Rape culture

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Rape culture is a term or concept used to describe a culture in which rape and sexual violence are common and in which prevalent attitudes, norms, practices, and media normalize, excuse, tolerate, or even condone sexual violence. Examples of behaviors commonly associated with rape culture include victim blaming, sexual objectification, and trivializing rape. Rape culture has been used to model behaviour within social groups, including prison systems where prison rape is common and conflict areas where war rape is used as psychological warfare. Entire countries have also been alleged to be rape cultures.[1][2][3] Although the concept of rape culture is a generally accepted theory in feminist academia, disagreement still exists over what defines a rape culture and whether a given society should be considered a rape culture.

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[edit] Origins and usage

The exact date and context of the first use of the term 'rape culture' are uncertain; however, it is thought that it originated in the mid 1970s. Several different theories exist as to its origin, and it is possible that the phrase emerged separately but simultaneously.

A 1975 documentary film, Rape Culture, produced and directed by Margaret Lazarus and Renner Wunderlich for Cambridge Documentary Films, discussed prison rape in the context of a larger cultural normalization of rape.[4] In 2000, Lazarus stated that she believed the movie was the first use of the term.[5] Although the film discussed mainly male-on-male rape in prisons, modern use of the term is frequently in the context of violence against women.

The term appeared in women's studies and feminist theory around the same time as the documentary. The term is used in Rape: The First Sourcebook for Women, a book published by the New York Radical Feminists in 1974.[6]

In a 1992 paper in the Journal of Social Issues entitled "A Feminist Redefinition of Rape and Sexual Assault: Historical Foundations and Change," Patricia Donat and John D'Emilio suggested that the term originated as "rape-supportive culture"[7] in Susan Brownmiller's 1975 book Against Our Will: Men, Women, and Rape.

According to the Encyclopedia of Rape, "The term rape culture originated in the 1970s during the 2nd wave feminist movement and is often used by feminists to describe contemporary American culture as a whole."[8]

[edit] Slutwalk

Although it had been in academic usage since its inception, the term 'rape culture' was scarcely used in popular culture and the media until 2011. The Slutwalk movement is credited with popularizing the term via mass media reports about the protesters.[9] The rallies aim to raise awareness of rape culture - which they define as a culture where "sexual violence is both made to be invisible and inevitable"—and to end slut-shaming and victim blaming.[10][11]

[edit] Feminist theory

According to the rape culture theory, acts of sexism are commonly employed to validate and rationalize normative misogynistic practices. For instance, sexist jokes may be told to foster disrespect for women and an accompanying disregard for their well-being. An example would be a female rape victim being blamed for her being raped because of how she dressed or acted. In rape culture, sexualized violence towards women is regarded as a continuum in a society that regards women's bodies as sexually available by default.[12]

The root cause of rape culture is generally agreed to be the "domination and objectification of women".[13] However, academic theory holds that rape culture does not necessarily have a single cause, and causes may be localized based on other social aspects of culture.[14] For example, in South Africa the overriding "war culture" which emphasized masculinity and violence led to a culture in which rape was normalized.[13][11] A University of California Davis public document alleged that the enforcement of the following of social rules by women and the conditioning of gender roles were major causes.[15] In a study of date rape, gender-based miscommunications were held to be a major factor supporting a campus rape culture.[16] The general unwillingness of police and district attorneys to prosecute rapes where force was not involved or where the victim had some sort of relationship with the aggressor is also cited as a motivation for date rape and campus rape.[14] Rape culture is also closely related to slut-shaming and victim blaming, where rape victims are considered at fault for being raped, and it is argued that this connection is due to the presence of a culture that shames all female sexuality.[14] That some rapes are not reported to the police due to fear that they would not be believed is often cited as a symptom of a rape culture,[17][14] that they thought the police would not believe them is cited as a reason by 6% of women who did not report rape.[18]

Although much of its early use as a theory to explain the occurrence of rape and domestic violence was focused on the rape of women, rape culture has been described as detrimental to men as well as women. Some writers and speakers, such as Jackson Katz, Michael Kimmel, and Don McPherson, have said that it is intrinsically linked to gender roles that limit male self-expression and cause psychological harm to men.[19]

