Heather N examines the ways in which rape culture is at work on rapists, as well as society as a whole and examines whether Predator Theory would cover the Steubenville rapists.
“No one is an unjust villain in his own mind. Even – perhaps even especially – those who are the worst of us.” – Jim Butcher, Turn Coat
One of the most common misconceptions about rapists is that of the “stranger rapist.” They are all male strangers in ski masks hiding in a dark alley, waiting to attack whoever walks by them first. Another common misconception is that when a rape is committed by someone the rape survivor knew, it is less serious. Sometimes, in such cases, the term rape is never even used when explaining what happened. Instead these instances are often explained away as a “misunderstanding,” between the rapist and the survivor, influenced by some combination of bad communication skills and alcohol. Predator Theory was largely developed in response to this misconception.
In 2002, Paul Miller and David Lisak published an article titled: “Repeat Rape and Multiple Offending Among Undetected Rapists” in Violence and Victims, vol. 17, no. 1. This is the study on which Predator Theory is built. Basically, what Lisak and Miller discovered, was that the majority of rapes were committed by a few men who were serial rapists. This was true regardless of whether these men knew their victims or not. According to the theory that has been subsequently developed based on this study, the vast majority of rapists are predators who purposefully and knowingly commit rape multiple times, targeting people they know.
There are a few issues with the study and the conclusions drawn, not the least of which is the fact that it only looked at cases in which cis men committed rape. However, rather than go into depth about the issues here, I’ll just link you to two articles that examine the Lisak and Miller study critically.* Instead, what I would like to discuss here is how predator theory and rape culture theory intersect. To do that, I’ll first have to explain rape culture.
Rape culture** is the collection of social narratives and norms that a culture uses to trivialize and rationalize rape. In “western culture,” some key aspects are assuming male aggression and the sexual objectification of women is the norm. The assumptions that men always want sex and “silence is consent” are also part of rape culture. The assumption that men can’t be raped is a part of rape culture. The use of alcohol or a short skirt as an excuse to rape is part of rape culture. Assuming “acquaintance rape,” isn’t really rape is part of rape culture. Doubting rape survivors because it’s easier to think of rapists as evil monsters is part of rape culture. Toxic masculinity is part of rape culture. Simply put, rape culture theory seeks to identify the various ways rape culture is perpetuated, such as those I just listed, and put a stop to it.
What’s perhaps most troubling about rape culture is that everyone unknowingly participates in it to some extent. When you make a comment about the inappropriate length of a women’s skirt, you’re participating in rape culture. When I joke that I prefer being a lesbian because most men are just too sexually aggressive, I participate in rape culture. When a gay man randomly grabs my breasts, not realizing his sexual orientation doesn’t make it okay to grab me, he’s participating in rape culture. When the media focuses on details of rapists’ lives and tries to make excuses for their behaviour, the media participates in rape culture. Chances are you don’t even realize you’re doing it much of the time.
So how does Predator Theory fit into rape culture? Well, toxic masculinity largely explains how our culture creates and excuses male predators. Beyond that, though, usually the argument I’ve seen is that rapists use rape culture in order to get away with their crimes. In much the same way a male rapist has used a woman to gain a sense of power by dominating her, a rapist uses rape culture to hide his crime and explain it away if he is caught. Rapists know that all the rationalizations and excuses of rape culture are bullshit, and they use that against us.
Remember how I said just about everyone participates in rape culture, and most people probably don’t even realize they are doing it? Well, Predator Theory argues that, except for toxic masculinity, rapists only participate in rape culture knowingly. They only perpetuate it on purpose, specifically to control their victims, any bystanders, and excuse their behaviour to the authorities if caught. However, this doesn’t explain all rapists. Not all rapists neatly fit the definition of a premeditating predator rapist. What about the rapists who are just as entrenched in rape culture as everyone else, so much so they’ve rationalized their crime to themselves?
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One of the key problems with the Lisak and Miller study is that it only identified rapists who understood they had forced, or tried to force someone to have sex with them. In order to be classified as a rapist, those surveyed had to answer “yes” to one or more of the following questions (taken from pages 77 & 78 of the published study):
1. Have you ever been in a situation where you tried, but for various reasons did not succeed, in having sexual intercourse with an adult by using or threatening to use physical force (twisting their arm, holding them down, etc.) if they did not cooperate?
