Just what is rape culture? Ozy Frantz goes into detail about the cultural wellsprings from which it arises.
This post originally appeared in two parts at No Seriously, What About Teh Menz?
The genesis of this post is that I was thinking about a very commonly used feminist term– “rape culture.” Jokes about men being raped in a so-called comedy? Rape culture. Slut shaming of a rape survivor? Rape culture. Widespread lack of attention to prison rape? Rape culture. Rape as a weapon of war in the Sudan? Rape culture.
But then I was debating someone and I realized that I have absolutely no idea what a rape culture is.
I mean, I know the basic definition– the rape culture is everything in our culture that causes the high rate of rape in it. (Which is not to say that there aren’t things in our culture that cause the rate of rape to be lower than it would otherwise be.) But what specifically is a rape culture? What cultural themes play into it? I had no idea. So this post is essentially an exploration of what concepts might be behind the rape culture in the modern West (actually mostly America, because that is what I know stuff about).
The Transactional Model of Sexuality
The transactional model of sexuality essentially suggests that sex is a thing women have and men want. Men purchase women’s sexuality, by this model, through love, commitment, money (either subtly as in buying her drinks or dinner, or overtly as in prostitution), fame, being entertaining (such as having a good sense of humor or “game”), etc.
The transactional model of sexuality eliminates certain categories of women as victims. For instance, married women can’t “really” be raped by their husbands: after all, he has already married her, providing his payment for the sex he’s supposed to have. Promiscuous women and sex workers are also presumed to be unable to be raped; they sell their sexuality cheaply, instead of holding out for love and commitment, so it’s not as valuable to them.
It also creates the notion that men cannot be raped. After all, if a man was raped, he got sex! For free! It’s not a violation of bodily autonomy and self-determination, it’s more like someone giving you an unwanted present. Just go stick your rape in the spare bedroom next to Aunt Ethyl’s picture of a crying cat, jeez, why are you so traumatized?
Rape as Punishment
Rape can often serve as a method of social control. When women transgress social norms for what a “good” woman behaves like– getting drunk, dressing in certain types of clothing, being a sex worker, covering a war as an embedded journalist, having a lot of sex, going out late at night alone, etc.– she’s said to be “asking for it.” Essentially, this cuts women off from multiple areas of human experience because of the fear of rape.
Rape as punishment also applies to men as well, in the case of prisons. If a man violates society’s rules by breaking the law, it’s assumed that part of his punishment is being raped, generally by either a large black man or a big “redneck” named Bubba (woo, bonus classism and racism). Sometimes rapists are imagined to be punished with rape, which seems to be rather missing the point of the whole “rape is bad” business to me, but maybe it’s twelfth-dimensional hyperethics or something.
Marginalized groups suffer even worse from rape as a means of social control. 6 out of 10 women crossing the border from Mexico get raped; women plan for their rapes by take contraceptives beforehand to avoid getting pregnant. Regardless of one’s position on immigration, this is a travesty that has not been prosecuted, to a large degree, because the survivors have broken the law.
Corrective rape of gays and lesbians also occurs around the world, particularly in South Africa; however, in the modern West, support for corrective rape seems mostly limited to YouTube comments sections and the more vile sort of homophobe.
Shame Around Sexuality
Some people will do anything to avoid having to talk to their sex partners about sex.
I see this a lot in discussions about affirmative consent. “But I’m supposed to ask my boyfriend if he wants me to give him a blowjob? That’s not sexy! Also, it will make me feel awkward.” You know what’s really not sexy? Your boyfriend feeling too awkward to say no to a blowjob he really doesn’t want! Also, dirty talk, look it up.
Most people are pretty good at reading other people’s body language and want their partners to be happy, so the number of accidental rapes is very slim. However, this sort of behavior gives cover to actual rapists. “How was I supposed to know he wasn’t into it? I was just holding him down while he was frozen with fear unable to make a sound! It’s not like he was screaming no and fighting back, then I would have known.” “How was I supposed to know the maid I raped wasn’t actually a sex worker? I mean, it’s not like I could have asked or anything!”
Not to mention the women (and it is mostly women) who, out of a desire to not appear like a slut or a rape fantasy and a horrific allergy that gives them hives when they hear the word safeword or whatever, say “no” when they actually mean “yes.” However, I feel if everyone started honoring their nos, we would find a rapid reduction in this sort of behavior. Do not rape people on the off chance that hopefully they’re into that shit!
Men are Horny Beasts Who Can’t Control Themselves
This one seriously just pisses me off.
Rape is not a fucking compliment, you fuckers. It’s not like a man sees a woman he finds attractive and goes “Oh no! I am a perfectly decent person who would never ever rape anyone, but my penis has a mind of its own and is dragging my body along to go rape this lady, while my mind screams no each step of the way!” Humans do not have miniskirt-induced pon farr. Rape happens when a rapist– which can be either a man or a woman– freely chooses to rape a person.
Also, a hard dick is not consent, because men do not actually want sex all the time. Scientists have actually discovered– now this is farfetched, but work with me here– that penises can sometimes get erect without the man’s conscious control or arousal at all!
Toxic Masculinity
Thomas at Yes Means Yes quotes from a paper by Lisak, the groundbreaking rape researcher, about the characteristics of male rapists (unfortunately, I am unaware of similar studies about female rapists): “more angry at women, more motivated by the need to dominate and control women, more impulsive and disinhibited in their behavior, more hyper-masculine in their beliefs and attitudes, less empathic and more antisocial.”