[edit] Prominent incidents and allegations of rape culture

[edit] United States

As the United States is a major of entertainment and culture, as well as the primary site of many feminism and anti-rape movements, many prominent examples of alleged rape culture have occurred there. Various commentators have also labeled the United States itself as a rape culture.[1][2][20]

In 2010, the webcomic Penny Arcade published a strip which featured a male rape victim in the setting of a video game. After complaints about the content of the strip, a follow-up apology strip was published which many bloggers alleged was offensive to and made light of rape victims.[21] This "dickwolves" controversy generated reactions even in mainstream media, particularly after Wil Wheaton made a statement opposing the actions of Penny Arcade's creators.[22][23]

In February 2011, seventeen United States veterans filed suit against the Pentagon and defense secretary Robert Gates and former secretary Donald Rumsfield, alleging that they allowed a culture in the military where rape was unevenly reported and punished. In several of the plaintiff's cases, the victim was forced to work with the accused rapist after reporting them for sexual assault. Unit commanders often have heavy influence over military rape cases, and less than one in five cases are prosecuted. [24][25] According to a 2011 Newsweek report, 1 in 5 females and 1 in 15 males in the United States military reported having been sexually assaulted by servicemembers.[26] (See also: Sexual assault in the United States military)

In March 2011, a group of 16 current and former Yale University students filed a Title IX complaint against the school with the US Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights, alleging that the administration did not respond decisively to misogyny on campus, such as Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity members chanting sexist slogans.[27] The fraternity was subsequently suspended for five years.[28] Academic studies have examined fraternity cultures at other universities and discussed their roles in the creation of rape culture.[29]

In March 2011, editorials on Salon.com and The Huffington Post criticised a New York Times article, saying that the article focused on victim-blaming on an eleven-year-old girl rather than the fact that she was raped. The article in question dealt with the November 2010 gang rape of the girl in Cleveland, Texas.[30][31]

In August and September 2011, Facebook faced criticism in the United States and the UK for refusing to remove pages that allegedly supported rape culture. Although the pages were legal per free speech laws in both area, those criticizing the site claimed the pages violated Facebook's own content policies, which prohibit hate speech.[32] A prominent petition to Facebook stated "Allowing such groups to congregate serves only to further normalise rape culture and the high instance of sexual violence that exists in society."[32]

[edit] South Africa

South Africa has been described as a rape culture, particularly after a 2009 study revealed that one in four men there admitted to have committed rape.[33] A number of different overlapping causes have been proposed for the culture; some commentators blame South Africa's patriarchal society and "rigidly defined masculinities" where rape can be seen as the only way for a man to prove himself, while others cite the aftereffects of apartheid.[33][34] In a 1990 book, Lloyd Vogelman claimed that the rape culture in South Africa was part of a larger "war culture".[13]

[edit] Criticisms and counterexamples

Some writers, such as Christina Hoff Sommers, have disputed the existence of rape culture, arguing that the common "one in four women will be raped in her lifetime" is based on a flawed study, but frequently cited because it leads to campus anti-rape groups receiving public funding. Sommers has also examined and criticized many other rape studies for their flawed methodology, and states "There are many researchers who study rape victimization, but their relatively low figures generate no headlines."[1] Other writers, such as bell hooks, have criticized the rape culture paradigm on the grounds that it ignores rape's place in an overarching "culture of violence".[35]

The Roman Polanski sexual abuse case has been considered both a case of rape culture and an argument against it. When Polanski was arrested in Zurich in 2009 on sexual abuse charges, more than 100 Hollywood figures signed a petition of support for the director.[36] A public and media backlash against those who supported him and believed his accomplishments should mitigate his action ensued, which some[who?] believe argues against the existence of a rape culture.[37][38][39] [40]

