Rape Culture

Rape culture can be defined as, ‘a complex set of beliefs that encourage male sexual aggression and supports violence against women.  It is a society where violence is seen as sexy and sexuality as violent.  In a rape culture, women perceive a continuum of threatened violence that ranges from sexual remarks to sexual touching to rape itself.  A rape culture condones physical and emotional terrorism against women as the norm’. 

Rape culture can be seen in many, if not all, areas of social life, including the media, education, the workplace, and the law, as well as amongst peers, colleagues, family members and people in positions of authority.  Rather than seeing the culture of rape as a problem that can be changed, people within rape culture continue to view the persistent existence of rape as the way things are and as something that cannot be altered.  Therefore, by continuing to allow society to portray sexual violence, harassment, abuse and rape as acceptable, we, as logical and intellectual individuals, are casting a vote for the type of society we wish to live in.  Unfortunately, this leads to the perpetuation of rape culture and rape myths / misconceptions.

One of the most recent controversial examples of rape culture was Robin Thicke’s chart topping song ‘Blurred Lines’.  Many people questioned what the problems with this single were.  Well, to start off with, the title. Some people would argue that there's nothing sinister about the title - it is just a name, given to a song. Some would suggest there is a blurred line between consensual sex and rape. I support the latter. It is a man suggesting that there are blurred lines when it comes to sexual consent and that is unacceptable.

‘Ironic’ or intended, the song promotes negative attitudes towards consent. It implies that ‘no’ does not always mean ‘no’ because Thicke ‘knows you want it’. If the lyrics are a metaphor for some sexual fantasy, then it leads to the normalisation of ideas that can be damaging for both sexes. Although, to be perfectly honest, I don't see how ‘giving you something big enough to tear your ass in two’ could potentially be seen as promoting safe and consensual sexual relationships.

How could Robin Thicke say in an interview with GQ Magazine that he wanted the song to be fun, but ‘degrade women as much as possible’? Is it that many people failed to realise the meaning behind the song because they were hypnotised by three pairs of breasts? Or does this just prove how commonplace the degradation of women in our society is - so common that we don't recognise or complain when the artist goes out of his way to offend as much as possible? What perplexes me further is this: why was the intention of Blurred Lines to degrade women? Thicke defended his actions, stating that ‘it is a pleasure to degrade a woman. I've never gotten to do that before. I've always respected women’. Yes. Men who respect women are the perfect people to degrade them. 

Thus, Blurred Lines, despite what its catchy melody and bouncy rhythm might lead us to believe, endorses rape culture and this is why I do not support Robin Thicke’s argument that he is ‘the perfect guy to make fun of this’.  (What makes him so perfect?)

This instance of rape culture was further demonstrated at the 2013 MTV VMAs.  Miley Cyrus' performance led to people labelling her with morally questionable terms. However, Thicke's performance of Blurred Lines was dismissed, in spite of the lyrics being construed to perpetuate victim blaming, leaving victims of sexual abuse feeling powerless, demonstrating the media's ability to normalise sexism through the androcentric institution of pop culture. Sociologists such as Dworkin and Morgan support this, proposing that the consumption of sexually explicit content across all media forms is harmful in encouraging negative attitudes towards women. 

Unfortunately, this is not the sole case of the maintenance of rape culture.  Whilst rape culture, at first glance, may appear more predominant in mainstream media outlets, it is something that has infiltrated our everyday lives.  Our use of language is inherently a way in which patriarchal values and myths about rape are condoned and disseminated.     Questions like ‘wouldn’t it be funny if a woman was gang raped?’ or, ‘morning sex is great, except if you’re in prison’ are some of the more common examples.  This language is now entering our schools, whereby students now claim to have been ‘raped’ by the difficulty of an exam.  In the semi-finals of the 2014 World Cup, Germany was reported as having ‘raped’ Brazil by their 7-1 defeat.

None of these examples are funny.  They are offensive, insulting and, quite frankly, show the ignorance of many people to the vast array of problems surrounding the issue of rape. Rape jokes are aggressive and violent, and reinforce rape culture in both the most observable and subliminal manners.

It is far from appropriate to say that these examples are jokes.  They are a continual reminder and threat that women (and men) could be raped at any time.  Just because we have freedom of speech in this country does not automatically mean that we should be able to make jokes out of people and the tragic situations they have fallen victim to.  Just because the statement was phrased in a comical manner does not mean that that it is right. 

While we’re on the subject of how things are phrased, we can take a moment to consider other terms rather than using the word ‘rape’, all of which demonstrate how powerful the use of language is.  In addition, how destructive and damaging it can be: Rape – noun defilement; a forced sexual assault; molestation, invasion, aggression.  Or as a verb, let have it, invade, trash.  How can anything such as this be phrased in a comical manner when directed at a woman’s body?

The worst part about this vicious use of language?  The consequences.  Many of the victims of sexual assault and rape are left with psychological and physical scars, which can often present in damaging behaviours, such as substance abuse, and, in more extreme circumstances, suicide can be the only way out of the torment they suffer.  Around 33 percent of people who have been raped have suicidal thoughts and around 13 percent of rape victims will try to commit suicide*.  Joking about rape and sexual assault simply marginalises the victim further. 

This is exactly the problem with rape culture.  It is not acceptable.  It is degrading, humiliating and perpetuates the patriarchal notion of the lesser value of women in society.

*According to a suicide.org study