rape culture
Gabriella Romano
Mr. Heljenick
English 101
April 20, 2014
Rape Culture: An Issue Denied Rape culture is well-defined as a complex set of beliefs that encourage male sexual violent behavior and supports violence against women. Rape culture exists due to the fact that it in its self as an issue denied. From blithe acceptance of misogyny in everything from casual conversations with our peers to the media we watch, we accept the disgrace of women and the conjecture of the uncontrollable hyper-sexuality of men as the norm. There needs to be a call to attention for this severe problem. "Scientia potentia est” knowledge is power, living in ignorance and denial compounds the issue to unfathomable heights. Educating the populace, equipping them with the information to bring this grotesque way of thinking to an end is the best way to keep the future generations protected. Rape culture includes anecdotes, television, music, advertising, legal verbiage, laws, and imaginings, that make violence against women and sexual coercion seem so standard that people believe that rape is unavoidable. Rather than viewing the culture of rape as a major problem to change, individuals in a rape culture think about the continuance of rape as “just the way things are.” (Buchwald) This is a major chronic issue in the United States. It is a society where violence is seen as sexy and sexuality as obscene. Writer George R. R. Martin explains this perfectly by stating in an interview,
I can describe an axe entering a human skull in great explicit detail and no one will blink twice at it. I provide a similar description, just as detailed, of a penis entering a vagina, and I get letters about it and people swearing off. To my mind this is kind of frustrating, it’s madness. Ultimately, in the history of [the] world, penises entering vaginas have given a lot of people a lot of pleasure; axes entering skulls, well, not so much. (qtd. In Goodreads)
Martin shows the incredible bias that
Mr. Heljenick
English 101
April 20, 2014
Rape Culture: An Issue Denied Rape culture is well-defined as a complex set of beliefs that encourage male sexual violent behavior and supports violence against women. Rape culture exists due to the fact that it in its self as an issue denied. From blithe acceptance of misogyny in everything from casual conversations with our peers to the media we watch, we accept the disgrace of women and the conjecture of the uncontrollable hyper-sexuality of men as the norm. There needs to be a call to attention for this severe problem. "Scientia potentia est” knowledge is power, living in ignorance and denial compounds the issue to unfathomable heights. Educating the populace, equipping them with the information to bring this grotesque way of thinking to an end is the best way to keep the future generations protected. Rape culture includes anecdotes, television, music, advertising, legal verbiage, laws, and imaginings, that make violence against women and sexual coercion seem so standard that people believe that rape is unavoidable. Rather than viewing the culture of rape as a major problem to change, individuals in a rape culture think about the continuance of rape as “just the way things are.” (Buchwald) This is a major chronic issue in the United States. It is a society where violence is seen as sexy and sexuality as obscene. Writer George R. R. Martin explains this perfectly by stating in an interview,
I can describe an axe entering a human skull in great explicit detail and no one will blink twice at it. I provide a similar description, just as detailed, of a penis entering a vagina, and I get letters about it and people swearing off. To my mind this is kind of frustrating, it’s madness. Ultimately, in the history of [the] world, penises entering vaginas have given a lot of people a lot of pleasure; axes entering skulls, well, not so much. (qtd. In Goodreads)
Martin shows the incredible bias that