The lesson here for masculists should be simple.
If a man believes that he cannot care about other people’s emotions, because if he did he would be like a woman, and that would be the worst thing ever… if a man believes that he must have power over other people, especially women, because if he didn’t he would be like a woman, and that would be the worst thing ever… if a man believes he must reinforce his masculinity, because if he didn’t he would be like a woman, and that would be the worst thing ever… if a man believes he must be angry, must be impulsive, must be dominant, because if he didn’t he would be like a woman, and that would be the worst thing ever…
That man is more likely to rape people. Period.
In short, gender-policing causes rape. You want to end the rape of women? Work for men to have freedom from gender roles– even the limited freedom that women have right now.
Disrespect for Boundaries
Our culture is fucked right the fuck up about boundaries.
Let us consider a hug. Pat doesn’t like to be hugged for whatever reason– could be anything from childhood abuse to wanting to save physical contact for people Pat really likes to a simple distaste. Robin, on the other hand, is a very touchy-feely person and loves hugs. One day, Robin hugs Pat without permission. Pat freezes and very politely asks that Robin not hug her.
What’s the reaction we’re likely to hear?
“Why don’t you like hugs? Hugs are great! Everyone loves hugs! Come on, just hug me once and I promise I won’t make you again. You’re so weird that you don’t like hugs. Are you sure you aren’t just making this up? Come on, everyone likes hugs, don’t be so ridiculous.” Occasionally other people will get involved in the social pressure to hug.
We systematically disrespect people’s boundaries, and then we expect people to be assertive when they have boundaries in bed. We tell women they’re being mean, or crazy, or stuck-up, or angry, when they strongly assert who they do or do not want to touch their bodies, and then we expect them to yell and kick and scream and punch when someone is trying to touch them in a different way they don’t want. We expect women to care about other people’s feelings and their pride and be diplomatic instead of saying “DON’T FUCKING TOUCH ME,” and then we are surprised when women care about other people’s feelings and their pride and are diplomatic instead of punching the rapist in the face.
Men, we cut out the middleman just think they’re being mean or crazy or stuck-up or angry in sex and non-sex. You don’t want a perfectly attractive girl to give you a blowjob? What, are you a fag or something?
Rape Is Really Important, That’s Why We’re Ignoring It
But our culture does care about rape.
Most people, if you ask them, will say that they are against rape and look at you funny for asking the question. Rapists are incredibly evil scary monsters, you see. They jump out of bushes to hold young screaming women down and force them to have sex, and then the women are traumatized forever. They also probably have claws and pointy teeth and say MUAHAHAHAHAHAHA a lot.
Hell, even rape apologists agree rape is bad. They’ll just say things like “all these people who just had someone continue sex with them after they said no are taking attention away from real rape survivors!” who are, presumably, the people who had a rapist jump out of a bush at them.
Our culture hates rape– and that’s why so many people question rape survivors.
Because rapists aren’t incredibly evil scary monsters. A rapist could be your best friend, the guy who sat behind you in high school algebra, your parent, your sibling, your lover. A rapist can be the handsome football star; a rapist can be the beauty queen cheerleader. A rapist can be a feminist who says all the right things about anti-oppression and bodily autonomy. A rapist could be the lead singer of an indie rock band, an Oscar-winning filmmaker, an activist for free speech and transparency in government. The only thing that makes rapists different from ordinary people is that they rape people.
And that’s scary. Because if rapists are ordinary people, not monsters, it means that someone you know and like and respect can be a rapist. It means that you might even be a rapist!
So people try to minimize rape. Newspapers say “sexual intercourse” instead of “alleged rape” or feature rape stories in the Odd News. Judges at rape trials sometimes ban the use of the word “rape” as unfairly prejudicial. Survivors describe their rapist continuing sex with them after they say no as “gray rape” or “not really rape.” People a rape survivor discloses to say you must have enjoyed it or but you were leading him on or it wasn’t rape, it was just sex you regretted the next day or well, he’s a nice guy and you don’t want to ruin his life. Whoopi Goldberg claims that Roman Polanski raping a thirteen-year-old girl who was too drunk and high to consent and saying no as “not rape-rape” (no, I am STILL not over that). Police officers and prosecutors and judges and juries are disbelieving or unmotivated or victim-blaming.
Rape survivors’ behavior after the rape is policed. If they didn’t report it immediately because they were in shock, if they didn’t report it at all because they didn’t want to relive the experience, if they were in denial, if they have a happy sex life afterward, if they don’t seem traumatized enough, they’re not a “real” rape survivor, so we don’t have to face the fact that rapists are ordinary people, often people we like and admire.
And the vast majority of rapists– acquaintance rapists– rape again and again and again, and never get put in prison or suffer any consequences for their actions, as their victims suffer from trauma, PTSD, substance abuse, problems with intimacy, flashbacks…
This is the kind of thing that makes me want to quit the human race and become a squid. Squid never do this kind of shit.
Photo—Diversity hands from Shutterstock
About ozyfrantz
Firstly,removing the swears from your article would make it more engaging. Secondly if I were in the process of or was, one of us would be dead him/her or I. I enjoyed your article it is thought provoking and emotional. Generally I believe people (all of us) have it in us to become or turn into sickos, murdering torturing rapist crazy people and that it just takes a moment for something to make us snap and do these terrible things. I think its part of being human unfortunately, which is the scariest theory.
