What is this 'Rape Culture'?

2013-03-24T13:59:12+00:00

Its cultural beliefs and myths that are thought to make rape more likely to happen or keep it invisible.

These are examples of what they would say are rape culture

Muslim clerics teaching that women that do x,y and z are asking to be raped.

People laughing about prison rape as if its just a normal part of the punishment.

A Cambodian boy who believes that rape is more acceptable than masturbating.

Feminists covering up rape of men, women and children by women. (feminists wouldn't include this one, some animals are more equal).

Depicting all rape as violent stranger rape.

Women are gatekeepers, men are they that must get around the gate.

Women being socialized to be less likely to assert their sexual preferences, men being socialized to be sexually assertive.

Shaming women for being sluts while shaming men for not being sexually successful.

And there are some really, really disgusting interpretations of it from the 2nd wave.

edit - look at this thread, mra's just make it up as they go along when it comes to "rape culture", such a waste of energy burning strawmen.

tanalilt · 2013-03-24T22:58:17+00:00

I believe rape culture, since there is no specific definition, to be the views held by the majority of people ( or even a vocal minority, as I don't have any numbers ) that lead to the idea of rape being in any way acceptable. This includes, but is not limited to, the defending of rapist based on their other achievements, stating that rape can only be male on female and ignoring all other types, making excuses for rapists based on factors of the victim other than whether they gave consent or not (she wore a short skirt; he had a boner, so I took advantage of it, etc), and many other things that make rape seem in any way acceptable.

xtraDz · 2013-03-24T16:03:23+00:00

I felt the same way when I first tried to understand the theory of rape culture.

One aspect of rape culture is academic. It's a theory feminists expound in academic papers, journals, womens' studies classes and the like. Often these discussions make things seem more complicated than they really are.

In western countries, rape culture is a criticism or an expression of frustration with the difficult fact patterns that can arise from rape investigations. In most cases of rape, the victim and the accused are acquainted, not strangers. If the accused asserts that the sex was actually consenual, then it's a case of he said-she said (espcially in the absence of good phsyical evidence or statments by the accused). The burden of proof is on the victim. Alcohol consumption can diminish the victim's credibility, and that makes the case more difficult to prosecute. Rape culture theorists may cite this as an example of "victim blaming", but how is an objective investigator or juror supposed to know what really happened?

Other arguments for rape culture theory seem more academic than substantive and relate to patriarchy, pornography, etc..

JamesRyder · 2013-03-24T19:04:50+00:00

Really it's just a theory, so at the very least they can start calling it "rape culture theory", which I always do.

The main issue is with how rape is defined, which in most countries is forced penetration of a vagina by a penis. Some expand this to penetration of a vagina or anus by an object, or other orifice.

However, the law does not accept forced envelopment of a penis by a vagina as rape. This essentially just leaves male on male and (sometimes, but not always) female on male rape. Since homosexual men and lesbians are a tiny proportion of the population, male on male and female on male rape is far more unlikely to occur. The CDC report actually shows incidents of forced envelopment and the number is comparable to force penetration.

So you don't understand rape culture because it's mostly an obfuscation of the real issue and doesn't make sense, so I don't blame you. Overall violent crime is at a historical low in western countries, and rape is the least common violent crime. For every rape there are at least 10 people who are violently beaten and the vast majority of those are men.

In Canada for example the homicide rate is actually comparable to the rape incidence (1.6 per 100,000 per year vs 1.9). Assaults happen at a rate of 10x that of sexual assault, and out of sexual assault < 10% are rapes (I think it's 2%).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rape_statistics

Also 40 out of 100,000 accidentally kill themselves each year, mostly due to falls and self harming. This isn't amongst old people either, this is for the 17-41 age group.

http://www.nsc.org/Pages/AccidentalDeathsIncreasingatAlarmingRate.aspx

http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/datablog/2011/oct/28/mortality-statistics-causes-death-england-wales-2010#zoomed-picture

NB: This assumes one does not buy into the myth that rape is worse than death (it isn't, it really does not even compare). This doesn't count the people that don't die but are rather permanently disabled by an accident, or people who are accidentally killed by others, or people that kill themselves. These numbers dwarf the rape incidence by at least an order of magnitude.

TL:DR - of all the really shit things that could happen to you, rape is one of the most unlikely and far from the worst.

