Rape
myth acceptance is the prevalence of misinformation about rape,
women, and sexual assault in our society. This misinformation has
lead to women second guessing their judgement and emotions. Victim
blaming, also known as gaslighting, can make it difficult for women
(and other victims) to perceive things correctly. Misinformation in
our society has lead to a certain level of judgement of those who
have been sexually assaulted. The prevalence of rape myths makes it
even more difficult to differentiate between what is and is not true.
Rape victims are often blamed because of rape myth acceptance,
leading to low reporting of rape and lower emotional expression by
women.
Rape
myth acceptance, or RMA, occurs when someone holds stereotypical
beliefs about rape and sexual assault. This includes things such as
thinking that because a woman is wearing a short skirt, she's “asking
for it” or thinking it's okay to have sexual contact with someone
has had too much to drink as long as he or she does not say no. Our
society has a rather high RMA, causing confusion and misunderstanding
among both men and women and justification for sexual assault when
there should be none. In their essay “Stop
Blaming the Victim: A Meta-Analysis on Rape Myths”, Suarez and
Gadella explain “Burt operationalized and defined rape myths
as false beliefs about rape, rape victims, and perpetrators. Lonsway
and Fitzgerald further examined gender differences of the construct
and indicated that rape myths allow men to justify rape and women to
minimize personal vulnerability” (2011). Women downplaying their
emotions often makes it difficult for both themselves and others to
tell if there has in factbeen an
incidence of sexual assault. Modern society, especially in the
United States, seems to have a moral gray area when it comes to
sexual assault. There is a distinct inability to perceive if
something is sexual assault if it falls within that moral gray area,
such as if you have sexual contact with someone who is intoxicated or
under the influence of drugs. Society participates in the
invalidation of a victim's emotions when it assumes that the victim
did something to encourage the assault. The belief that because the
victim didn't say no, his or her consent was given is an incredibly
common misconception.
Most
people who have a high RMA think coercion is sometimes acceptable
while those with a low RMA do not. Morry and Winkler point out that
“Coercive behaviour against women is not generally acceptable. Low
RMA participants indicated that coercion was never acceptable across
common dating situations. Participants high in rape myth beliefs
though indicated that at times coercion was acceptable” (190).
Options of coercion can be anything from pressuring someone into
having sexual contact to assuming because someone has not said no,
they are consenting. In the stereotypical high school movie, there
is usually at least one example of coercion. The boyfriend is with
his girlfriend in the back seat, trying to convince her to have sex.
She's hesitant and he says something along the lines of if you
loved me, you'd do it. This is
probably the most common form of coercion, a practice that most of us
have been exposed to at some point. If not in real life, you may
have been exposed to it by stories from friends or, again, the
movies. Coercion blurs the lines between what is and is not consent,
making it difficult for victims to deal with their conflicting
emotions as they try to figure out what has happened.
Rape myths often prevent women from reporting instances of sexual
assault. Suarez and Gadalla explain that “An important factor that
discourages rape victims from reporting is the non-supportive
reactions that they often encounter after disclosing the assault.
Research findings indicate that rape victims may experience postrape trauma as a result
of those nonsupportive reactions” (2011). Again, this
circles back around to the problem of blaming the victim. A woman
walking home alone at night, a woman wearing a short skirt, or a
woman dancing suggestively are all common reasons people give for a
woman not protecting herself. There is a very large focus on how the
victim's behaviors may have influenced the sexual assault, suggesting
it was the victim's fault or the victim should have known better.
Many sexual assault survivors suffer psychological problems because
of the unwillingness of society to acknowledge that it wasn't their
fault. This, often times, stops victims from reporting that they've
been sexually assaulted because they know what has happened in the
past to other victims of sexual assault. They are forced to choose
between reporting it and being judged heavily or suffering in
silence, being judged only by themselves.
There is also a very strong link between acceptance of sexual
assault and other types of violence. As Suarez and Gadella assert,
“structural violence, therefore, facilitates the analysis of how
societal tolerance justifies and legitimates rape as well as other
expressions of oppression and violence towards women” (2014).
Violence towards women on TV, in music, and even in society itself
gives a certain justification to all actions of violence towards
women. It's not so much that society approves of violence towards
women but more that society is resigned to the fact that it exists
and doesn't see that there can be anything done about it unless women
change how they behave. This, again, leads to blaming the woman, and
also causes the practice of “slut shaming”. This creates an either/or reaction in our society. If a
woman has not had sex, she's often viewed as a tease, but if a woman expresses her sexuality in a
way that is deemed “unacceptable” by society (often by engaging
in premarital sexual activities), she's labeled a “slut” or a
“whore”. This again creates confusion amongst women in the
country about what they are or are not defined as by society.
