what is "rape culture"?

Sorry to put a buzz on your Valentine's Day high, but I'm still thinking a lot about the recent gang rape of South African teenager Anene Booyson. Even on Valentine's Day, in this country, a woman is sexually assaulted every two minutes. In South Africa, a woman is raped every four minutes. (In the war zones like the Congo, it's more like every minute. Needless to say, there is a rape going on, somewhere in the world, as you read this sentence). And now that I've had some time to think about it, I think that one of the best things that we can do, as individuals throughout our normal days, is to combat rape culture.

But before we dive into ways to combat it, it's important to understand what rape culture really is. So, without further ado, welcome to a series of posts about the subject.

Part I

What is "rape culture"?

There is a culture of rape around the world, and America is not excluded. Throughout my next few posts, I'll be exploring what this means and a few quick, simple ways to combat it, and I'm really hoping for some comments.

This first post is about defining rape culture and the serious effects it has on women.

The idea of "rape culture" refers to an environment in which rape not only exists, but is prevalent and normalized through the media and culture in general. Things like misogynistic language ("you hit like a girl"), glamorized sexual violence (check out just a few examples here) and objectification of women's bodies create a culture that makes sexual violence seem a bit more normal, which makes for a society that doesn't take women's right and safety seriously.

This affects all women, not just the ones who live in unsafe areas or frequent drunken parties. The rape of just a few women means degradation, fear, and certain limitations on all women. Most women in America limit their behavior because of the simple existence of rape - how many female readers have never felt the need to walk home with friends late at night, or been slightly frightened by a man's action, or even the way he looks at you? Most men do not feel the need to take the precautions against rape that women take, which is how a rape culture puts women in a subordinate position to men. This is true despite the face that many men are not rapists, and many women will never experience rape. The degradation, fear, and limitation exist for all women regardless of whether or not they themselves have been a victim of a sexual attack.



There are very obvious steps for men and women to take, such as not using words that refer to women to degrade others, such as referring to a weak man as a "pussy." I don't think that I can advocate that we all just be nice to each other, so if you really need to call out someone as weak, find a different word. ("Wimp," or just, "weakling," maybe?) However, even putting pressure on men to be "strong" can propagate a rape culture, as one way for men to prove their strength is rape. So maybe we should be nicer to each other, or at the very least work against gendered expectations.

The list of action items is pretty much endless, and I'll be exploring it more in future posts. For now, I'm sure that every woman can come up with quick examples of frequent action in our society that helps support a rape culture, such as advertising, the fear of rape, or expectations that men be sexually aggressive. What are some things that you see as adding to it? How can we work against it? What limitations do you put on yourself because of the fear of a possible rape? I have to walk about half a mile between my home and the bus I take to get to work, and at night I walk with my hand around my pepper spray in my pocket, something I have never heard of a man doing. Who has similar stories to share? The more we discuss America's rape culture, the more we can work against it.