2. Have you ever had sexual intercourse with someone, even though they did no [sic] want to, because they were too intoxicated (on alcohol or drugs) to resist your sexual advances (e.g., removing their clothes)?
3. Have you ever had sexual intercourse with an adult when they didn’t want to because you used or threatened to use physical force (twisting their arm; holding them down, etc.) if they didn’t cooperate?
4. Have you ever had oral sex with an adult when they didn’t want to because you used or threatened to use physical force (twisting their arm; holding them down, etc.) if they didn’t cooperate?
Another issue with the above questions is that they only consider “sexual intercourse” and “oral sex” as rape. That ignores a whole host of other sexual acts that, even legally, are considered rape. There was also a problem I wanted to talk about with question 2. It asks if the respondent had ever had sex with someone “even though they did no [sic] want t.” In order to answer “yes” to this question, the rapist would have to recognize that the person they had sex with hadn’t consented. But considering rape culture uses alcohol and intoxication as a rationalization for excusing rape is it not possible that some rapists have done the same thing? And how about all the other rationalizations rape culture perpetuates?
Back in July 2012, someone posted a question on Reddit directed to rapists. It asked, “Reddit’s had a few threads about sexual assault victims, but are there any redditors from the other side of the story? What were your motivations? Do you regret it?” I’m not a psychologist, so I’m not going to try to analyse all of the answers. However, some of the answers were quite interesting, highlighting just what these rapists were thinking while they committed their crime. One of the answers that struck me was this, “Now, I remember exactly what I was thinking at the time. This girl gave me “the look” earlier, she invited me into her bed. What teenage girl would pass up the oppertunity to be with a 22 year old guy? She MUST want it. I tried again, and slid my hands over her body.” That, right there, is rape culture in action. He didn’t think of the young woman he was with as an actual human with agency; he thought of her as a collection of assumptions about what a “teenage girl” must be. He put a higher importance on what he, as an individual, wanted than on making sure that the girl was consenting.
Presumably at some point he realized that he was sexually assaulting the girl, or he wouldn’t have answered the Reddit question. But did he realize he was assaulting her while he was committing the crime, or after? And does he realize it, but continues to rationalize it away as not really rape? Does he recognize that he raped the girl he was with, or does he just recognize that other people would (in his opinion, incorrectly) identify it as rape? Were he to take Lisak and Miller’s survey, would he answer “yes” to any of the questions? Does he recognize that he forced that young woman to have sex with him? Or does he still think that she must have wanted it? That she gave him “the look,” and that makes it all okay? And of course it isn’t okay; he raped that young woman, but how aware is he of that fact? Predator Theory doesn’t really adequately explore or attempt to answer any of these questions. “He was a predator,” is about as nuanced an answer as, “he was an evil monster,” in a lot of ways.
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From what I’ve read of the Steubenville case, it is obvious that the two teens convicted earlier this week, Mays and Richmond, were predators. What’s more, they were obviously heavily influenced by toxic masculinity. They drove Jane Doe from party to party, digitally penetrated her, urinated and/or ejaculated on her, and took pictures and video which they shared with their friends. The point of all this wasn’t sexual gratification; it was domination over another human being. As this article explains, humiliation was the point. These boys knew, without a doubt, that they were violating Jane Doe. They were predators, they knew it, and they were proud of it. However, did they realize they were rapists?
A series of texts from the immediate aftermath of the rape reveal something quite interesting. Mays clearly recognized that he violated Jane Doe; when one of his friends texted that she looked like a “dead girl,” he agreed saying “LOL, she couldn’t even move.” He even has the gall to text Jane Doe’s father to say he “never tried anything forceful with her,” and he was “sorry for all the trouble this has caused you.” That is clearly an attempt to convince Jane Doe and her family not to go to the police and to think it was all a misunderstanding. Remember the misconception I mentioned earlier that “acquaintance rape” can be explained away as a lack of communication and consuming too much alcohol? This was a blatant attempt to convince Jane Doe and her father that was all this was.
However, there is also this text from Mays to one of his friends: “I shoulda raped now that everybody thinks I did.” This isn’t a text of denial to someone who could potentially report him to the police. This isn’t a statement of remorse or regret to a friend; there is no remorse or regret there. This isn’t even bragging about what he did to a friend; this is bragging about what he thinks he should have done.
