A very intriguing article based on ’the big lie of a rape culture’ by Wendy McElroy raised many questions. Many points were covered, but some views were optimistic when it came to rape, as a women saying that it will raise a lot of eyebrows and speculations.

So is rape culture a myth or does it actually exist?

What is rape culture? Its a 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 rape. Behaviours commonly associated with rape culture include blaming the victim, sexual objectification, and trivializing rape.

The media outcry of the Game of Thrones, in which their latest scene was depicting Jaime Lannister raping his sister Cersei, was indeed a disturbing scene and vile one to however the director who shot the act described it as bring non-consensual sex, an attitude that isn’t totally surprising in a society that’s already confused about what constitutes consent in the first place and that doesn’t always recognize sexual violence for what it is. not surprising he even said that. Its become such a norm and a taboo, that we overlook the hindsight of rape itself. The actor who plays Jaime, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau said “ …it’s just going to look like rape. The intention is that it’s not just that”

Words can be crucial especially if their is difference between someone saying no and you forcing yourself on them, then someone saying yes willingly and this is what eroticizes rape. Simple. for the viewers the perception is altered into what willingly goes into reality giving out the impression its okay to rape and when someone as big as media give the go ahead and portray it in this way, ordinary people begin to question themselves leaving them so damned confused.

Children don’t grow up learning about consent and it’s not a concept that’s deeply ingrained in our culture. This is already happening among our youth. A study of young women who have experienced some type of sexual violence found that most of them simply assume that sex is something that’s done to them. Its also found that rapists don’t necessarily believe they’ve done anything wrong because they simply feel entitled to women’s bodies.

The attitude in the culture plays a huge part in this, where they often overlooked, what the man has done simply says “boys will be boys”. Rape culture society blames the victim of sexual assault and normalises the male sexual violence. Its every where around us, giving the go ahead its including in jokes, TV, music, advertising, legal jargon, laws, words and imagery, that make violence against women and sexual coercion seem so normal that people believe that rape is inevitable therefore society think about the persistence of rape as just the way things are meant to be.

WAVAM did a recent study, and when looking at it no wonder we are grown up thinking in a certain way with a certain attitude. It defined rape culture in a certain way:

• The existence of “Keep Calm and Rape A Lot” t-shirts. They really, seriously exist.
• The media’s constant glossing-over of sexual assault with euphemistic language: “inappropriate behaviour,” “sexual misconduct,” and even plain old “having sex.”
• Facebook’s refusal to pull sadistically graphic images of violence against women (while deeming photos of breastfeeding moms to be objectionable)!
• A beauty website that calls toddlers “effing hot” – even the preschool set can’t escape objectification!
• A magazine editor’s blasé admission that “the women we feature in the magazine are ornamental” and “objectified.”
• Major news outlets waxing sympathetic about how two teen rapists’ “promising” lives will be destroyed by a youthful mistake, without once mentioning how the rape might affect the survivor.
• Kids who call losing a sports game “getting totally raped.”
• A pizza marketing campaign that makes a joke out of rape.
• A subculture of self-proclaimed “ratters” who hack into women’s computers and steal their photos.
• College women being instructed to vomit or urinate on demand to protect themselves against rape.
• 10,000 untested rape kits collecting dust on a shelf somewhere.

If you have things like this, the know the outcome, its not rocket science, with out excusing it or downplaying it. There are certain beliefs where people say rape is a crime and not a culture, but that concept also differs. The culture encourages which leads to the crime. many people and society today still say that rape cultures is just another blown-out-of-proportion feminist conspiracy theory and that feminists cook up to create hysteria, and to slander and demonize men with their misandric agendas, its a shame to the people who think is anyway true.

So who we are actually blaming in all of this? below are some common myths on why women are on the forefront:

• Women provoke rape by the way they act and dress, what do want us to do cover ourselves head to toe. No in fact, in world countries where women wear the veils and cover themselves up are just as likely to get raped as a women in a western country wearing a dress.
• Women who drink alcohol and use drugs are asking to be raped, last time I checked a women has equal rights to a man if she wants a drink
• If she didn’t fight back or scream, it wasn’t rape. How could they, victims in rape situations often become physically paralysed with terror or shock and are unable to move or fight.
• Womencry rape when they regret having sex or want revenge, for this one maybe they do. After all a women’s mind can be manipulate, but it doesn’t mean all are on the same boat

There are so many other excuses towards the women, we tend to blame everything except society. Fact is the culture exists its undeniable, and its in every corner, from China, to India, the U.S Europe and wherever the human species are inhabited and it’s on the increase because the truth is we’re (unintentionally I may say so) supporting rape culture. Take the foundations away from this support and lets see what happens.

In order to end this movement and bring a change there are three primary aspects need changing:

Gender norms, Traditional gender roles and norms sustain inequality, and rape culture thrives on inequality

Language and Accessibility. We can’t just preach to the choir, some people have never even heard of rape culture. Its about education, and where third world countries lack this they increase in the latter.

Criminal Justice System, I have to say being born the U.K and living here I am deeply ashamed with the justice system in this county, making it a cruel joke. The system consistently fails survivors and victims. Only 6% of reported rapes result in a conviction on a charge of rape (figures from the Department of Health).

So basically, rape culture is not a myth because it does exist in many forms all around us, with many denying it and brushing it under the carpet, unfortunately, out of fear of speaking out, classing it as a norm and making it acceptable because its not your problem. However deep rooted issues are why these feminists’ movement was created, that is why we keep talking about it because the problem extends beyond the crimes themselves and doing nothing hand on lap will simply let the culture thrive.

Published article by Maria’m AS (editor Truth revoloution)