The Myth of Rape Culture in America Essay -- Rape Culture Essays

Rape is as American as apple pie, says blogger Jessica Valenti. She and other feminists thread our society as a bodge culture where fierceness against women is almost invisible. According to feminists, films, magazines, fashion, books, music, and humor cooperate in conveying the message that women are there to be used, maltreated and exploited.(Kitchens, 2015)Rape culture, which was coined as a culture during the second wave of feminism during the early 1970s and was, according to the encyclopedia of rape, often used by feminists to describe contemporary American culture as a whole. Rape culture, by definition though, is a culture in which rape and other sexual violence (usually against women and gender diverse peoples ) are common and in which prevalent attitudes, norms, practices, and media condone, normalize, excuse, or encourage sexualized violence (qtd. in University Of Michigan Womens Center). At its earliest beginnings, rape culture was an epidemic without a name. However, today, in 21st century America, one must wonder, why is this even still an issue? Furthermore, one must by choice consider conscionable why rape culture only applies to women as victims of sexual violence instead of people of sexual violence. Men, for example, are not regarded as victims, ever. Apparently, men cannot be sexually assaulted. Rape culture allows for gender diverse peoples but theyre certainly not talking about men. Unless of course, those men just happen to dress as women and are raped because they are mistaken for women. But you see, therein another can of worms is opened, because it specifically relates to women and people who look homogeneous women. Sounds a bit ridiculous to me. I cant remember a time when rape was ever a parlor joke in... ...Time.com Web. 23 Nov 2015http//time.com/30545/its-time-to-end-rape-culture-hysteria/Morber, Jenny. What Science Says About Arousal During Rape. Popsci.com. Popular Science, n.d. Web. 16 Nov. 2015. http//www.popsci.com/sci ence/article/2013-05/science-arousal-during-rapeR., K. Prison Rape A Silent Epidemic. Torture and abuse 3.3 (2001) 16-18. PSJ. guard and Justice, 1 Oct. 2001. Web. 21 Nov. 2015.http//www.safetyandjustice.org/node/492United States of America. U.S. Department of Justice. National Institute of Justice and Centers For Disease Control & Prevention. Who Are the Victims? RAINN. RAINN, n.d. Web. 21 Nov. 2015http//www.rainn.org/get-information/statistics/sexual-assault-victims/Womens Center. Womens Center. The University of Michigan, n.d. Web. 16 Nov. 2015.