What this is, is Mays texting someone to say he doesn’t think he raped Jane Doe. He violated and humiliated her, and he shows he would have no qualms about raping her, but he doesn’t realize that’s exactly what he did. He doesn’t understand that digitally penetrating her and ejaculating on her is rape. How could he not? Well, rape culture defines rape as a stranger jumping out from the bushes and forcing his penis into the woman’s vagina. And that’s not what he did, so he doesn’t think it counts as rape. In this moment, Mays is just as influenced by rape culture’s very limited definition of rape as everyone else.
Now in this case, Mays is clearly a predator. If he had been made aware that what he was doing was rape, that wouldn’t have made a difference to him. However, considering Mays didn’t even realize what he was doing was rape, how many of the others who participated in violating Jane Doe didn’t realize they were participating in rape by using force? If some of these boys had realized that not only were they violating and humiliating Jane Doe, but they were raping her, would they have stopped? Had some of the bystanders realized that Jane Doe was being raped, would they have been more likely to step in and put a stop to it, despite the bystander effect? How many of the other participants in Jane Doe’s rape can be classified as “predators?”
These are questions that a strict application of Predator Theory doesn’t adequately explain. According to Predator Theory, everyone who participated was probably a predator. This clearly fits for some of them, specifically the young man who made the video tape laughing at how Jane Doe had been raped. However, Predator Theory doesn’t allow for the possibility that some of the participants had rationalized their behaviour to themselves by unconsciously invoking rape culture. How many of them didn’t think of themselves as having been forceful because they didn’t fit rape culture’s definition of using force? How many of them knew that they did not have consent from Jane Doe?
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Am I saying that rapists who commit “acquaintance rape,” or “date rape,” are probably victims of rape culture, and that with better communication and less alcohol, they wouldn’t be rapists? I most certainly am not; that would simply be perpetuating the myth that Lisak and Miller set out to dispel in the first place. (Though, I do think that there are cases where bad communication about sex and consent contribute to instances of sexual violation).
What I am saying is that in some cases, a rapist is just as influenced by rape culture as the rest of us, and might not even realize s/he’s dehumanizing his/her victim, even though s/he is. And what’s more, even in cases where a rapist is knowingly violating and dehumanizing his/her victim, s/he still might not even realize that what s/he is doing is rape. That’s how deep rape culture runs; even predator rapists might not realize they are rapists.
* Side note: There was a recent study done in New York City that examined the difference between the number of self-reported sexual identity and sexual behaviour. Their methodology involved randomly calling people within a specific region, and randomly speaking to one adult in the house. They asked questions in such a way as to try to get respondents to divulge the most information. I’d really like to see a survey about rape conducted with a similar methodology. The near anonymity of a phone conversation and the random nature of the respondent selection pool would make for interesting results, I think.
** Rape culture theory mostly explains many cases of men raping women and some cases of women raping women. The assumption that men always want sex (part of rape culture) explains some cases of women and men raping other men. However, rape culture theory does not explain every case of rape that does not involve a male rapist and a female survivor. This is particularly true in the case of a rape that involves a trans* individual.
I should probably add to my previous post (if it is approved) to say that is the legal definitions in California, so it’s possible it is different than it is in his state. In California rape is vaginal penitration with a penis and they have a list of many other types of sexual assault that a person can be found guilty of.
Just a little tidbit that has to do with the text mentioned near the article. The phrase, “I should have raped her because they are saying I did,” might be about the legal definition. Without knowing the timing of the text I can’t say that is for sure. The legal definition of rape is a penis into a vagina. There are different terms for other acts of sexual violence. It doesn’t mean those other acts are not just as bad, but there are different legal terms. A man can’t be raped from a legal standpoint because he doesn’t have a… Read more »
True, but even if they were just thinking about it in legal terms, that still highlights the problem of a culture which teeats some acts of sexual violence as “really rape” or “rape-rape,” and others as somehow less real or horrible. Even if he knew it was sexua assault, he disn’t think it was as bad as whatever he thought the legal deffinition of rape is.
interesting
The problem one immediately has with the theory of rape culture (or any theory applying to human behavior) is the attempt to apply it to all situations and individuals. While rape culture may be (and after reading this article, one assumes it is) an insidious part of our society, it seems unreasonable to apply a single one-size-fits-all theory to all instances of sexual conflict. Absolutes make this writer nervous and my hope is that this discussion does not end here. There is too much at stake for all of us as we honestly look at how men treat women and… Read more »
I kind of touch on the danger of trying to apply a universal theory to rape in my other article, The Necessary Evil of Humanizing Rapists. https://goodmenproject.com/ethics-values/the-necessary-evil-of-humanizing-rapists/
Similar themes, but a bit different.