“Generally I believe people (all of us) have it in us to become or turn into sickos, murdering torturing rapist crazy people and that it just takes a moment for something to make us snap and do these terrible things. I think its part of being human unfortunately, which is the scariest theory.”
That’s probably true to an extent, but I think it is a mistake to use it as an explanation for the vast majority of rapes. That kind of makes it sound like raping behaviour just springs from nowhere like an unexpected hiccup.
Read about Lisak’s work, linked to above. It basically shows that rapists’ behaviour typically emerges out of a mess of misogynistic, misanthropic, anti-social and violent psychological traits. One might well ponder what has happened to the person to become such a person, but it is not the case that someone ‘just flips.’
Ozy
Thanks for this. As you’ve probably heard, in the UK this week we’ve been wrestling with a debate about a hideous case of a child rape gang, which is all wrapped up in issues of race and culture, so it’s politically very sensitive and very complex.
I’ve been trying to think through some of the issues and a lot of this was really helpful. In particular, the link to Thomas’s piece about Lisak (which I’d read ages ago but forgotten about) was a proper lightbulb moment. Many thanks.
“…which is all wrapped up in issues of race and culture, so it’s politically very sensitive and very complex.”
Ain’t that the truth! Sex and racism! What a combination, and not unique to the UK.
Interesting article – but badly informed.
(actually mostly America, because that is what I know stuff about). Thank heavens some have a global view. http://www.genderacrossborders.com
I have to wonder how does the case of Pitcairne Island fit into the generalisations?
So you looked at Wikipedia and saw a few links to South Africa? Sigh – Huh – oh haven’t we seen such poor writing before. Please Spare us!
Such a pity you didn’t look at the talk page – so you missed so many other places:
Pakistan,
Saudi Arabia,
India,
Palestine,
Turkey,
The Roma Diaspora in Europe(Ref Slovenia),
Peru,
Romania,
Afghanistan,
Singapore,
Kenya,
Rwanda,
etc,etc.etc….
Nice try – but next time learn about the global subject and look up a few references. Do some homework before the lectures!
Next time have a look at some sources that open up the issue and reality!
Why not have a look at the racial issues tied up with the issue? Have a look at Rape Culture and study the citations in detail. It does get fascinating just how much has been going on!
MediaHound, im not entirely sure what part of the article you are going on about?
Clarification please.
“(actually mostly America, because that is what I know stuff about)” … it sums it up.
“Corrective rape of gays and lesbians also occurs around the world, particularly in South Africa; however, in the modern West, support for corrective rape seems mostly limited to YouTube comments sections and the more vile sort of homophobe.”
Oh – only South Africa is it? … Jamaica – Ecuador – Kenya – Vietnam – Russia – Zimbabwe …. and those are just a few sources found with less than 60 seconds of googeling. I’m not sure I can be bothered to pull out all the Quality Sources from charities, NGOs, governments and the UN. They are less media friendly and soundbite – so why bother if people aint reading them.
Just because media coverage of South Africa is high does not mean it has a high or the highest prevalence or an epidemic. Having an infrastructure and laws that recognises rape – corrective rape allowing it to be recorded and logged is very different from living in a place where there is no such recognition, no such reporting and recording – and Fox/CNN etal aint bothering to look.
How many people know that when the UN general Assembly voted in 2008 -AG/RES. 2435 (XXXVIII-O/08) HUMAN RIGHTS, SEXUAL ORIENTATION, AND GENDER IDENTITY (Adopted at the fourth plenary session, held on June 3, 2008) very few objected. Those who did object have been playing politics ever since. You just have to check who voted yes – Who voted NO – and who abstained …. and then have a look at the Corrective Rape issues – and murder of none heterosexuals, to get a better world view. Now who were the two biggies who said no! Could the USA be one of them?
Sorry but some of us will get on with real world reality – and those who can only deal with reality that fits on an iPad can do as they please.
“This is the kind of thing that makes me want to quit the human race and become a squid. Squid never do this kind of shit.”
http://boingboing.net/2008/03/26/giant-squid-sex-viol.html
If you watch any animals having sex you realize pretty quickly that by feminist standards all animal sex is rape.
I’m pretty sure that a lot of animal sex is rape by more than just feminist standards. As in by the basic standard of “was there consent.” Not judging that one way other, because they’re animals – but still, commonly rape. Some, like (certain) ducks, have even evolved in ways that reduce the consequence of rape (for animals, pregnancy) – in that they are harder to impregnate if not a consenting partner.
Didn’t we already establish that rape culture is a ridiculous idea. Lets rehash.
1) Rape rates are correlated with robbery and murder.
2) The average rapist (person convicted of rape) is more likely to have committed other violent crimes like assault, burglery and theft and also more likely to have substance abuse problems (THEY ARE NOT NORMAL PEOPLE)
3) Rape rates increase up to 1994 and then decreased from 1994 to 2010. So somehow it must be the case that a culture was becoming more “rapey” up until 1994 and then less rapey from 1994 to 2010. And somehow the rape culture also correlates with the murder culture and the robbery culture.
My view is that a better explanation of these FACTS is that rape culture is not a good explanation of rape. Rape is a violent act like other violent acts and the people who commit it are not normal and are also likely to commit other violent acts.
