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Rape culture's effect on society
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Rape culture's effect on society
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In the 2013 article, “Rape Culture’ Was Manufactured to Wage an Unjust War Against Men,” posted on the infamous blog site ReturnofKings.com, the author, whose name was only displayed as “Frost,” argues that “rape culture” was created by feminists and perpetuated by the fact that women falsely accuse men of rape, even if the evidence suggests otherwise. Frost dives into several key points, the dominant one being that women, feminists specifically, “use rape for their own political ends.” He claims that feminists created a mythology around rape, which came to be known as “rape culture” and that they use this as a tool for empowering themselves. While it’s entertaining to read this article as he attempts to make such drastic claims, I can’t help …show more content…
He makes several points that, in his mind, are justifiable. For example, Frost makes the claim that feminist advocates of “rape culture mythology” have a very specific motive, and that although they are aware of the steps to spread awareness to prevent rape, they allow it to happen anyway in order to perpetuate the idea of rape culture and assign blame and fault to men. He makes countless harsh accusations such as these, and even goes on to say that “feminists want to define all sex as rape.” But while these accusations may seem harsh, he does come up with a set of “solutions” at the end of this article. In this set of supposed answers to the problem, he says that “women and men under the influence of alcohol should be held to the same standards of behavior as everyone else,” which I agree with completely. This point almost made it seem like he advocates for equality between the two sexes! He also states that “if a friend, family member, or public figure is accused of rape, don’t immediately jump to the conclusion that the accusation is well-founded. Make a judgment based on the evidence, and the characters of both the accuser and the accused.” While I don’t agree with the idea that you shouldn’t assume that someone is telling the truth if they claim to be raped, I do think it’s important to analyze the situation completely and not be rash to …show more content…
If he were a woman living in today’s society, he would understand the real danger that lies within rape culture, and how harmful it could be for people like him to spread an agenda that does nothing but sustain these myths. By making hasty generalizations such as “feminists don’t care about actual rape victims,” you’re more than likely going to offend the majority of your readers, unless of course they share similar patriarchal, anti-feminist beliefs. Although the article is posted on an infamously anti-feminist, pro-rape, masculinity-geared website, the article aims only towards a very specific audience and neglects the viewpoints of women and feminists, who he harshly
Since the second wave of feminism in the 1960’s women have demanded for equality rights. The R V. Ewanchuck case created many disagreement’s with feminists on the topic of rape myths. It has not only been seen as a precedent for the criminal law but as well an eye opener for the society to create awareness for this act. Since society continues to support most rape myths, it overlooks the act itself and puts the blame and responsibility on the victim as opposed to the perpetrator. This has created a rape culture within society. The term rape culture was created to demonstrate the ways in which victims were blamed for sexual assault, and how male sexual violence was normalized. Feminists are exploring the world of rape myths in Canadian law
All feminists agree that rape is wrong but their ideas on exactly what could be referred to, as “rape” is actually quite different. Mackinnon and Dworkin are infamous for the phrase “all sex is rape.” Dworkin, America’s most famous radical feminist theorist, went through many years of abuse and rape (Whisnant, 2009). She actually wrote a book called “ Aftermath” in which she describes a horrific story of being drugged and rape by the waiter and bartender in Paris. In another book she wrote called “Intercourse,” she said that she assumed being conscious during rape was better. She felt as if even if no one believed her, at least she could actually remember what happened. In the episode, one of Zoe’s assailants told her that since she blacked out and doesn’t even remember what happened that everyone should be able to “move on”. Dworkin’s approach also helps understand that just because someone doesn’t fight the person off or is unable to consent to intercourse doesn’t mean that they wanted to do it. There have been instances where people haven been raped by their own husband or wife, rape is rape. Our culture tends to make the victims feel so guilty to the point where they are often reluctant to take action against their alleged perpetrators. Dworkin dealt with a lot of controversy on her rape stories because
Paglia opens her article with the line “Rape is an outrage that cannot be tolerated in civilized society”(578). She talks about how feminists have forced rape to be
On the article “On a Date Rape” by Camille Paglia, creates a controversy discussion about how women have reached freedom throughout the years and blames young feminist for being “over privileged”. Her belief is that women in general misuse the social freedom she so virtuously fought for. She also mentioned that her generation was aware of the risk that they were taking, while today’s generation does not. However, she blames any young lady who finds herself into a perilous situation for the tragedy that follows; moreover, Paglia’s article is unreliable due to the abuse of several fallacies such as hasty generalization, false analogy, false cause, poising well, false dilemma, slippery slope, as well as straw men.
To many, rape seems like a distant and remote problem, something that’s heard about from a friend of a friend or read about in a newspaper. Despite its ostensible distance, rape is a legitimate and serious problem, yet American society condones it through the widespread acceptance of rape myths and gender stratification. The short story, “Rape Fantasies”, written by Margaret Atwood, begins with Estelle, the narrator, eating lunch with her coworkers, receptionists and employees in filing, in the women’s lunch room. Her employment situation, as well as her lunch circumstances, immediately illustrates the power imbalance between men and women. They then begin to discuss their various “rape fantasies” which involve daring and attractive men coming into their apartment and having sex with them. Estelle quickly notes that these are not fantasies about actual rape, rejecting the myth that women fantasize about being raped. Estelle then shares her own fantasies, which all involve her gaining the upper hand in the various scenarios, suggesting that Estelle fantasizes not about rape, but about not being a victim. Towards the end of the text, Estelle, likely while talking to a man at a bar, muses on a women’s difficulty in living life fully while avoiding dangerous situations that society allows, further illustrating the unfortunate situation that women live in due to the gender power disparity in our society. Though this short story was set in the 1970s, rape remains a prominent problem today (Pearson 47). Through the discussion of this text, negative attitudes that many students harbor about rape and its victims could likely be corrected as well as diminish general rape acceptance. Furthermore, this story also reveals the power imbalance b...
