Al Nihmy 1

Lilian Al Nihmy
Prof. Makarosyan
English 114B
15 April, 2015
Rape Culture is Real
Rape is acceptable today. As shocking as it sounds, we have culture so enriched with
rape and sexual violence. According to RAINN, 293,066 Americans are forcibly raped or
sexually assaulted every year. Which equals to 1 sexual assault or rape every 107 seconds. Rape
culture is an environment in which rape is prevalent and sexual violence, in particular against
women, is common and acceptable. Rape culture is perpetuated through media. It is done so, by
misogynistic language, the glamorizing of sexual violence, and the objectification of women.
Thus, as a society we have created an apocalyptic culture that idealizes terror and inflicts pain on
women. Critics however counter argue that media is a source of entertainment which is not
intended to promote rape but recent studies show otherwise. Although, the American society has
made rape culture acceptable there is still hesitation and uneasiness when the word rape is
uttered. Rape and sexual violence is almost a trend in the American society. But as soon as
victims speak about their unfortunate event, society strikes victims with harsh criticism such as
You asked for it! or Boys will be boys! Nowadays, when a victim is raped, people tend to
blame the victim rather than the perpetrator.
Historically music has been a medium for human social expression. And since the
emergence of hip and hop and rap, music has undergone a variety of transformation. Today,
music is increasingly explicit with references to sex, drugs, and violence. In the popular,

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controversial song named U.O.E.N.O, rapper Rick Ross quotes Put molly all in her
champagne, she ain't even know it. I took her home, and I enjoyed that she ain't even know it. In
the disturbing lyrics presented, rapper Rick Ross raps about drugging and raping a woman. Rick
Ross later was issued to apologize to the public for his offensive lyrics towards women. However
this is only a piece of the puzzle.
Today, rape culture is embedded in popular culture. Many recording male artists discuss
rape more graphically but yet are unquestioned. There is no question that Rap music in particular
is the most prevalent genre when it comes to misogynistic language. Misogynistic language is
language that exhibits hatred, mistrust, or mistreatment of women. Now and then we might catch
ourselves singing along to catchy misogynistic lyrics, whether you are male or female. But we
cant help it, pop culture is a trend which surrounds us. An article source by Terri M. Adams and
Douglas B. Fuller, The Words Have Changed but the Ideology Remains the Same: Misogynistic
Lyrics in Rap Music talk about how misogyny is expressed through the medium of rap. Terri M.
Adams and Douglas B. Fuller state that misogyny in gansta rap is the promotion, glamorization,
support, humorization, justification, or normalization of oppressive ideas about women. In the
genre of rap music, women specifically African American women are reduced to mere object
(Adams and Fuller 940). The authors discuss how rap music uses misogyny to dehumanize
women and promote oppressive ideas such as violence against women. Going back to the lyrics
of U.O.E.N.O, music perpetuates rape culture.
Media has made the glamorizing of sexual violence and rape a trend in our society.
Magazine advertisements are one of the common media outlets that perpetuate the glamorizing
of sexual violence and rape. So why are heinous acts such as violence and sexual misconduct
against women permissible in our society? The answer is Rape Culture. According to Herman, as

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long as media constructs sex in our society as a dirty, low, and violent act involving domination
of a male over a female, rape will remain a common occurrence (Diana F. Herman). As Herman
has pointed out, media is a primary source of our beliefs which has built a society that perceives
male sexual aggression and violence against women acceptable. In addition, Herman believes as
long as sex is portrayed in negative light in the media, rape will continue to terrorize women.
Furthermore, we have all stumbled across a sexy Calvin Klein Ad. However, as we
examined the Ad with our eyes we did not catch the subliminal message the advertisement is
selling us. By taking time to condone to what Ad is really trying to sell, we will be able to
consider that perhaps we do live in a rape culture. As seen in the Duncan Quinn magazine
advertisement. The ad is an image of an unconscious woman in lingerie laying on the hood of a
car, with her body exposed. But thats not all; the woman is also being strangled by a man. She
also appears to be bleeding due to head injury inflicted by the man. So what is the Duncan Quinn
Ad trying to sell? Is the Duncan Quinn Ad selling suits or violence, rape and murder? It is clear
the Ad is contributing to the glamorization of sexual violence. As seen in the Ad, the man is
glamorizing sexual violence and showing complete disregard for the woman he tortured. Thus,
the Quinn Ad is encouraging men to buy suits and contribute to sexual violence because it is seen
as sexy. The underlying message the Duncan Quinn Ad is selling, is sexual violence is
acceptable.
Among the number of ideas on why rape culture exists, sexual objectification of women
in the media plays a huge role in reinforcing our rape culture. Media views women merely as
objects for sexual pleasure. Nothing more than eye candy for the man. Women today have
earned the right to be equally heard in society. However, there still continues to be a rape stigma
that follows women. According to an experiment conducted by Neil M Malamuth and James V.P

