sexually assaulted. According to the U.S. Department of Justice's National Crime Victimization Survey, there are an average of 237,868 victims of rape and sexual assault every year. 9 of every 10 rape victims were female in 2003, and 1 out of every 6 American women has been the victim of rape in her lifetime. The question people have to ask themselves is why rape is so common. It is time to accept that the rape epidemic is not just about the crimes themselves, but the cultural and political willful ignorance known as rape culture. Rape culture is an environment where rape is prevalent and in which sexual violence against women is normalized and excused in the media and popular culture. Rape culture has become so common that it is nearly invisible, but it present and strong in everyday life.
In a study done by Grubb and Harrower (2009), they surveyed to find people’s reactions to three different types of rape. Rape by a stranger, date rape and seduction rape were in question. Their results indicated that male participants thought victims were to blame far more often than women believed. In the case of a “seduction rape,” both males and females attributed the blame to the victim, as well as in a stranger rape. But when it came down to it, 33 percent of men said they would rape someone if they could get away with it (The White House Council on Women and Girls,
Eighteen million women and three million men. These are the numbers of women and men that have been raped at some point in their lives. (Tjaden & Thoennes, 2006.) Many advocates would say this is proof that we are living in a “rape culture”. A label coined by second wave feminists in the 1970’s, in response to the on-going prevalence of rape in the United Sates. Over the years, there have been many definitions of rape culture, but for the sake of the research paper, rape culture will be defined as a society where sexual violence is normalized. If you’ve ever heard of the responses: “She asked for it.” “He didn’t mean to.” “She wanted it.” “It wasn’t really rape.” “She’s clearly lying.” This is what a rape culture conditions us as a society to think or even verbalize when a story of sexual assault or rape is presented. Conversely, other advocates and feminists recoil at the use of the label “rape culture” because of what the label institutes about our society or progressions we’ve made in trying to eradicate
...y the best antidote to genocide is popular education and the development of social and cultural tolerance for diversity... Finally the movement that will end genocide must come not from international armed interventions, but... must rise from each of us who have the courage to challenge discrimination, hatred, and tyranny."
According to rain.org 44 percent of rape victims are under the age of 18 and 80 percent are under the age of 30 years old. Every 2 minutes an American is a victim of rape and about 240,000 of them are reported each year. Only 60 percent of assaults are not reported to the police renders that 97 percent of the perpetrators never spend a day in jail. The less the people report the crime the less they are likely to catch the perpetrator. Sadly 23 of the victims know the person whole is assaulting them. Almost 40 percent of the rapist know their victim. This is a very uns...
The United States is clearly suffering a rape epidemic. “One in six women will be raped in her lifetime” (“Who Are the Victims?”). If we continue to allow gender roles to be perpetuated by religion and dominate our lives and our youth, men and women will forever be unequal. These causes must be addressed and be fixed. It is not only a political duty but this must be morally solved also. The solution to end rape and gender roles is upon us, if only society realized that. We have the power to end rape. Women should not have to live in fear at all.
As research shows (cite all above research), cognitive processes within our brains lead to the tendency of victim blaming. Starting with rape myths and rape scripts, it is easy to see how our society and culture breeds victim-blaming attitudes. Historically, the United States, like many other industrialized countries, developed from a patriarchal society characterized by men holding the power and women expected to be submissive. With such an atmosphere, crimes against women