This explains why South Africa which has an extremely high rape rate also has a high rate of other crimes like murder, theft etc. The feminist rape culture theory doesn’t explain in any way why the burglary rate or murder rate which include the murder/burglary of men should in any way be tied to the rape rate.
My explanation of rape as committed by a small number of individuals predisposed to violence is simpler and has much better agreement with evidence. It is better. The feminist explanation of rape as a pervasive culture is crap. That feminists keep flouting it shows me that they are more concerned with promoting their ideology than they are the truth. A real explanation of rape should make some attempt to match the empirical evidence on rapes and how they vary in time, space, across cultures etc. Feminists don’t even bother. Its pathetic.
I’m always struck by the views of SABINE SIELKE
I also welcome a very brief criticism that has massive implications:
From the Concise Encyclopaedia of Sociology – Page 493
Does rape culture explain all of reality? NO! – Does it model and illuminate issues around rape in a social context? Yes!
I do wish that some would stop attempting to model the whole Universe to fit a reality that wish to exist. It’s quite Antisocial. Monolithic thinking is like that.
When feminists try to count the number of rape victim they ignore police statistics, which is probably what you are looking at. Rather they looking at studies that ask women something to the effect of “have you ever been forced or coerced into sex?”
There are a surprising number of women who DO NOT report what happened, and a really surprising number of women who DO NOT call what happened to them “rape” even though they agree with statements that fit the definition of “rape”. If you read feminist blogs as often I do there is a disturbing number of real stories where a woman was raped, but either nobody believed her, nobody believed it was really “rape-rape”, and/or they advised her to never speak of it again. Yes feminists love anecdotal evidence too much, “Women’s Stories!”, but they do have some statistics.
From the Key findings section of the National Intimate partner and Sexual Violence Survey 2010, published by the Violence prevention division of the Center for Disease control: “Nearly 1 in 5 women (18.3%) and 1 in 71 men (1.4%) in the United States have been raped at some time in their lives, including completed forced penetration, attempted forced penetration, or alcohol/drug facilitated completed penetration.”
Often you’ll even see a 1 in 4 statistic for women, which comes from older, smaller surveys of a similar type. The Yes means Yes link will lead to a post that talks about a pair of studies that found that roughly 1 in 12 men have committed rape via similar methods.
http://yesmeansyesblog.wordpress.com/2009/11/12/meet-the-predators/
Not sure if you are aware or not but the 1 in 71 men being raped stat only includes men who were forcibly penetrated, not forced to penetrate someone. In those same stats (CDC ones I believe you refer to) in a 12 month period 1.1% of women were raped/attempted rape and 1.1% of men were forced to penetrate someone (envelopment) and 79.2% of those men report a female rapist. This makes rape for a 12 month period perpetrated 40% of the time by females.
Do you have any stats on how many women have commited rape or forced to penetrate/envelopment on a man? Someone posted stats a while ago that 10% of women reported gaining sex by coersion, not sure where those stats are.
My question: Is rape culture mainly against women or are men included too? In my hunt for statistics I’m seeing a scary picture, that rape and sexual abuse is fast growing towards parity between the genders, to me that either means the rate for women has dropped (unlikely from what I see) or the rate against men is increasing dramatically.
Basically from what I’ve seen of the stats posted, about 10% of men and women have coerced someone into sex. That is scary!
Thanks for writing this! Yes, I wish creation men would read my body language and get the hell away from me! Every time I go to a cocktail party, without fail, some guy will glom onto me and if it wasn’t for my female friends, he would be right up next to me like glue! I am a polite petite Asian woman so perhaps they think that I will be acting like a geisha or something…weird how some men are!
Tonight I will have a mini HS reunion with some old friends….one of the classmates crushed on me long ago and was leering at my ass last reunion…..This time, my friends have been warned and will protect me tonight! I told them to politely run interference….We’ll see what happens!
How about we include definitions like this?
Rape culture is Melissa McEwan speaking of rape as if women don’t rape.
Abuse culture is researchers and information outlets falsifying and misrepresenting data to cover up female perpetrated abuse.
False accusation culture is eroding the presumption of innocence for the accused and denying FA’s are a problem.
Is it rape culture or is it all a huge violence culture? I’ve always wondered if rape was separate or if it was part of a bigger culture glorifying violence?
Part of the failure to address alleged rape culture is discussions don’t include the reasons for rape. While discussing the contributing causes of rape is unpalatable, there are distinct reasons for it and one solution does not fit all. Rape in war, rape of children, rape of adolescents, rape of neighbours and relatives, prison rape are not the same event. They share the same criminally defined behaviour but I believe the motivations differ.
For there to be a rape culture, as I understand culture, there would need to be a subset of society that self-identifies as rapists, they would probably have normative food and clothing preferences, shared music tastes and their own jargon to identify to other members they “belonged” and outsiders, by definition, did not. They would have places they gather to mingle with like minded people and might even have agreed explanations for various stages of rape, there might even be classes of rape such as vanilla rape, exotic rape, kinky rape and there would be acknowledged leaders in the community with more experience with rape and thus have more respect from rape culture members. Would-be rapists would have some social process before they would be accepted by the culture as truly one of them.
Maybe it is just me but this doesn’t sound a lot like the behaviour of rapists. I think the word “culture” means something different than what you think it means.
