Discrimination Against Males and Rape

Discrimination Against Males and Rape

There are always two sides to a rape story: the male’s version and the female’s version. However, the female’s side of the story is always dominant. Males are often ostracized in society after experiencing false accusations of rape it may be more shattering than the embarrassment and social ostracization women who have been raped. Our society today should definitely redefine what rape is because many women make false accusations out of personal reasoning. The physical act of rape is when a woman chooses not to have sexual intercourse with a specific man but he chooses to proceed against her will. There are several problems associated with rape, including, but not limited to women falsely accusing men of rape because they think that it is okay to compensate their feelings of guilt or shame, the belief of men being aggressive, or when they are under the influence of drugs or alcohol. Men should have the freedom of walking down the street at night without being a victim of false accusations just because of their gender. Women takes advantage of their power when it comes to campus rape which can be connected to Judith Butler and Camille Paglia’s approach to gender differences.
There are many great men out in this world. Not every male is going to rape a female. Men are widely accused of rape because of many women selfish excuses. This is a solid example of gender discrimination. However, just because a man looks like a man does not mean he will rape you. Feminist philosopher, Judith Butler believes “gender is performative (Butler, Interview,” which means that one takes on a role and acts a certain way. Just because he is a male does not necessarily means he will perform all of the deeds of a male. All men are brought up differently and there a many men that adore their mother so they would never engage in such act. The influence their mother has on them plays a huge role on how male’s perceive a woman. The gender of a person is not always limited to just male or female but a degree of each. Hence, gender is just the socially constructed roles, activities, behaviors, and attributes between men and women initiated by society. It is related to how society sees, perceives and thinks of us. However, “sex” on the other hand refers to biological and physiological characteristics that define humans as female and male. The same way that gender is misunderstood in society it is the same way men are victimized when it comes to being rapist. Butler believes that people should have the freedom to be whatever sex they choose to be and not be discriminated.
Well known philosopher Immanuel Kant take on freedom as not having a forced law, but by laws that are in some logic of one 's own making determined through the operation of natural laws, such as those of biology or psychology cannot do. With that being said Kant’s opinion intertwines with Butler’s notion of gender. This is so because both authors believes that a female might have the physiology of a female but if she chooses to walk, talk, and act like a male it is her own free will. It is through freedom, which individuals base their decisions on the power of the will guided by the reasoning behind it. Kant believes as long as it can be a universal law then it is morally correct. Her actions then express her own will and not the will of someone or something else. Controversies have it that being gay or being a lesbian is genetically linked so it is natural in its operation. The rules of morality must be effective for all humans, regardless of their cultural background or social rank. Moral principles should be considered as obligatory for all logical beings. Meaning, it should not be up to society it is up to that person to do their duty. Especially, for a democratic society since everyone is equal it should not be limited to homosexuals, bisexuals and transgender.
On the other hand, Hegel believes a person must translate his freedom into an external sphere in order to exist as an idea which clearly means that a person’s “performance” determines their gender. The difference between Kant and Hegel is Kant believes people should follow what society says and Hegel believes one should act from their own logical obligations. Hegel 's conception of freedom runs counter to the Kantian conception of freedom that stands in opposition to nature and sensuous inclination, even though Hegel agree that freedom is the origin for the modern state.
Seeing a male while walking late at night on the street does not necessarily mean that he will attack you. Society wildly associates rape with males because it makes believe that males will always engage in physical aggression. Aggression is not a specific trait to one gender, so not only males are aggressive women just tend to get a little more creative when it comes to acting it out. Among college students, casual sex is very common. Most students are doing it and, although not everyone is aware of what “it” is. Due to this a lot males misconstrue females’ actions when at a party or even in class. In most cases, females’ gives consent as soon as she agrees to go to a male’s dormitory. However, a lot of females have sex with males with no discussion of their sexual health and consent or protection against STD’s, and if they should get a STD, out of guilt or shame these females makes reports that they have been raped by the male individual. Due to the fact that males are inferior when it comes to the law, automatically male individuals are guilty until proven innocent. Camille Paglia, a professor played devil’s advocate when she wrote “It’s a Jungle Out Here,” she argued that “rape is an outraged