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c Sommers, Dr. Christina Hoff. Researching the "Rape Culture" of America. Accessed 4 March 2010.
  2. ^ a b Rozee, Patricia. "Resisting a Rape Culture". Rape Resistance. http://www.raperesistance.org/research/rape_culture.html. Retrieved 11 January 2012. 
  3. ^ Steffes, Micah (January 2008). "The American Rape Culture". High Plains Reader. http://hpr1.com/feature/article/the_rape_culture/. Retrieved 11 January 2012. 
  4. ^ "Rape Culture". Cambridge Documentary Films. http://www.cambridgedocumentaryfilms.org/rapeculture.html. Retrieved 8 January 2012. 
  5. ^ Lazarus, Margaret (15 Mar 2000 10:15:39). "Rape Culture". http://userpages.umbc.edu/~korenman/wmst/rapeculture2.html. Retrieved 8 January 2012. 
  6. ^ New York Radical Feminists (1974). Rape: The First Sourcebook for Women. New American Library. p. 105. 
  7. ^ Patricia Donat and John D'Emilio, "A Feminist Redefinition of Rape and Sexual Assault: Historical Foundations and Change", Journal of Social Issues, vol. 48, n. 1, 1992; published in Di Karen J. Maschke, "The legal response to violence against women", Routledge 1997, ISBN 978-0-8153-2519-2.
  8. ^ Smith, Merril D. (2004). Encyclopedia of Rape (1st ed.). Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press. p. 174. ISBN 0313326878. 
  9. ^ Gibson, Megan (12 August 2011). "Will SlutWalks Change the Meaning of the Word Slut?". TIME Magazine. http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,2088234-1,00.html. Retrieved 18 October 2011. 
  10. ^ "FAQ". Slutwalk NYC. http://slutwalknyc.com/FAQ. Retrieved 18 October 2011. 
  11. ^ a b "Slutwalk Joburg takes to the streets". Times LIVE. 23 September 2011. http://www.timeslive.co.za/local/2011/09/23/slutwalk-joburg-takes-to-the-streets. Retrieved 18 October 2011. 
  12. ^ Chris O'Sullivan, "Fraternities and the Rape Culture", in Transforming a Rape Culture, edited by Emilie Buchwald, Pamela R. Fletcher & Martha Roth, ISBN 0-915943-06-9
  13. ^ a b c Vogelman, L.. "Sexual Face of Violence: Rapists on Rape (abstract)". Raven Press Ltd (book); National Criminal Justice Reference Service (abstract). https://www.ncjrs.gov/App/Publications/abstract.aspx?ID=127046. Retrieved 18 October 2011. 
  14. ^ a b c d Herman, Dianne F. "The Rape Culture." Printed in Women: A Feminist Perspective (ed. Jo Freeman). Mcgraw Hill, 1994. Retrieved 18 October 2011.
  15. ^ "Defining a Rape Culture". University of California Davis. http://students.haverford.edu/masar/documents/RapeCulture.pdf. Retrieved 18 October 2011. 
  16. ^ Mills, Crystal S. and Granoff, Barbara J. (November 1992). "Date and acquaintance rape among a sample of college students (abstract)". Social Work 37 (6): 504–509. http://psycnet.apa.org/psycinfo/1993-21940-001. Retrieved 18 October 2011. 
  17. ^ Ketterling, Jean (23 September 2011). "Rape culture is real". The Xaverian Weekly (Canadian University Press). http://cupwire.ca/articles/47672. Retrieved 18 October 2011. 
  18. ^ Backman, Ronet (1988). "The factors related to rape reporting behavior and arrest: new evidence from the National Crime Victimization Survey". Criminal Justice and Behavior 25 (1): 8. 
  19. ^ Jackson Katz, "Tough Guise" videorecording, Media Education Foundation, 2002
  20. ^ Steffes, Micah (January 2008). "The American Rape Culture". High Plains Reader. http://hpr1.com/feature/article/the_rape_culture/. Retrieved 11 January 2012. 
  21. ^ "Shaker". "Rape Is Hilarious, Part 53 in an Ongoing Series". http://shakespearessister.blogspot.com/2010/08/rape-is-hilarious-part-53-in-ongoing.html. Retrieved 9 May 2011. 
