Picture this, in March of 2014 in my music class, an example of rape culture went completely unnoticed. This reporter, 13 years-old, sat in the chaos of a day with a substitute teacher. She tried to get the boys to quiet down, but they got louder. A boy in the class yelled, “Shut up you skank!” Then the girl realised there are more negative “sexual slurs” for women that are rarely true about them, and rape culture goes unnoticed everyday. As it turns out this story is one of many.

Many don’t know what rape culture is or that it even exists! To clear things up, Marshall University says “Rape Culture is an environment in which rape is prevalent and in which sexual violence against women is normalized and excused in the media and popular culture.” However, some may think of it as “thuggery” but it’s not. The “nicest” guy you know could be promoting this culture without knowing about it. You may read this and think to yourself this doesn’t affect me. Rape culture affects EVERYBODY. Middle school student Jaelyn K. says, “It endangers me and my friends. If my friends get raped then it may affect how they act.” Even at a young age women are concerned about their safety.

Here are a few examples that you probably see often but don’t know how to describe it: 1. MANY rude and sexual names for women, 2.Blaming rape victims not rapists, lastly, how we teach our children about rape. American rape culture is like segregation because it makes people feel less about themselves.

If you walked down the halls at a middle school or high school you would hear names such as, “w****”, “skank “, or “s***.” All of these names make women feel less about themselves and these terms are rarely correct. But then what negative names do you hear about men? “Wimp”. Like the rude names that people decide to give to women, they usually aren’t true, but the names that hurt men and boys attack their masculinity. Slut shaming is so common that people are blind to it. If a girl wears a revealing outfit, she is automatically trashy by most people’s standards.

In America, people almost ALWAYS blame the victims. People say things like, “Her clothes provoked me.” If a lesbian can be in a girls locker room with many girls changing, then rapists should be able to control themselves when women are wearing clothes. Also people say “She/ he asked for it. She/ he was drunk.” If she doesn’t say yes, then a man should respect that, not take advantage of her state. If a woman reports a sexual assault years after it happened, people automatically think she is making it up. This is an example of trivializing victims.
Parents in America, teach their kids about rape in an unfair way. We teach “Don’t get raped”, not  “Don’t rape”. Adults will even have the guts to say “Boys will be boys”.This shows that rapists think that their actions are dismissed and normal. This proves that saying “I have a boyfriend” is more effective than saying “no”? Girls are taught at a young age that they need to change the way they dress, to accommodate the intentions of rapists.
Men can also be raped but adults don’t want to talk about that because by typical American standards only weak men get raped. Rape culture is also unfair to men too. One might be surprised to find, “Only about 2% of rapists will ever serve a day in prison.” So how do we make this horrible culture change its ways? There are ways you can help.

There are steps people can take; parents should talk about rape culture and how their children can change it. Something you can do to help this topic is post about it on social media if the real media doesn’t talk about it. You can become Rosa Parks. When someone tells a rape joke don’t laugh; instead tell them it’s not funny. If you’re a shy person instead of standing up to someone making a “joke”, try not to use negative sexual slurs. Encourage the school board to incorporate this topic in health class or English. If this topic is talked about in school children will realize that they need to change social scenarios that make girls and women feel less about themselves. With small changes like this the community will be a more comfortable place. Rape culture is as American as apple pie and baseball.

Bibliography

     "Rape Culture." Womens Center. Marshall University, n.d. Web. 12 Feb. 2015.

     "Reporting Rates." Reporting Rates | RAINN | Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network. Department of Justice, Felony Defendents in Large Urban Counties, 2009. Web. 12 Feb. 2015.