Sunday, April 27, 2014

Rape Culture in America

By: Mekenzie Enloe



            Have you ever walked outside, especially at night, and felt uncomfortable and scared that someone might attack and rape you? If so, then you have been a victim of this tragedy in America called rape culture. This is the environment that we inhabit today; one in which rape is a commonplace and the media does nothing expect normalize it. As much as people like to say that it only affects a woman, that’s simply not true. The reality is that men are bothered by it, just not as prevalently.[1] It is more important than ever to recognize this disaster and change it.
            Rape culture is far from a new phenomenon. When early explorers came to the new world they created sexual imperialism and increased the prevalence of rape. Even documents such as the “Law of War and Peace” which said rape should not be permitted contradicted itself by later stating it was permitted in times of war.[2] Moving into the colonial era rape wasn’t much better. It was considered a crime only if the girl was under the age of 10, unmarried or engaged and even then the woman had to give witnesses to say she had not consented.[3] That pushes the blame to the victim, which often happens today as well. The Victorian era didn’t prove to be any better sexually as sexual commerce and the degrading of woman was at an all time high, especially amongst prostitutes. This was immensely due to the growing cities providing men anonymity as they acted out sexually.[4] This sexual dominance only escalated as time went on and in some areas, such as North Carolina, it was legal for a husband to rape his companion until the early 1990’s. Feminists and other groups worked diligently for years to change what defined rape and to change the rape culture, but progress was slow. It wasn’t until 2012 that the Federal Bureau of Investigation changed what defined aggressive rape.[5] History shows that rape culture has been around for years and has more importantly shown that much progress needs to be made in changing this.
            Modern culture says that it’s the woman’s fault for dressing inappropriately or for walking alone. It is one in which the girl is blamed for drinking too much and putting herself in a sketchy situation. Time magazine tells a story of a girl who was raped by her roommate’s boyfriend while in college and told she shouldn’t have been drinking or rather than asking about the perpetrator asked what the victim was wearing. Twenty percent of women have survived some type of sexual assault and approximately seventeen percent of men have been abused by the time they legally become an adult.[6] Why is society looking at this and standing there motionless?
            I am so tired of having to walk around in modest outfits, walk in groups and carry pepper spray anywhere I go because I am in danger! Society needs to pull out their own pepper spray and knock down the culprits. It is time that media stops writing songs normalizing rape and officials stop victim blaming. How do we change this? Simply, stop degrading women, speak out against this crime, be supportive of those suffering from this, and quit buying and watching media that gives in to and creates rape culture.[7] Learn from the history and change the future.



[1] Women's Center, "Rape Culture," Marshall University, http://www.marshall.edu/wcenter/sexual-assault/rape-culture/ (accessed April 27, 2014).
[2] Moore, Crystal, "Native American Sexuality & Sexual Violation in the Conquest of the Americas," Lecture, History of Sexuality, Charlotte, January 21, 2014.
[3] Moore, Crystal, "Sex in Colonial America, 1400-1800," Lecture, History of Sexuality, Charlotte, February 4, 2014.
[4] Moore, Crystal, "Sexual Commerce in Victorian America," Lecture, History of Sexuality, Charlotte, February 27, 2014.
[5] Eichelberger, Erika, "Men Defining Rape: A History," Mother Jones, http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2012/08/men-defining-rape-history (accessed April 27, 2014).
[6] Maxwell, Zerlina, "Rape Culture is Real," Time, March 27, 2014.
[7] Women's Center, "Rape Culture," Marshall University, http://www.marshall.edu/wcenter/sexual-assault/rape-culture/ (accessed April 27, 2014).

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