To clarify the term rape culture doesn’t refer to a subset of individuals but rather a subset of beliefs. The idea that a man should have a large number of is fairly common and mainstream. Not everyone thinks that, but many men in the U.S. believe it to varying degrees. This motivates men to have sex with more and more women. A man desperate to validate himself via this belief would consider forcing or coercing a woman into bed. Admittedly there’s also a belief that a man who has sex with a lot of women like that is bad, however this is usually based on the idea that consensual sex is somehow harmful to women, supposedly making it almost as bad as rape; an idea that also contributes to “Rape culture”.
In summary, “Rape culture” is a set of mostly mainstream ideas that could lead to higher rates of forced and/or coerced sex. “Rape culture” is not unique to people who commit these acts, but rather the mainstream culture. This allows rapists to blend in fairly well.
“A man desperate to validate himself via this belief would consider forcing or coercing a woman into bed. Admittedly there’s also a belief that a man who has sex with a lot of women like that is bad, however this is usually based on the idea that consensual sex is somehow harmful to women, supposedly making it almost as bad as rape; an idea that also contributes to “Rape culture”.”
Isn’t this a bit contradictory? 2 forces against each other? So rape culture is about ideas that COULD lead to higher rates of forced and/or coerced sex, wouldn’t it be true that we live in a murder, violence, insert any bad thing culture as there are beliefs which COULD lead to higher rates of those? This is where I get confused, or is it just a catch term to describe the beliefs that increase risk?
Archy
I still find it fascinating that rape culture is so opaque to so many. The term is misused so freely it just causes havoc and people can’t see the wood for the trees – and even the Amazonian Rain Forest.
There is a focus on the trivial over the significant. An easy example of rape culture as it is a Microcosm is Pitcairn Island – but as it is so far away, buried in the depths of the south pacific and it does not have a Fox/CNN news room for sound bites it just gets missed. No frat house emails and you-tube snippets to scream about and attempt to make capitol on.
At the other extreme you have say India where Prof Upendra Baxi has produced literal legal argument as to why India, from top of government to the man of the street, is a Rape Culture.
As he has said:
… and for those in doubt, here is the US Flag Code – http://www.usflag.org/us.code36.html
See §176. Respect for flag.
PS – not sure about any formatting errors above – must have missed a backslash to close out the blockquote ending – “….Constitution and to appeal to co-citizens to do so.””.
If a mod can put in the backslash it should fix the error – cheers!
Yeah it’s a bit confusing atm, is rape culture meant to be mostly against women? What happens when the sexual of sexual abuse against men by women starts to reach parity or close to it (like it seems to be after latest cdc stats)? I see a culture that can celebrate violence but hate it against women, a culture that will laugh at men being beaten up, kicked in the balls but cry foul at harm against women which to me seems a bit conflicting with ideas I’ve seen of rape culture. I see victim blaming sometimes and other times you’ll damn near get your head taken off for even talking negatively about a rape victim, so which culture is the main one?
Isn’t it all part of a culture with quite a high level of violence, or is rape a special case? I’ve seen victim blaming for domestic abuse victims, victims of violence in all forms, etc. Why do I hear so much about rape culture yet next to nothing on the accepted culture of violence towards men? What makes the rape of women more important than the rape of men? Pretty much everything I see about rape culture is about women, now the dialogue to end the bullshit women face is good of course but if they’re interested in ending the culture wouldn’t it be best to tackle all forms with a lot of weight behind each group? Will they also tackle rape culture of prisoners?
Archy – I find it fascinating that when the Term Rape Culture first arrived, linked to what some call the theory of Rape Culture, whilst others insist its a concept – social model – socio-economic reality – well at the outset it was Gender Neutral.
I think the biggest issue has been the apocryphal label (or even libel) that the USA is a rape culture. It’s wondrous that the original thinker on that one still can’t be traced ( just as the actual Term had to be traced back to a 1975 Film) – but it seems to have become a supposed established fact since it appeared in the “Encyclopaedia Of Rape” 2004.
What I find fascinating is how Sielke argues that the USA is not a Rape Culture – but that rape is a significant cultural Trope due to history, racial history and many other matters. Evidently some just couldn’t read past the Buzz Word which got them all of a dither! There is so much more too!
It is odd how a suggestions that is debunked has been turned into a supposed mass fixed reality! That’s students for you – lazy with the research and bad on references! I have to wonder if some can read. It’s odd too that all the Other Pieces (some of most Dubious Origins) posts date Sielke indicting that her academic work has been misused and twisted.
I found this whilst researching Rape Culture in Zimbabwe ( In fact most of the African States in Sub Saharan Africa where rape is very real, and incidents occur at a rate of 1+ every 22 seconds.)
Gender neutral – covers all bases – leaves racial and cultural bias out of the mix … and does not mention frat houses, emails or imply any special privilege or precedence on national grounds to claim the wording and use it in ways that are antisocial.
It also avoids that “Monolithic Implication” that some seem to love that all women are oppressed by all men, which does allow individuals to prove by example that they are not Proto Rapists and they have no interest in raping women. As A G.A.Y. I’m glad that I’m off the hook at last! P^)
Simple test –
1) is sexual violence normalised?
2) are the victims of such violence oppressed?
3) are the perpetrators treated with impunity – can they get away with it?
1 – 2 – 3 Rape Culture! … and it’s odd how it does not mention Politics, Dogma, Stereotyping and Blame! It’s judged against criteria and not personal perception and even personal dogma.