Also, the thing is, if we use rape culture theory intelligently, it doesn’t become an attempt to apply a “one-size-fits-all theory,” to sexual assault. Rather, it becomes a lens with which to understand the various motivations behind sexual assault and society’s (and the mainstream media’s) reaction to it.
Here is the link to the 2007 study mentioned in my comment above, which was the primary basis for the Dept. of Ed 2011 Dear Colleague Letter. https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/221153.pdf Over 1500 men sampled. Over 5000 women sampled. Side note: the study could not reach detailed conclusions about sexual assault experienced by men as victims because the study design had not included a sufficient number of men to produce statistically meaningful detailed conclusions about situations where men were victims. The study designers incorrectly did not anticipate that meaningful numbers of men are victims of sexual assault. To my knowledge, no follow up… Read more »
This is a response to the first footnote (the one with the single asterisk). In fact, such a study does exist. It was the study behind the 2011 US Dept of Ed “Dear Colleague” letter that lowered the standard of evidence required to expel an accused sexual assailant. I will find the link and post it. But, in summary, the study, conducted with thousands of subjects at a major US state university in the Southeast, and at at a major US state university in the Midwest, involved thousands of anonymous questionnaires, asking about behavior, rather than labeling behavior. The hypothesis… Read more »
The biggest pitfall of this theory is that its explanatory power is relatively weak. The culture of rape and violence is the exception rather than the rule. One very inconvenient fact that nullifies the ether of culture as a culprit, as opposed to it being the cure, is that if you eliminate a fairly specific age category of both perpetrator and victim, a very large portion of incidents disappear – i.e. the younger set. The impact of this proposed cultural force appears to dissipate exponentially as a person matures – i.e. gets a larger dose/exposure of “rape” culture. An immature… Read more »
“The impact of this proposed cultural force appears to dissipate exponentially as a person matures – i.e. gets a larger dose/exposure of “rape” culture.” That would only be true if you assume that the only impact of rape culture is committing rape. However, as Lauren’s “So You’re Tired of Hearing About Rape Culture,” illustrates, committing rape is only a portion of the impact of rape culture. The media coverage of Steubenville was full of examples of rape culture, and that is all run by adults. The town shunning Jane Doe is an part of rape culture, and plenty of the… Read more »
“I’m not proposing that children are born innocent and then corrupted…I’m proposing that socialization has a great effect on how we see the world and our behaviour in it.”
Has anyone done a study on if rapists are far more likely to be a sociopath?
I agree that your take does help your idea. I do think that the much more common understanding is exactly as you seem to say that it is not – that it indeed permeates by frequency and force, exactly like a source of radiation. You seem to be leaning more towards an infection that cannot be easily cured, if I read you correctly 🙂 If that is indeed the case, then bans and outright restrictions should be better solutions than education and awareness. The things you mention adults taking part of that reinforce the radiation/infection theory seem much too common… Read more »
Except we know, through studying childhood development, that children are socialized very early on and that they absorb cultural norms quickly. And I wouldn’t say culture (in general) is an illness, but if we’re going to continue with this analogy…then it’s an infection that keeps replicating itself. Bans and restrictions don’t work, because you new people are born and socialized and taught things that their parents knew every moment. It’s perpetual…people are born and socialized, and rebel (or don’t), against those norms. We’re all a bunch of individuals who are influenced by culture, but not controlled by culture. As for… Read more »
I think you missed the point. Logically speaking, if the responses are not limited to people’s reaction to sexual violence against women, one cannot call it “rape” culture. It is simply how people respond to unwanted or unexpected events.
But it’s not how people respond to “unwanted or unexpected events.” When someone is murdered, we don’t all question whether s/he did something to ask for it. When someone is robbed, we don’t ask whether they were drunk and therefore at least “partly” at fault. When a criminal is convicted of a crime, we don’t talk about how horrible it is that his/her life is ruined and slyly blame the victim for having reported the crime. These are all things that we do when someone is raped, and we do them all the time. That’s what I mean by common…it… Read more »
Except when people do. Remember Trayvon Martin. No shortage of people there questioning what he did to ask for it.
