Normalization Of Rape Culture

Rape culture has a big effect on society. It gives out the normalization of sexual violence on media such as music, television, movies, ads, and so on. Rape culture is not a phrase you can find in a dictionary, but it has a clear meaning. In Lindsay Dahl’s article, “What is ‘rape culture’ and how does it affect you?”, she used Wikipedia’s definition to explain what it means. “Rape culture is a concept that links rape and sexual violence to the culture of a society, and in which prevalent attitudes and practices normalize, excuse, tolerate, and even condone rape. Examples of behaviors commonly associated with rape culture include victim blaming, sexual objectification, and trivializing rape.” Essentially, rape culture is not only about rape. It is about the sexual violence towards individuals, men and women alike. It affects society because it normalizes sexual violence towards women and the objectification of a woman’s body. By allowing this to happen, many rape victims are blamed for their actions, like if they were drunk when they got raped, and

usually do not come forth and seek help. As a society, we need to educate people on how to stop objectifying a woman’s body, normalizing sexual violence, and blaming rape victims.
In order for rape culture to come to an end, we need to stop objectifying the female body. The objectification of the female body causes men to think that the only thing women are here for is their bodies. It degrades a women and makes them feel useless. “Numerous studies have found that feeling objectified is bad for women. Being ogled can make women do worse on math tests, and self-sexualization, or scrutiny of one’s own shape, is linked to body shame, eating disorders and poor mood” (Gray). By objectifying a woman’s body, it allows men to take advantage of her and attack her. There are many articles that have showed girls being sent home, from school, because they were “too pretty” or violating the dress code, like showing their shoulders. In an article on Cosmopolitan, this girl in a high school in Kentucky was sent home because she was wearing an inappropriate outfit. She wore a tank top with a cardigan which covered her up, but it showed her collarbone. The internet blew up in fury. Not only is it in our schools, but also in our media. “Nearly every advertisement is sexist in some way. Ms. Magazine and Bitch have monthly critiques of ads that display the American way of misogyny through objectification of and disrespect to the female figure and to female existence” (Pearson). With that integrated in our society, the girl is being harassed for a having a curvy body or mature features and men saying that they cannot “help it.” A woman’s body is not used for the sexual pleasures of a man and people need to learn how to respect women and her body.
The normalization of sexual violence is another problem that people need to learn about.

It is not only in social media, but also in video games. In Japan, there is a rape simulator game called RapeLay, which is pretty much a man following a 12-year-old school girl around, raping not only her but also her mom and sister. Now you would think old men would play this game, but you are wrong. In the article, “Rape Simulator games and the Normalization of Sexual Violence”, there is a quote from a 13-year-old boy who has stated that he had played the game. Only 13 years old. If children that young are allowed to play these horrific games, they tell them that women are just toys for men to play with and they are allowed to sexually harass them. If we teach boys, and even girls, at a young age that sexual violence is a terrible thing, our society would change with the younger generation and rape culture would soon go

away.
Victim blaming is a major problem in rape culture. “One reason people blame a victim is to distance themselves from an unpleasant occurrence and thereby confirm their own invulnerability to the risk. By labeling or accusing the victim, others can see the victim as different from themselves” (“Rape Culture, Victim Blaming, and The Facts”). Victim blaming makes it harder for victims/survivors to come out and tell their story because society usually blames them for the abuse. In the same article, it lists many ways to combat rape culture and victim blaming like speaking out if someone makes a rape/offensive joke, respecting people’s physical space, holding abusers accountable for their actions, and always communicating with your sexual partner. Rape is a terrible thing and we, as a society, need to stand up with the victims/survivors and show our support.
Even though there are many problems that make up rape culture, objectifying the woman’s body, normalizing of sexual violence, and blaming the victim are issues that need to be solved. When you get down to it, rape culture is used to make a girl, or anyone, feel dehumanized and worthless. By stopping all those problems, we can live in a safe place where girls are not afraid to show off their body and victims can feel secured and loved. Rape culture needs to come to an end because of how badly it affects our society.

Work Cited
Dahl, Lindsay. "What Is "rape Culture" and How Does It Affect You? -. "Lindsaydahlcom. N.p., 18 Dec. 2013. Web. 18 Apr. 2016.
Girl Home Because Her Outfit Revealed Her Collarbone." Cosmopolitan. N.p., 18 Aug. 2015. Web. 25 Apr. 2016.
Gray, Emma. "Women And Objectification: Brain Sees Men As Whole, Women In Parts (STUDY)." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 25 July 2012. Web. 25 Apr. 2016.
Pearson, Alyn. "Rape Culture: It's all around us." off our backs Aug. 2000: 12. Gender Studies Collection. Web. 25 Apr. 2016.
"Rape simulator games and the normalization of sexual violence." Women's Health Journal Jan.- June 2010: 48+. Gender Studies Collection. Web. 25 Apr. 2016.
"Rape Culture, Victim Blaming, and The Facts." Rape Culture, Victim Blaming, and The Facts. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Apr. 2016.
Http://d3cdsjlahqfkbd.cloudfront.net/7128/photo_1424442811.jpeg. "A School Sent This