*An essay I wrote in early March on the great debate of rape culture; still in original, essay format.
Rape Culture: What We Choose Not to See
Rape culture is
real and ever prevalent in our society. Rape culture is defined as an
environment in which rape and other forced sexual activities are prevalent but
normalized within society; thus being considered a societal norm. Generally the
ideas of rape culture are perpetuated and streamlined through media outlets,
negative, misogynist language, overall degrading of women, victim bashing and
deemphasizing of the actual crime of rape or sexual assault. Originally derived within the third wave of
feminism, the terminology rape culture was designed to address a lack of sensitivity
and respect to the actual act of rape. Currently in American society and
throughout the world there tends to be a very blasé and almost humorous
approach to the severity of rape, and there is little to no acknowledgement
that rape is an actual crime in some developing countries. But as far as
America goes many average citizens fail to take into account the real issue of
rape culture because people choose to believe it’s not a reality or a concern;
no want wants to acknowledge the elephant in the room. Rape culture, is an intrinsic
part of our culture and not a positive one either. “In our culture rape and
sexual assault is made to be both invisible and inevitable.” How does one
change a culture that turns a blind eye to the severity of rape culture?
“It isn’t true.” “It’s
just a new thought movement from more radical feminist.” “If she doesn’t say
no, well then it wasn’t rape.” “Rape culture, what is that?” The main issue
within society realizing and accepting rape culture as an issue is the fact
that it’s underrepresented and laced with heavy skepticism. Many people already
have very warped views of what exactly rape is and any other form of sexual
assault for that matter; particularly young men of my own generation. Rape and sexual assault is seemingly a fact
of life, a truth that can’t be escaped when the National Center for Injury
Prevention and Control at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
states that one in five women have been raped in their lifetime. A mindboggling
statistic born out of a national telephone survey of about 16,500 adults in
which surveyors extracted information on types of physical and sexual violence,
including rape. Moreover the majority of these sexual assaults and/or rapes
fall within the age demographic for women between 17-25 years of age, according
to the RAINN, the Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network. Furthermore the 2008
National Crime Victimization Survey by the Bureau of Justice Statistics, stated
more than 75% of the women who reported a rape were under 25 years old at the
time of their assault. That being said that age demographic falls largely
between young women who are most likely in school or a higher learning
institute i.e.: college, university; which comes to the next point, that rape
culture tends to be of high incident within colleges and university.
College
campuses of today have garnered a notorious reputation for almost ignoring the
severity of sexual assault and rape, becoming one of the largest proprietors of
rape culture. With a multitude of cases
in which colleges across the nation have mishandled victims reporting sexual
assault and/or rape it’s become a frequent and normal aspect of the college
experience. Therefore completely embodying the definition of rape culture to
begin with; a society who readily expects rape as a normal and anticipated situation.
University of Ottawa, in Canada will be hosting its first annual day of
reflection on March 24th 2014, to commemorate and reflect on sexual
violence that’s been occurring on and off their campus. Kalamazoo College in
West Michigan is also taking a hands on approach to sexual violence on campus
by hosting an annual 3K run each March to spread awareness that we need to
support the victim, not blame them. The biggest issue within the college campus’s
microcosm is that many college officials aren’t well trained in how to handle
sexual assault victims and furthermore almost try to dissuade victims that an
actual assault has occurred, rather attempting to sweep it under the rug,
rather than create an unnecessary blemish on the school’s reputation. A
specific example being a former student of University of Massachusetts Amherst,
Angie Epifano whom laid out the horrors of discussing her rape to Amherst
officials and administration in which they repeatedly questioned her
authenticity. Officials even went as far as to make statements such as, “Are
you sure it was rape? It might have just been a bad hookup…You should forgive and
forget” and also using other excuses such as being that due to the perpetrator
was about to graduate it was pointless to press charges. Now it’s important to
remember this is one individuals experience, which of course could harbor some
biases but this isn’t some contemporary thought process for college campuses.
These schools need to keep up donor funding, high rates of graduation and offer
a safe and comfortable environment to students; with stories of rape and
assault coming out the wood work, college administrations definitely feel the
pressure to sweep certain issues under the rug. And this is how you move to the
issue of victim bashing within the concept of rape culture. Using the previous
example stated, Epifano states officials and administrators, tried to coerce
her into believing it was a consensual sexual experience, or that perhaps she
misinterpreted what happened, which is a very common aspect with rape culture;
blaming the victim. In 2011 Toronto police officer, Constable Michael
Saguinetti suggested at a college roundtable discussing the issue of campus
rape that in order for women to remain safe, “…women should avoid dressing like
sluts…” asserting that through one’s way of dressing makes them more
susceptible to sexual assault. On the other hand some countries in South Asia
and into the Middle East have exorbitantly high rates of sexual assault and
rape. Ironically enough countries like Saudi Arabia and their geographical
neighbor Iraq have laws and codes regulating women’s form of dress, with the
use of hijabs, burqas, and veils. However according to the Women Stats Project
(2011) Saudi Arabia and surrounding countries are currently facing a rape
endemic; due to the taboo believes of rape and overall disregard for it in
these countries, statistics are few and limited. This information is being
stated to express that there is no correlation between one’s manner of dress
and being raped; if that were the case there would be no reports of sexual
assaults in these “modest,” Muslim countries. Dressing provocatively doesn’t or
shouldn’t make you more susceptible to rape; this is a matter of self-control not one’s way of dressing. The statement made by Constable Michael
Saguinetti, of course was crude and founded off complete ignorance; beliefs
like that essentially say to the victim, “this was your fault and in some way
you brought this assault on yourself,” which is the furthest thing from the
truth. And this is a belief system that many people carry, that sexual assault
and rape is partially perpetuated by the victim, almost removing any blame
towards the rapist and gearing it towards the person who originally and still
is the victim.