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Check, The Effects of Mass Media Exposure on Acceptance of Violence Against Woman,
portrays how media is the direct cause of violence against woman. Malamuth and Check find
that exposure to films portraying violent sexuality and objectification of women increased the
male subjects' acceptance of interpersonal violence against women. In addition, the results of the
subjects in the experiment were similar to rapists. This shows that media is variable to the rates
of rape.
Advertisements and video games are some of common stems of media that portray
women as sex objects. Take the Pepsi Can Ad for example. The Pepsi Ad is an image of a young
boy trading a Pepsi for a Lifeguard shirt. With the lifeguard shirt the young boy is allowed a free
pass at the unconscious women laying in a bathing suit on the beach. So what is Pepsi condoning
here? A soda can or sex? And what is this young boy going to do with the unconscious woman?
This Ad should not be considered an innocent encounter. It is offensive and degrading to women
but yet was allowed to be published. Pepsi however, denies that their Ad is offensive. They argue
that the sole purpose of this Ad is to sell Pepsi and get people to laugh. So why is objectifying
women hilarious? All this Ad is doing is portraying women as sex objects and hyper sexualizing
children into thinking rape is ok. This advertisement is demonstrating sex without consent, also
known as rape.
Another form of media that encourages the objectifying of women is through video
games. A popular Japanese video game called Rapelay, is a sex simulation game of a character
named Chikan. The personality character Chikan, is a man who was arrested for molesting a
young woman, and his mission in the game is to revenge by molesting and raping the victims
entire family. This video game focuses on degrading women and humiliating them by releasing
pornographic photos of the unethical act of rape. In addition, the female personas in the video

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game are dressed in hypersexualized clothing reveling their genitalia. This video game is not
only disturbing but immoral. The question is, why are video game designers, designing games
that encourage rape. Rape used to be seen as a crime but now our society has made rape in to a
game. Rape is a sensitive subject that should be taken seriously but rather media takes such
delicate matters and pokes fun by designing rape games. By making women victims of rape in a
video game, it is persuading rape culture to be flourished in society.
Finally, on various accounts, media outlets sympathize with the rapist over the victim.
According to the authors of Transforming Rape Culture, in a rape culture both men and women
assume that sexual violence is a fact of life, inevitable as death or taxes. This violence, however,
is neither biologically nor divinely ordained. Much of what we accept as inevitable is in fact the
expression of values and attitudes that can change. (Buchwald, Roth, and. Fletcher). Rape
culture is concept that is widely accepted and seen as the fact of life. Often times, woman are
blamed for being rapped. For instance in the short story No Name Woman by Maxine Hong
Kingston, Kingston the narrator is told by her mother You must not tell anyone, what I am about
to tell you. In China your father had a sister who killed herself. She jumped into the family well.
We say your father has all brothers because it is as if she had never been born. (Kingston 1).
Kingston, later finds out her aunt was raped. Like many cultures, the Chinese culture sees rape as
the womans fault. Generally when a woman is raped they are shunned from their communities.
This belief is at practice even here in America. Woman are blamed for being raped. They are
struck with criticism such as you had too much to drink, you wore revealing clothes, or you
were out late. All leads up to the popular phase you asked for it.
Ultimately, media promotes rape culture. Through mainstream media, misogynistic
language, the glamorization of sexual violence and the objectification of women is encouraged. I

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believe rape is a sensitive topic that should be taken seriously. There are dangers with portraying
rape and sexual assault in the media. When women are victims of rape, they are faced with
psychological and personal problems. In todays society, rape and sexual assault is becoming
more common and acceptable. So the question is, why are women victimized and rapists
praised? And why are women taught ways in which they could prevent rape and men are not
taught not to rape.

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Work Cited:
Adams, Terri M., and Douglas B. Fuller. "The words have changed but the ideology remains the
same: Misogynistic lyrics in rap music." Journal of Black Studies 36.6 (2006): 938-957.
Burt, Martha R. "Cultural myths and supports for rape." Journal of personality and social
Psychology 38.2 (1980): 217.
Herman, D. "The rape culture." Culture 1.10 (1988).
Kingston, Maxine Hong. "No Name Woman." The Woman Warrior: Memoirs of a
Girlhood among Ghosts. New York: Knopf, 1976. 1. Print.
Malamuth, Neil M., and James VP Check. "The effects of mass media exposure on acceptance of
violence against women: A field experiment." Journal of Research in Personality 15.4
(1981): 436-446.