The author’s opening statement to persuade her audience is a great quote to grab the reader’s attention, also allowing her to set her main argument right away. She mentions that the whole situation was a big misinterpretation, and by being exaggerated with celebrity sources, many other women may feel that they have been sexually abused or assaulted. Weiss states, “I’m apparently the victim of sexual assault. And if you’re a sexually active woman in the 21st century, chances are, that you are, too.” Here, she is trying to prove that the victim was guilty of not helping herself. With such a provocative statement, the audience may feel like Weiss is downplaying the issue at hand. However, she is connecting to the reader’s to instantly grab their attention to keep reading her article. After the woman and Mr. Ansari’s date, they headed back to his apartment. Shortly after, a few glasses of wine deep, the two hooked up. The victim claims Ansari “persistently tried to have penetrative sex with her” and to have been “deeply uncomfortable throughout”. The victim also claims to have “tried to voice her hesitations, but Mr. Ansari ignored her signals”. At times, Weiss discretely points fingers that it was the victim’s fault for not being verbally straightforward with Ansari. Weiss believes that this is just one example of feminists
Some men claim that rape is just sex, however, if a women does not consent to it therefore it is considered rape. Women feel as though all men are rapists or at least contribute in some way to rape. Through this essay Men in Groups: Collective Responsibility for Rape, by Larry May and Robert Strikwerda, argues 4 different reasons of being or contributing to rape: as a loner, or demon, as a victim of biology, a victim of society, and as a group member. Throughout this essay the authors, give reasons to why most men in fact do contribute to the rape, even though they may not physically do the action, their involvement is still relevant. I think that men should indeed be held responsible for rape, and should
“A rape act thus imposes as well as presupposes misogynist inequalities; rape is not only scripted-it also scripts” (p391)
Estelle B. Freedman’s book Redefining Rape: Sexual Violence in the Era of Suffrage and Segregation, explains the emotional and political struggles woman faced during the founding of the United States of America. While woman worked towards independence from the societal formalities of being oppressed by the stigma of men’s control through means of sexual dominance. Freedman’s work takes an in-depth look at the history of the word “rape” throughout the significant portions of American history. Freedman then explains how the word “rape” has changed in definition during history and how the meaning of the word has altered the political and social ideologic views of the entire country.
What you should notice throughout the article is that the author has a very strong view on the women’s side of HIV/AIDS prevention, she defends women and does not put them at fault in these situations, and this could make her seem like a feminist.
They exposed cultural codes, ways in which “culture instructs us to feel and act in particular ways” (Dunn 5) so that the public was more aware of their actions. These codes, if broken, have consequences, and American meritocracy supports that citizens should be held accountable for their actions. This mindset leads to victim blaming. Feminists’ biggest job was to convince people that victims should never be acceptable; there cannot be “blameless” and “blameworthy” victims. This labeling mechanism is a “social constructionist approach toward ‘deviance’...a matter of definition rather than of ‘fact’ or the inherent qualities of an actor or action” (Dunn 12). For example, a woman wearing revealing clothing may be considered a “blameworthy” victim because her clothing was suggesting. However, this assumes that “men can’t control their sexuality enables society to give men a ‘Get out of Jail Free’ card, a pass to commit sexual harassment, assault, and rape with the ready-made excuse” (Cappiello and McInerney 181). According to feminists, rape is a direct result of our culture’s differential sex role socialization and sexual stratification” (Rose 78). Because men cannot see women as human, sexual assault persists.
Using The Vindication of Women’s Right and The Awakening (which was used in the second feminist movement) each adequately revisit a time of female depravity and discovered liberation. What the feminist movement really reflects is a continuous carom of questions women have never been able to answer or never been able to ask: why are women not equal with men? And why are women sexualized because of men? “…all females are vulnerable, socialised to be compliant and paralysed to offer any resistance” Women do not chose to be these vulnerable, untouchable creatures that men cannot understand; they are instead perceived that way. “Sexual assault is an extension of the current legal, social, economic and political systems in which we live which manifest and reinforce male dominance over women and
What do you think and feel when you hear the word rape? Do you feel uncomfortable? Maybe even angry? Your certain feelings and emotions towards this word is a result of rape culture. Rape culture, essentially, is how a society as a whole sees and reacts towards rape or instances of rape. In 2013 rape was defined by the FBI as, “Penetration… of the vagina or anus with any body part or object, or oral penetration by a sex organ of another person, without the consent of the victim.” (Division’s Crime Statistics Management Unit 1). The definition was finally changed after the old definition deemed inappropriate by today’s standards, which beforehand, stated that physical force needed to be used for rape to be considered rape. This is good news for men and women who have been fighting for the definition to be changed, but unfortunately this does not mean that state laws are being changed the same way. Even though the FBI may acknowledge the older inappropriate definition, most states do not. Sexual assault is a commonly unreported crime, where only an average of 36% of sexual abuse is actually reported to the authorities (Planty 7). Some forms of rape can include physical harm, threats, and even death of the victim, and most victims do not want to tell others for fear of criticism, self-blame, or even the fear that their attackers will carry out on their threats. In many cases, victims do have a reason to be afraid. When someone is brave enough to come forward and say they were sexually assaulted, they are putting themselves in the position of being in not only a long legal process, but also having their motives questioned and misunderstood, which is the last thing they want after their experience. The legal system in the United States...
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.
Sources: Allen uses primary sources and secondary sources (book and articles) to support the central argument in Rape Warfare. She uses multiple primary sources, most of them anonymous because Allen strives to provide these victims with proper representation. “I cannot name most of the women who have so generously educated me in this because to do so would place their lives again at risk (pg