It will never catch on though. Some just can’t handle the simple reality. They have a “Trope” to play with – have Trope will expand it beyond all bounds of reason and turn it into prejudice and oppression. It’s what was done with the Bible to justify slavery!
It seems we will all have to just learn to live with Rape Culture – be that Theory – Model – or oppressive Trope!
Mediahound,
Your analysis just doesn’t make sense to me. Let’s look at the parts:
1) Is sexual violence “normalized”?
No, of course not. Sexual violence is criminalized. Statistics on the high rates of sexual assault under certain conditions (e.g. the military, prison, college campuses), are hard hitting specifically BECAUSE sexual assault is not “normal.” If it were normal, the statistics would not have meaning, because we would expect it.
2) Are the victims of such violence oppressed?
No, the laws and media culture of the United States currently provide more protections for victims of sexual assault than any other crime. There are no similar “shield” laws that protect victims of non-sexual violence from cross examination, nor is there a media culture that will not publish the name and images of victims of other forms of violence: only sexual assault victims enjoy these extra protections.
3) Are the perpetrators treated with impunity?
No, obviously not. Look at the Duke Lacrosse case, or the story of Caleb Warner: in our society merely the allegation of sexual assault is enough to punish the offender, well before an actual trial has ever been held. The accused suffers media exposure, often has to post exorbitant bail, and is often suspended/expelled/fired from their school or job.
There simply is no “impunity” for the accused.
Since we don’t have 1, 2, or 3, it’s difficult to believe that “rape culture” is a real thing.
Mike
You are making the assumption that it is Either – Or!
It’s a spectrum form High to Low. I look at places such as Afghanistan/Pakistan/India/ Zimbabwe/Congo/Rwanda/South Africa where there is a High Rape Culture and compare it with places such as The USA/UK/Germany/France … in fact so many places where by comparison there is a Low Rape Culture.
Of course to some making that comparison means you have to be a Rape Denier/Victim Blamer/Victim Shamer ….. because Comparison is not allowed. Rape Is Rape Is Rape Is Rape.
So when someone has a high level of protection and their greatest fear is a Frat Email, I do wonder at how other people who actually are trapped in social situations where rape is a daily occurrence and they have to accept it out of fear of death …. well I do wonder at the comparisons.
I have said that there has been a Strange US centric bias around Rape Culture – that It has become cult like – and then I found a most interesting reference which showed just how that could be achieve.
Heather Mac Donald – John M. Olin Fellow at the Manhattan Institute – City Journal Winter 2008 Vol 1 – The Campus Rape Myth, The reality: bogus statistics, feminist victimology, and university-approved sex toys.
It’s a fascinating read and there are some fascinating observations and realities made clear.
Control Behaviour – Information – Thinking – Emotions – B.I.T.E. and you have a self referential and self fulfilling belief and behaviour system that is wide open to manipulation. Convince people in a low level Rape Culture that it is a High level One and you have a massive bias factor that just ends up looking bizzare.
It’s fascinating! I just figured out why there is that odd US Flavour – and Ms Mac Donald had the key.
Mediahound,
That doesn’t make any sense. The moment you move from a binary test to a spectrum, you have created an un-falsifiable hypothesis.
At that point it’s a tautology, it exists because you claim it exists, and where there’s no evidence of it, that’s only because it’s “low” as opposed to non-existent.
If this is going to be a meaningful term, it has to be falsifiable. We have to be able to say “It exists here, and does not exist there because of evidence X,” otherwise we can’t be sure it exists anywhere. The moment we posit that it exists, even in a “low” form, in the absence of evidence, then we’ve lost credibility.
Mike – you are preaching to the converted.
You have presented the argument which shows why Governments, The United Nations, NGO’s, Charities and Academics don’t use the term – and have avoided it since it was first created circa 1974. It only became trendy on Google with the advent of Slutwalk. – you just have to check the analytics. Oddly both are very much in decline. Link to Google Trends.
The term “Rape Culture” has just gotten in the way of dealing with the issues of rape, sexual violence, gender inequality, social and cultural barriers to equality, gender economic inequality …..
I find it fascinating that Prof. Pamela R. Fletcher – one of the main Proponents of the term and it’s usage says the following:
So there is knowledge that the term and it’s use is seen as an Oxymoron (Prof Of English) – that it is even seen as an over statement (Prof Of English) – and yet it then has to be “Contended” (Prof Of English) that the term has validity(Prof Of English) because it addresses a subset of the Patriarchy Model and addresses sexual violence. So “Rape Culture” is a spoke in the wheel of Patriarchy.
So is “Rape Culture” a Contentious Construct of two words, that in combination create an Oxymoron?
I do find the research used by Prof Fletcher to justify parity across Societies/Cultures fascinating. There has been the work of Kristof and WuDunn 2009 “Half the Sky: Turning Oppression Into Opportunity for Women Worldwide” which addressed the complexity of Social/Cultural issues that create gender disparity on a global scale. Religious, Financial, Environmental, as well as learned cultural/social norms.
Reviewers of this Instant Best Seller have said “‘Half the Sky’ is a call to arms, a call for help, a call for contributions, but also a call for volunteers. It asks us to open our eyes to this enormous humanitarian issue. It does so with exquisitely crafted prose and sensationally interesting material….I really do think this is one of the most important books I have ever reviewed.” Washington Post .
