Transforming A Rape Culture

Feminism

Do you remember the days when women were considered their husband’s property? When their only purpose was to bear children and clean the house? Probably not. Thank feminism for that. You see, feminism has resulted in many great things, yet not many people identify as a feminist. I believe that feminism is one of the most important movements in history. Did you know that that 82 percent of Americans believe that men and women should be social, political, and economic equals but, according to a poll in April of 2013, in America only 16 percent of men and only 23 percent of women identify as feminists? Why do people agree with the definition of feminism, but not identify as one? Is it because of the negative connotations that feminists

Chances are you have. This is slut-shaming, and it helps contribute to rape culture. According to Emilie Buchwald in her book ‘Transforming A Rape Culture’, a rape culture is “a complex set of beliefs that encourage male sexual aggression and supports violence against women. It is a society where violence is seen as sexy and sexuality as violent. In a rape culture, women perceive a continuum of threatened violence that ranges from sexual remarks to sexual touching to rape itself. A rape culture condones physical and emotional terrorism against women as the norm… In a rape culture, both men and women assume that sexual violence is a fact of life, inevitable… However… much of what we accept as inevitable is in fact the expression of values and attitudes that can change”. We experience rape culture everyday. We see it on tv and in advertisements, and we hear it in our music(“What Is Rape Culture?”). An example is the song “Blurred Lines” by Robin Thicke, in which he repeatedly says, “I Know You Want It.” This is a phrase that many victims of rape have heard their rapist say. What is rape? Rape is when no consent is given for sexual intercourse. Even if you don’t agree with rape, just by being involved in different forms of communication such as rape jokes that make rape seem as if it is no big deal helps contribute to rape culture. Sympathising with rapists and feeling bad for them because now their lives are over as a result of that one mistake and not discussing how the rape affected the victim is also an example of rape culture. First of all, it wasn’t a mistake that the rapist made, it was a choice, and they should have to live with the consequences of this choice(”What Is Rape Culture?”). In Texas, an 11 year old girl was gang-raped by 18 men, and in a New York Times article they talked about what she was wearing, how she wore her makeup, and how she appeared older than her