that cannot be tolerated in civilized society (Paglia, 567).” In which many agree but falsely accusing a male of such terrible act on the other hand should not be tolerated either. In her claim she believes that women should be aware of their surroundings and be cautious. In college, most hookups begin the same way. It starts at a party, at a fraternity house where plenty of booze is present. As the night goes on, couples form and they segregate to do whatever it is that they plan to do. Alcohol is always a huge contribution to false rape accusation in college. Paglia claims “a girl who lets herself get dead drunk at a fraternity party is a fool (Paglia, 267).” One would agree with this because going to party in skimpy clothing a female is basically embracing her sexuality, and this is why “sexual desire and arousal cannot fully be translated into verbal terms. This is why men and women misunderstand each other (Paglia, 568).” Paglia is trying to inform women about the dangers of sending mixed signals so it does not confuse a man. Her solution is to not send mixed signals and always go out with plenty of girlfriends who will not be too drunk. One’s safety is more important than having fun. Western feminism culture has brainwashed the women of today to think that it is okay to take advantage of their rights, but this is where feminism goes wrong. Women are inferior to men in some cases but it is wrong to strip males of their civil rights. In the piece, Paglia made it clear that women are always in danger by men no matter what the circumstance is, which is why women should always be mindful of the situations they put themselves into. She slightly defends men by saying that “aggression and eroticism are deeply intertwined. Hunting, pursuit, and capture are biologically programmed into male sexuality, (Paglia, 567).” So it is not the male’s fault if a woman leads them on. They are programmed to attack not necessarily in a bad way. Men love sex and once a female gives them the go they take the opportunity really fast. But she does not encourage rape. Her argument is feminism hides the truth about sex from women, which puts them into a bad place because of their ignorance. She has a better argument than Butler because not everyone think that gender is socially constructed, some people think it is biological and we have hormones that are triggered at a certain age that makes us a male or female. Only females have their menstruation and that is what makes a female a female. “Gender is culturally formed, but it’s also a domain of agency or freedom and that it is most important to resist the violence that is imposed by ideal gender norms, especially against those who are gender different, who are nonconforming in their gender presentation (Butler, Interview).” Take this example into consideration, say a female is intoxicated and she is walking home through a dark alley and she sees a male walking the opposite direction towards her. Instantly, a female first instinct is to panic, but because of her bitterness against men because of her former cheating boyfriend this female instantly starts to scream “Rape! Rape!” The male was arrested even though he constantly states that he did not do it. Now this male individual turns out to be a homosexual. This male was discriminated because of his attire and this shows that society instill in women that men are dangerous at all time. This is unfair to males because not all men wants to rape or better yet not all men are interesting in women. Feminism cries for equality but do they really want equality or their goal is to become superior to men by any means necessary? This is only one example of gender-related issues that males face on campus. Society is very prejudiced against males when it comes to rape.
No one can determine for sure if another person is a conscious being. One cannot know what exactly is consciously going on in someone’s head. Everyone has different perceptions of the same experience. Just the way everyone has different perceptions of gender. People make decisions from their cultural background. Social reality is not a given but is continually created as an illusion through language, expression, and all manner of symbolic societal sign. Girls are taught to be women and boys are taught to become men. According to Butler gender is culturally constructed, it is clear that society can instill certain viewpoints in woman for them to discriminate against men. Feminism insinuates that women are inferior to men and that is very bad because this cause woman not to take full responsibility for their actions when it comes to rape situations. Not all rapes are falsely accused but this essay just demonstrates some of the struggles campus men have to go through. The same way that we stay away from speeding just to prevent accidents that is the same approach women can take to avoid putting themselves in that kind of predicament. Any system of theory that maintains that the real is of the nature of thought or that the object of external perception consists of an idea. Gender is a theory of nature of thought like how women are or have been perceived as being inferior to men in nature. Butler believes that gender is socially constructed while Paglia believes that gender is a biological thing. Not because a male is biologically a male means that he should acts, talks, and dresses like all other males. This notion goes the same way for males being rapists. Not because they are a male means they will rape, gender does not define a person’s thinking.

Works Cited
Butler, Judith. Interview by Max Miller. “Big Think”. Web. 7 Dec. 2012.

Cited: Butler, Judith. Interview by Max Miller. “Big Think”. Web. 7 Dec. 2012.