"Rape culture is a setting, studied by several sociological theories, in which rape is pervasive and normalized due to societal attitudes about gender and sexuality."
The normalization and trivialization of sexual assault and rape through societal attitudes and media.
Definition of Rape Culture: Rape culture is a term used to describe a society that normalizes rape and sexual violence through its attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors.
Patriarchy: Patriarchy refers to a societal system where men hold power and authority, and women are subservient to them. This system perpetuates rape culture by normalizing violence against women and reinforcing gender roles.
Toxic Masculinity: Toxic masculinity refers to a set of harmful beliefs and attitudes associated with traditional masculinity that are often harmful to men, women, and society. Such beliefs include the idea that men should be violent and aggressive, and that they should use their power to control others, especially women.
Victim-Blaming: Victim-blaming is the tendency to attribute fault or responsibility to the victim of a crime or an abusive situation. In the context of rape culture, victim-blaming happens when people blame the victim for being sexually violated instead of holding the perpetrator accountable.
Consent: Consent refers to a voluntary agreement between two people to engage in sexual activity. Rape culture often undermines the importance of consent by promoting the idea that men can force or coerce women into having sex.
Intersectionality: Intersectionality recognizes that individuals are impacted by a combination of their identities and social experiences, including their race, gender, sexuality, socioeconomic status, and more. It is important to consider the intersection of these identities when discussing rape culture and its impact on different groups.
Rape Myths: Rape myths are false beliefs that perpetuate rape culture. These myths include the idea that women are responsible for preventing rape by controlling their behavior, and that men can't control their sexual impulses.
Objectification: Objectification is the reduction of a person to the status of an object, often for sexual gratification. This is commonly seen in media, where women are depicted as sexual objects for the male gaze.
Power Dynamics: Power dynamics refer to the unequal distribution of power between individuals or groups. Rape culture leverages power dynamics to create an environment in which sexual violence can occur.
Media Representation: Media representation refers to the way that different groups are portrayed in popular media. This includes television shows, movies, and advertisements. Media representation can reinforce or challenge rape culture by promoting harmful stereotypes or highlighting positive examples of consent and respect.
Victim-blaming: When victims of sexual violence are blamed for their victimization due to their behavior, appearance, or choices.
Slut-shaming: The act of criticizing women's sexual behavior, appearance or choices, and holding them to a different moral standard than men.
Objectification: Reducing women to mere objects of desire, devoid of their humanity or agency.
Normalization of sexual violence: Portraying sexual violence as acceptable or even desirable in media and culture.
Rape myths: False beliefs about rape, such as the belief that rape is provoked by the victim, that women “ask for it” because of their clothing or behavior, or that men are unable to control their sexual urges.
Toxic masculinity: The idea that men must be aggressive, dominant, and unemotional to be considered “real men.”.
"Behaviors commonly associated with rape culture include victim blaming, slut-shaming, sexual objectification, trivializing rape, denial of widespread rape, refusing to acknowledge the harm caused by sexual violence, or some combination of these."
"It has been used to describe and explain behavior within social groups, including prison rape and in conflict areas where war rape is used as psychological warfare."
"Entire societies have been alleged to be rape cultures."
"It is associated with rape fantasy and rape pornography."
"The notion of rape culture was developed by second-wave feminists, primarily in the United States, beginning in the 1960s."
"Critics of the concept dispute its existence or extent, arguing that the concept is too narrow or that although there are cultures where rape is pervasive, the very idea of rape culture can imply that it is not the rapist who is somehow at fault, but rather society as a whole that enables rape."
"Critics of that line of criticism have disputed the notion that only one party needs to be at fault, noting that the perpetrator can be the primary wrongdoer, those who help cover it up or harass the victim acting as accomplices, and that thus, also according to them, the wider society and culture can still be blamed for its collective influence on these individuals."
"Two movements have addressed what they either fully or partially perceive as being rape culture or a role being played by rape culture, i.e. SlutWalk and Me Too."
"Though their rationale for claiming and including that the role of rape culture as being party to the particular social blights and crimes that they're fighting can vary, these movements have helped spread people's stories through hashtags."
"these movements... provide an online space where victims of different types of sexual violence can confide in each other."