It’s interesting that Nicholas Kristof and his wife Sheryl WuDunn have won multiple Pulitzer prizes for their work covering such matters as Tiananmen Square – genocide in Sudan – Darfur. Nicholas Kristof is one of seven recipients of the 2011 Top American Leaders awards, bestowed by The Washington Post. The Pulitzer Prize Board have said, “Nick goes to the most unpleasant place and shines a spotlight on it.”.
Prof Fletcher is quite disparaging of this even criticising Kristoff and WuDunn for using the “Passive Voice”:
The fact that the authors do address the issue giving worked examples which cover over 294 pages just gets seen as Passive because they use standard language devices to first Introduce a subject and then explain it in detail afterwards. It’s called Good Writing… the sort of thing you get Pulitzer Prizes for.
Odd how pages 33-34 are picked up and used and the other 292 fail to get equal analysis and Critique.
Of course what Prof Fletcher wants is for anyone writing about issues to use certain terms – Patriarchy – Rape Culture – and link them together so that the spoke becomes the wheel.
It’s odd how the relationship of Patriarchy and History to Racism gets glossed over and ignored. The issues of commercial exploitation also gets ignored – in fact so much gets ignored just so the spoke is made central and the rest of the wheel ignored. Talk about “Re-Inventing” the wheel! … and some wonder why the term Rape Culture has so many issues with gaining traction.
I find it fascinating that some use the term Rape Culture and just dumb it down. The Slutwalk phenomenon has even been criticised by Women Of Color in the USA because of the racial differences that exist around the word Slut. Prof Fletcher’s Signature is not on that letter – odd given that it is reported that she is a woman of color. As a Prof of English she must have some form of opinion as to how the words Slut and Walk in combination can create new and novel language which can have unintended consequences and even meanings which marginalise others – just as the idea of as “Ho Stroll” is seen as negative and pejorative .
In India the name “Slutwalk” has been changed to ‘Shameless Protest’ – ‘Besharmi Morcha’ to respect the religious and cultural diversity, and that has been met with suspicion. Some are unhappy that the Brand “Slutwalk” has been diluted in other countries – A bit like taking Coke-a-Cola and calling it a different name because the word Coke means something different in a none english language, such as Excrement or Death – even “bite the wax tadpole” or “female horse stuffed with wax”.
It seems to me that there is a hidden issue with the term “Rape Culture” that so many using it are just missing. It has to do with Privilege.
It seems that it’s more about US centric W.A.S.P. culture and attitudes than Global Reality – about how some see the world from only their own points of view and ignore others. There is an issue with patriarchy and just how people absorb and internalise it – they collude unwittingly with it – in just the same way Prof Fletcher talks of Rape Culture – a subset of Patriarchy and is critical of people who just internalise patterns of behaviour and societal norms.
It’s fascinating to look at the translations of “Rape Culture” into other languages – in some such as French it even has Two Translations “la culture de viol” and “la banalisation du viol” – then you look at how they get used and it’s fascinating how it all links to places such as Congo – Liberia – and many places where French is the Lingua Franca due to the history of Colonial Rule.
I actually find it fascinating that Fletcher contrasts figures from the USA with figures for rape from Ghana, Nigeria and South Africa to prove that there is equality in rape globally. Those places have a Colonial History linked to British Colonialism and have English as a Lingua Franca.
If you step into yet more diverse cultures you have to deal with translations that are Culture of Shame – Culture of Disgrace. The brand “Rape Culture” also suffers with translation issues – though the translations tend to not be Oxymoronical and do deal with reality for the people living in those cultures.
It’s odd how she fails to address issues in other countries where the US research (Massively criticised as to how definitions of rape were used) has no parity or equivalent. What about Congo – Rwanda – Uganda in fact the whole of Central Africa where rape has become so common and used as a weapon of war and even recognised as Genocide.
Kristof and WuDunn don’t pull any punches in their coverage of such issues – and they make it clear just how Horrific the results are for the victims – family members – professionals such as doctors – and how it causes death to many – suicide by victims and family members alike. They are as determined in reporting in Pakistan as they are in Central Africa – in fact Globally – across borders – where ever a light needs to be shone.
How many of the US students who have been party to research were asked about their experiences of being gang raped to make sure they were impregnated so that they carried the child from a rival tribal – cultural group so that the woman’s own Tribal Group was wiped out? In many cultures Tribal allegiance is carried on the Male descendent line. Were the students asked if their religious affiliations were a factor in fear of rape – and even left them fearing for their lives if they should be raped? Were those same students asked about the risk of Village/Tribal/Religious elders having you publicly flogged to death for adultery as a 14 years old child?
Maybe some miss the stories which even when written in English don’t feature prominently on Google.com – but do show up on Google.co.in, Google.co.za, even .com.au, .ca, .ie and even .co.uk.
Odd how Prof Fletcher fails to address the graphic realities that get reported – but does critique well known writing devices which allow readers to gain understanding, insight and knowedlge.
I would strongly recommend “Shout Out: Women of Color Respond to Violence” by Maria Ochoa and Barbara K. Ige (7 Dec 2007). It’s informative and even shows how when you buy a pair of Nike Trainers (and even laugh at a Nike Advert with chainsaw killer and nude woman running away) you are adding to inequality in other parts of the world. The workers who stitch those seams all to often are subjected to Sexual abuse and predation in the name of Free Market economies and World Trade. Is that Rape Culture? Maybe the operation of oppression in Malaysia and other developing economies does not fit as a nice spoke in a wheel?