2013-03-24T17:05:30+00:00

"Gray rape can be a problematic term — some people use it as a label for rape that they don't consider "real" or "as bad as real" rape. That is totally bogus. I use the term here to mean the kind of encounter that people sometimes have where consent is not given but it is assumed; it's a term used to describe "nonstandard" sexual assault and, in some ways, it is a weasel term to cover the conflict we feel about consent. Because that is the kind of thing that happens all the time in our culture. Our rape culture. And it's the kind of thing that leaves women (not just women) uncomfortable and unsure, both about their own experiences and when they are watching something like the scene between Adam and Natalia."

http://www.vulture.com/2013/03/on-girls-adam-rape-and-consent.html

The whole Girls controversy is a very good lens into how these people see sex.

themountaingoat · 2013-03-24T18:38:36+00:00

It's basically a feminist lie used to blame all men for the fact that some men rape. They say that society and men support rape despite the fact that rape is one of the most reviled and harshly punished crimes.

johntheother · 2013-03-24T20:59:03+00:00

Rape culture is a narrative. It is also the direct descendant of the 2nd wave feminist talking point "all men are rapists" repackaged to pass the bullshit detector.

rightsbot · 2013-03-24T12:28:17+00:00

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memymineown · 2013-03-24T13:05:28+00:00

It is a new, more subtle, way to blame all men for rape and an attempt for feminists to regain their quickly fading relevance.

I personally believe it is a combination of feminist victimhood and coldly calculating how to best drum up support.

2013-03-24T19:13:52+00:00

The term is rooted in willful linguistic obfuscation. When people hear "Rape culture", they think of some invisible, almost incomprehensible cultural menace infecting every facet of our lives.

Now go up to someone and say we live in a culture of rape. Suddenly, the assertion becomes much more dubious.

Rape culture is based around the premises that society as a majority holds opinions that makes rape more ubiqitous and less of a 'crime' in the minds of the populace, that rape is rampant, and that.

Take for example the Steubenville coverage. Media outlets are getting castigated for the crime of humanizing teenage rapists. Clearly this is evidence of rape culture.

In an alternate reality where they portrayed them as wanton monsters, this just reinforces rape culture because it portrays rapists not being every day people.

If they focused on the victim, they are exploiting the victim and thus reinforcing rape culture.

If they focused on the facts solely and being as objective as possible, they are sweeping the horrible crime these boys committed under the rug, and thus reinforce rape culture.

You can't win. Anything that can remotely be linked to the perpetuation of a rape culture is proof of said rape culture. I have been arguing with Bible-thumping, witch-fearing evangelicals who speak in tongues, and they use very, very similar tactics. There's a reason people assert that feminism is a religion.

2013-03-25T13:59:16+00:00

Rape Culture refers to our society's acceptance and approval of the rape of male inmates.

It has nothing to do with women except in how they promote and propagate it.

Deansdale · 2013-03-24T19:40:43+00:00

I just need someone to clearly explain if this is actually a thing or a scare tactic.

Scare tactic, feminist nonsense. Ironically they themselves perpetuate rape more than anyone else in the western world.

stopsayingfaggot · 2013-03-25T05:42:56+00:00

Wikipedia has a pretty good definition:

Rape culture is 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.

Some interesting examples and illustrations here, here, and here.

ThatCynicalCynicism · 2013-03-24T12:53:10+00:00

Rape culture is nonsense. It's basically a Feminist doctrine which claims that the crime of rape is somehow accepted or ignored in our society to the detriment of women. Of course, a cursory look at our society will tell you that this isn't the case. Rape is reported all the time, both to the police by victims, and within the media to the general public. It's also worth noting that female victims are generally the ones given media exposure, with male victims often being ignored. Especially if there's a case of a woman raping a man, or forcing herself upon him in some way.

Essentially, Feminists use the fact that rape is predominantly a male on female crime to bolster their narrative of men oppressing women. To them, the crime has to be linked to male power in order for their propaganda to hit the right emotional buttons, and society is generally very sensitive about rape as an issue to begin with. of course, it needs to be said that rape is a very serious crime, and the fact that it's almost universally shunned in our society won't be of much condolence to victims (regardless of gender), however to say it's accepted in some way, is ostensibly factually inaccurate. Unless one wants to cherry pick, and Feminists often do.

Title	What is this 'Rape Culture'?
Author	FatManBeatYou
Upvotes	20
Comments	30
Date	March 24, 2013 12:26 PM UTC (13 years ago)
Subreddit	Posted in /r/MensRights
Original Link	https://old.reddit.com/r/mensrights/comments/1awsdh/what-is-this-rape-culture/
Archive Link	https://theredarchive.com/r/MensRights/what-is-this-rape-culture.1608951 https://theredarchive.com/post/1608951

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