Furthermore
the college campuses of America have also gained notoriety for another aspect
of rape culture, date rape culture. Date rape, meaning a sexual assault
facilitated through the means of alcohol or sleep inducing drugs has been
around since the early 1980s but it was only until wide spread usage of drugs
like benzodiazepines and Rohypnol that police noticed the trend of rapes and
sexual assaults related to the usage of said drugs. These forced acts became
prevalent throughout the 1990s, the majority of which were taking place within
downtown club scenes, with relatively young clientele. Before long the Drug Enforcement
Agency (DEA) and other state law enforcement officials were forced to crackdown
and grasp hold of not only the drugs being used in these attacks but how to
tackle the issue of trying to try rapist using drugs to facilitate an assault
in a court of law. As the hysteria of
date rape decreased in the early 2000s, it was making a new name for itself in
the dark, dank living rooms of frat houses; a fairy dust like substance being
dumped into a girl’s drink, a hand slipping around her waist before she
completely tumbled over and a trip upstairs, or in the cheap interior of some
guy’s car. Rape in of itself has been a serious issue on college campuses for
decades now, but as previously stated is an issue that is forcibly concealed. A report entitled “The Sexual Victimization
of College Women” (2000) by the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) which is
under the US Department of Justice stated a college with 10,000 students could
experience as many as 350 rapes per year. Point in case: sexual violence is a
common occurrence on college campus.
Now
on the other hand there is a pool of critics whom don’t believe that rape
culture is a concept or even exists for that matter. Christina Hoff Summers,
author of the controversial yet highly acclaimed book, "Who Stole Feminism? How Women Have Betrayed Women" (1994) claims
rape culture beliefs are based off a flawed study, suggesting that “one in four
women do not get sexually assaulted or raped in her lifetime.” While that
statistic was generated from a fairly small pool of women surveyed, and there
is variation in the ratios as to whether its 1 in 4, 1 in 5, or 1 in 6 women,
it doesn't negate the fact that one in four, five or six of those women within
the statistic did experience some form of rape and/or sexual assault. In an
article entitled “It’s Time to End ‘Rape Culture’ Hysteria” for Time Magazine,
written just a few days ago the 20th of March to be exact, Caroline
Kitchens, the author suggests that “Though rape is certainly a serious problem,
there is no evidence that it’s considered a cultural norm…on college campuses,
obsession with eliminating ‘rape culture’ has led to censorship and hysteria.”
Yet if 1 in 5 women in the US survive rape or attempted rape, and 1 in 6 men
are abused before the age of 18, how is rape culture not a cultural norm? These statistics aren't just generated from a
computer and dispensed for societal consumption; they’re real people; the fifth
or sixth person respectively that you see walking down the street, or through
the student union of a college, leaving a party or a club. Critics of rape
culture tend to counter with the belief that rape culture is a hysteria fueled
thought movement, and that its media driven with warped statistics and poor,
distorted images of what truly occurs on campuses, but the facts state
otherwise. Rape and the culture surrounding it was indubitably intensified through
heavy media portrayal, and while some will claim that overzealous media created
a state of pandemonium, which I won’t refute; it also opened a Pandora box. The
extensive media coverage essentially gave those disturbed viewers a “how to”
guide on how to administer the drug and then the results there after. But it
also allowed society to realize that we had and have a problem on our hands,
that isn't going away, that has found its ways into our college campuses, and
that is adversely affecting women and possibly some men too.
No one ever wants to look at the faults of man
and society, the blemishes that clout our societal face; we’d rather put on cover-up
or hide behind a mask. But when it hits home, when your daughter is shunned
from her school like Angie Epifano, her cries for help and justice falling on
the deaf ears of society, then it becomes real, somehow the culture and belief
you had no opinion a few months ago becomes real, it’s not a joke or a bad
dream; its reality. Rape culture is not a laughing matter, and not a falsified
one either, the hysteria wasn't generate on a lack of evidence, the hysteria
was generated because a multitude of evidence and victims. Rape and the culture
surrounding it effects hundreds of thousands of girls who are shunned and
ridiculed to save face for colleges and university are real people, and real
people make up believes and customs, that make up a culture, our rape culture.
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