Rape Myth Stereotypes

The scholarly article I chose to discuss further into is the rape myths people accept and attitudes held about rape. This article that I found on the library website’s stood out because the topic was covered in a discussion but I think it deserves more attention and focus. The study conducted in this research article examined demographics of college students at two different campuses and the correlation of their drinking behavior and if it related to the reported acceptance of rape myths.

Society tends to blame the women for interpersonal violence against females and encourages men to act out. This creates a very structured attitude for men and women that make it hard for some to change the way they view violence against women. The objectification of women in the media is one way to egg on men to take that message to reality. The double standards held with the rape myths is a society issue. Most people today can blame the victim for the assault that
happened because they made the choice to drink and that is why they were raped, false.
This myth can’t be supported because people should be able to control their sexual urges and not take advantage of somebody who can barely walk
straight. Another myth that blows my mind is the attitudes men have about women and aggression. “Research continues to highlight that men are significantly more likely than women to accept rape myths (for a recent meta-analysis, see Suarez & Gadalla, 2010). Lee et al. (2005) found that men are more likely than women to hold tolerant attitudes toward rape and attribute blame to the victim.” It is not a topic to just accept and we cannot be blaming the victim because a human being violated them. Every individual should be held accountable and if people or classrooms can’t properly discuss sexual assault, rape myths, violence against women, etc., early on than that goes to show the importance of not blaming a victim and allowing full accountability on the person committing the assault.

Majority of college campuses show research and statistics of an abundance of sexual assaults occurring. The Greek life that supports a culture of excessive drinking influences the behaviors and social variables too. Peer pressure to drink and the association can influence the way a man acts with a woman. A way to attempt change attitudes about rape myths is to provide educational programs that focus on these myths and provide support to potential rapist to alter the way they view women to prevent the crime from happening. With education comes knowledge, if society at whole is knowledgeable on sensitive topics we can improve our understanding on these myths and prevent future sexual assault or violence against women happening.