That’s true, but that’s because we live in a racist society.
That’s what Rape Theory gets at. That a sexist society (against both men and women) is why we blame the victim.
When men are raped by either men or women, we do the same victim-blaming. “He must’ve wanted it, guys always want sex with women, indiscriminately” “He must be gay” etc.
So your point is exactly true, and in fact supports Rape Culture theory rather than contradicts it.
Sorry but we sure do ask those questions when someone is robbed, murdered or even defrauded. In fact people ask it all the time. Why were they in that neighbourhood at night, Did they leave their door unlocked in their car. Did they leave a valuable object in plain sight etc. These are asked all the time.
See my main issue is that people like HeatherN have blinders on when it comes to rape, you don’t see it when people ask the same questions of other victims of crimes.
It occured to me that a critique that I wrote of Robin West’s “The Harms of Consensual Sex” might get at why I don’t agree with the “rape culture” hypothesis. Certainly, the young men in the news last week were rapists, however. I also don’t believe that either sex has a toxic aspect.
A link to the critique: https://www.facebook.com/henry.vandenburgh/posts/10100190731544596
HeatherN: I have one question. You write: The assumption that men always want sex (part of rape culture) explains some cases of women and men raping other men. However, rape culture theory does not explain every case of rape that does not involve a male rapist and a female survivor. This is particularly true in the case of a rape that involves a trans* individual. I think I would disagree about that, but since I don’t know you reasoning behind this assertion I can’t tell for sure. Coud you expand a bit? Do you have any real or hypothetical example… Read more »
alle male-on-female rape
Now for clarity she said “many”, not all.
However there was a switch from “many” to “some”.
You’re right. I interpreted this sentence
as saying that rape culture by contrast explained every rape that involves a male rapist and a femle survivor. I missed the first sentece where she said many and my interpretation was erronous.
I am still interested in the answer to my question (which now also includes male-on-female rape not explained by rape culture theory).
All rapes are part of rape culture, yes. However, our current understanding of rape culture doesn’t explain every rape. As we do more studies and collect more data, we change the details of rape culture theory to better fit our new data.
Literally all I’m saying with that is that rape culture theory isn’t perfect.
Thank you for your answer.
Unfortunately tthere seem to be a reluctance from some (including some feminists) to change the details of rape culture to fit new data (for instance male rape) – they’d rather marginalize those data that doesn’t fit the current model – without much thoughts about the victims who make up those inconvienient data.
Well, yeah. People resist change…and people especially have a hard time changing their understanding of the world.
However, from what I’ve seen there is a much greater willingness to accept that men are victims of rape among feminists than there is among mainstream society. Most of mainstream society ignores male victims entirely. Feminist circles might debate how male victims fit into current rape culture theory…but they are talking about them.
But as Tamen commented over on Lauren’s post feminist circles seem to be debating on how to fit male victims into rape culture theory but only on the condition that rape culture theory still be centered around male against female rape.
I mean really that list of commentary was pretty awful.
You honestly its not even an expectation that rape culture be able to account for each and every rape (hell if it did that I think its well beyond being called theory). The problem I see, as Tamen says, is that despite the understanding of rape culture being relatively limited many proponents of rape culture seem to either refuse the inclusion of new data or they need to rename it Male Against Female Rape Culture. And honestly I wouldn’t have a problem with that. because then it would be right there in the name that other types of rape are… Read more »
Maybe he didn’t believe he was raping her; but I can’t see how he could pee and ejaculate on someone who wasn’t even aware of what was going on and not believe he wasn’t dehumanizing them. You don’t pee on someone just for the heck of it or because you believe it’s a respectful thing to do. I also think that we need to acknowledge that kids are a reflection of society, not the other way around. What and where have kids been getting information from that has lead to “misunderstandings” of what exactly rape, objectification and dehumanzing another is… Read more »
As I said in the article, “These boys knew, without a doubt, that they were violating Jane Doe. They were predators, they knew it, and they were proud of it.” They knew they were violating her, but they didn’t think they were committing rape. And that’s kind of key. I also agree that kids are a reflection on society; that’s kind of the point of the article (long though it may be). They were influenced by rape culture…that’s why they didn’t think they were raping Jane Doe. They were influenced by toxic masculinity…that’s why they thought it was okay to… Read more »