  22. ^ Myers, Maddy (16 Aug 2010). Penny Arcade surprised to find that rape jokes offend people. The Boston Phoenix. Retrieved 5 March 2011.
  23. ^ Myers, Maddy (2 March 2011). Gaming, rape culture, and how I stopped reading Penny Arcade. The Boston Phoenix. Retrieved 5 March 2011.
  24. ^ Parker, Ashley (15 Feb. 2011). Lawsuit Says Military Is Rife With Sexual Abuse. New York Times. Retrieved 16 March 2011.
  25. ^ Hefling, Kimberly (16 Feb. 2011). U.S. Veterans Say Military is Mishandling Rape Case. The Day.
  26. ^ Ellison, Jesse (3 April 2011). "The Military's Secret Shame". Newsweek. http://www.newsweek.com/2011/04/03/the-military-s-secret-shame.html. Retrieved 11 April 2011. 
  27. ^ "Yale is Subject of Title IX Inquiry". New York Times. 31 March 2011. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/01/us/01yale.html. Retrieved 10 April 2011. 
  28. ^ Foderaro, Lisa (17 May 2011). "Yale Restricts a Fraternity for Five Years". New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/18/education/18yale.html?_r=1. 
  29. ^ Boswell, A. Ayres and Spade, Joan Z. (April 1996). "Fraternities and Collegiate Rape Culture: Why Are Some Fraternities More Dangerous Places for Women?". Gender and Society 10 (2): 133–147. JSTOR 189830. 
  30. ^ Williams, Mary Elizabeth (9 March 2011). The New York Times' sloppy, slanted child rape story. Salon.com. Retrieved on 16 March 2011.
  31. ^ DelVecchio, Marina (21 March 2011). "Rape Culture and How it Betrays Women". The Huffington Post. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/marina-delvecchio/post_1849_b_838788.html. 
  32. ^ a b Davies, Lizzy (30 September 2011). "Facebook refuses to take down rape joke pages". The Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2011/sep/30/facebook-refuses-pull-rape-jokepages?newsfeed=true. Retrieved 18 October 2011. 
  33. ^ a b Associated Press (9 July 2009). "Rape culture condemned in South Africa". http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31835572/ns/world_news-africa/t/rape-culture-condemned-south-africa. Retrieved 13 January 2012. 
  34. ^ "Tackling South Africa's rape culture". BBC News. 1 November 2007. https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:z0JBvLt3RAsJ:www.genderjustice.org.za/index.php/component/docman/doc_download/168-tackling-south-africas-rape-culture%3FItemid%3D153+&hl=en&gl=us&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESiGvP6UQvnx6XHV3c9SmP5wXaPAa1i1m2eAqM8zEhQSqdmRo1sgIafZiIET36PtioONkpXzEssMjCKW8U2gvJPpos8HysAxGRrxersG_pr8cE75adIac8eXEHmySuQp_JdJGMWF&sig=AHIEtbSZ7_0zdTc1eICVSTxSZJv0tTTOEA. Retrieved 13 January 2012. 
  35. ^ bell hooks, Feminist Theory: From Margin to Center, quoted in Feminism is for Everybody by bell hooks, ISBN 0-89608-628-3
  36. ^ "Naming Names: The ‘Free Roman Polanski’ Petition". Big Hollywood. 29 September 2009. http://bighollywood.breitbart.com/bighollywood/2009/09/29/naming-names-the-free-roman-polanski-petition/. Retrieved 10 January 2012. 
  37. ^ Weinberger, Jillian (18 May 2010). Roman Polanski, the Undetected Rapist? Ms. Magazine. Accessed 4 March 2011.
  38. ^ Hess, Amanda (28 Sept 2009). Common Roman Polanski Defenses Refuted. Washington City Paper. Accessed 4 March 2011.
  39. ^ Horn, John and Daunt, Tina (1 October 2009). "In Roman Polanski case, is it Hollywood vs. Middle America?". Los Angeles Times. http://articles.latimes.com/2009/oct/01/entertainment/et-polanski1. Retrieved 20 January 2012. 
  40. ^ Harris, Paul (3 October 2009). "Roman Polanski sex case arrest provokes backlash in Hollywood". The Observes. http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2009/oct/04/roman-polanski-sex-case-backlash. Retrieved 10 January 2012. 

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