The Effects Of Rape Culture On Silencing Women

Rape victims are silenced through the prevalence of rape myths, the fear that their stories will not be believed, concern that victims themselves will be deemed at least partially responsible for the rape due to victim blaming, and by the criminal justice system itself through second victimization. All of these factors are built on the unequal power relationships between men and women, and the normalization of sexual violence in society, which characterizes rape culture. As an aside, male rape victims are also silenced by rape culture. However, while this is an important issue, this essay will focus mainly on the effect of rape culture on silencing women specifically. In this essay, rape culture’s impact on silencing women will be discussed

In relation to rape, feminist criminologists argue that sexual assault is a result of a history of male control and female passivity, making it more acceptable for men to control women sexually (Ward, 1995). The idea of rape culture stems from this feminist criminology perspective about male domination (Chasteen, 2001). It is how society thinks about sexual assault, and has the effect of normalizing or denying sexual assault when it occurs, or placing blame on the victim, rather than the offender, for the crime (Duca, 2015). Attitudes, norms, beliefs, and historical inequality are all part of rape culture (Ward, 1995), including everyday practices that may seem harmless. Fairytales are an example of how some attitudes towards women are reinforced. In Disney’s The Little Mermaid, Ariel does not have a voice, leading to women being silenced as they have been taught that their voices do not matter (Jordan, 2012). Meanwhile Ursula, the only woman who does have a voice is a liar, illustrating how women are seen as deceptive when they do speak out (Jordan, 2012). This shows that a man’s truth is worth more than a woman’s, and women are silenced (Jordan, 2004). Furthermore, the idea