I note that Prof Fletcher has not seen fit to Critique that work.
It is interesting how just changing the color of the authors leads to lack of criticism from so many quarters – and also just how such voices get ignored – even when they write and use the term Rape Culture in it’s full global perspective.
Rape Culture as a model dealing with Human Sexuality – Sexual Violence – and Inequality does have some validity, but I am most concerned as to how it promotes racial intolerant, how the people using it fall party it Implicit racism and don’t address their own Privilege – and just how odd it is when a Prof Of English admits it’s an Oxymoron – Contentious – and causes gross misunderstanding and then stands by the term whilst being so critical of those who write from a position of actual real experience on the ground – and from having Global experience of Global reality.
There is so much more to those two words “Rape Culture” and how they keep getting used than people realise.
Well, a google search of “predictors female sexual aggression” would fix that as it reveals several studies about female sexual agression. Here are a few examples:
One from Germany: ht tp://www.psych.uni-potsdam.de/social/projects/files/womens-sex-aggression.pdf
Here’s a relevant chapter from a book about female sexual aggression: ht tp://books.google.no/books?id=EwWSXYqtmk4C&pg=PA77&hl=no&source=gbs_toc_r&cad=4#v=onepage&q&f=false
A 2004 study by P. B. Anderson found that 10.3% of women reported using force tactics to obtain sexual contact with a man: ht tp://www.ejhs.org/volume7/Anderson/text.html
There is also
Electronic Journal of Human Sexuality, Volume 5, October 23, 2002
http://www.ejhs.org
From Deviance to Normalcy: Women as Sexual Aggressors
Peter B. Anderson, Ph.D.
Dyan T. Melson, M.Ed.
http://www.ejhs.org/volume5/deviancetonormal.htm
I can think of a few cultures which could be said to have a genuine rape culture (and a genuine violence culture for that matter), but they’re all small and isolated/marginalised groups of people. Some examples would be:
-Pitcairn Island
-Any prison population anywhere
-Roman communities
-Irish travellers
No mainstream society I’m aware of fits the model of rape culture as it’s usually described. Nearly every human culture takes rape more seriously than any other crime and it’s rapists do not usually resemble regular citizens psychologically.
*Roma
Part of rape culture is me walking down the street in midtown on my way to work and having some skivvy guy passing by hoot at me: “Hello! I love you!” … I am so tired of comments like this (it happens everyday)…
What gives him the right to yell out weird comments at strange women? Does he think that attractive women walking on the streets on their way to work are prostitutes that are his for the hollering? I was thinking of getting his picture with my cellphone and posting to http://www.ihollaback.com but I was walking so fast and had to catch the train…
And, yes, he looked totally creepy…no resemblance to Viggo Mortenson or Michael Fassbender…!
That’s rude but it’s got nothing to do with rape.
So it’s a douchebag culture? Is it vastly different to other forms of someone being an asshole? Btw I don’t want to make it sound like that isn’t serious, because it does sound serious and quite bad, I’m just trying to figure out if it’s particularly unique enough to be a culture of rape or if it’s just part of our massive variety of cultures which do include assholes and other despicable people?
what the heck? ??
So let me see ” a loud mouth freak dog howls at you”
So your presumption is that he wanted to rape you! !!
Not only that but a group of so called adult educated women whom you agree with or a member of (feminists ) will turn these random instances into a whole deliberate general behavior of males throughout society plus come up with a term of rape culture to boot, ….???
Exactly way the general public think feminism is a demented over the top ideology.
That’s ex
Not defending the actions of that man in any way, but what the hell does his appearance have to do with it? Would it be ok if he looked like Viggo Mortensen or Michael Fassbender? Is the only reason for him being a part of rape culture him being unattractive (looking totally creepy without any resemblance to some attractive celebrities) in contrast to you being attractive (“Does he think that attractive women…”). Is his transgression in reality only that he hooted “Hello! I love you!” at someone out of his league. Because you seem to imply that had he looked like Mortensen or Fassbender then it wouldn’t be so creepy – wouldn’t be a part of rape culture?
Or do you believe that someone looking like Mortensen or Fassbender never would do such a thing?
Have to agree with this, it does sound like he’s simply an unattractive male. I’m sure other hollering exists but it doesn’t help to hear that some women view men as creep from their looks…
Um, Leia, that isn’t rape culture.
For me to believe this is to believe every woman who shouts “Hello handsome” with a leacherous leer is straight up raping me six ways to sunday on the spot without using her body or physical contact. If I were to term that rape culture, I’d be laughed off the face of the earth.
Oh, and men who look “Creepy” (I put those words in brackets because, frankly, that term is used to include even men who don’t look like a hobo yet one wrong facial expression or word and he’s labeled a devient pervert) aren’t rape culture either.
Seriously, we have enough problems with the term “Rape” being used in situations that have nothing to do with it. We don’t need another term brandied about either.
I think that it would be worthwhile to revisit this topic at a later time. There is a good outline in terms of identifying the manifestations of rape culture. But the swearing will turn a lot of people away from taking the argument seriously. The topic is infuriating…. so flipping infuriating, and it is good to work through the negative thoughts and emotions. The second time around, it will be easier to convey a more objective message that isn’t overtaken by the intensity of tending to a fresh wound.