Gender provides a large difference in rape myth acceptance with men
being more likely
to have a high RMA. “Gender showed the strongest relationship with
RMA...with men
displaying significantly higher endorsement of RMA than women”
claim Suarez and Gadella (2019). This is possibly explained by the
ratio of personally knowing someone who has been a victim of sexual
assault. Women tend to have more female friends, and females are
more likely to be sexually assaulted than men. Because of this, they
tend to be more informed about what is defined as sexual assault and
how to avoid sexual assault as best as they can. Men, on the other
hand, don't particularly have to worry about sexual assault (except
in the cases of homosexual and trans* men). Men are lucky enough to
live in a society that teaches “don't get raped” instead of
“don't rape”, absolving them of a lot of the responsibility if a
rape does happen. Society likes to believe that it blames the
rapist, and it does to a point, but the victims take a large,
undeserved piece of that blame.
Rape myths lead to men viewing rape differently, changing their
perceptions of what is and is not rape. As Morry and Winkler
suggest, “...males should be more likely than females to perceive
the victims as responsible and less likely to view the incident as
rape” (189). This again brings us back to the moral gray area.
The perception of what is and is not rape becomes much more difficult
when jokes about rape and sexual assault are common. A commonly used
phrase amongst many teenage boys, in particular, is “if she's not saying
no, she's saying yes”. This blurs what is and is not consent, and causes a higher rate of sexual
assault, especially date rape.
Because of the prevalence of rape myths, our society has been
labeled by some as a “rape culture”, showing that modern society
accepts (or at least expects) rape on an unprecedented level. “North
American society has been called a 'rape culture'. However, the
anthropologist Peggy Sanday made clear that rape-free and rape-prone
societies are achievable, and they can even coexist within a large
societal context” (Suarez and Gadella 2028). Looking at music
lyrics is one of the easiest ways to see why our society is a rape
culture. Again, this doesn't always involve songs condoning rape but also songs that are “slut
shaming”. A good example of “slut shaming” in popular culture is the song “Stupid Hoe” by Nicki
Minaj. The entire song is about two women fighting over a man. A
common theme in pop music, there is almost always a level of slut
shaming, though not always as obvious as in this song. The chorus
consists of only the words “you a stupid hoe, you a, you a stupid
hoe”. Words like slut, whore, and hoe are all ways to drag women
down by commenting on their sexual expression, suggesting that
because they have had sexual relations, they are less worthy as
individuals. This causes perceptions of women to change, making them
seem like nothing more than trophies to own that someone has a right
to. Slut shaming, in effect, leads to a wider acceptance of rape
because it dehumanizes women.
Television also contributes to a higher RMA. Kahlor and Eastin
offer that “...the study supports the suggestion that general
television consumption is related significantly to first- and
second-order rape myth beliefs among adult men and women beyond the
college student population” (225). The more television a person
watches, the more likely that person is to have a higher RMA. We are
constantly bombarded with images of violence on television, and there
is almost always a layer of misogyny in the programming. Television,
on a whole, influences our beliefs more than almost anything else.
Clearly
there is a problem in modern society with rape myth acceptance. The
most effective solution in preventing sexual violence and rape myth
acceptance is simply education. For example, a study was done with
high school students and sexual assault and coercion awareness.
Instead of teaching self defense, a common sexual assault prevention
technique, the study focused on teaching how to recognize sexual
assault and coercion. Over a number of days, the students were
educated by different methods: videos, interactive exercises, seeing
models of acceptable behavior, and even concrete definitions. This
practice is highlighted in the article Evaluating
a Prevention Program for Teenagers on Sexual Coercion: A Differential Effectiveness
Approach
by Pacifici, Stoolmiller, and Nelson:
Benefits were apparent only for those students who, initially, were
considered relatively more at risk. Specifically, for all
indicators of coercive sexual attitudes, students at or above the
prescore mean benefited from the intervention, whereas those below
did not. Moreover, although female adolescents were less tolerant
of sexual coercion than male adolescents at baseline, outcomes were
similar across gender (557).
The success of the study was largely dependent on students'
viewpoints before and after. Giving the information in several ways,
not just one, provided a way for everyone to understand what the
problem was and why it was a problem, making this an effective method
in preventing sexual violence and rape myths. Because of the success
of this and other studies, it would be a valid solution to adult rape
myth acceptance. Though this study dealt specifically with teens,
the methods would most likely work for most people regardless of age.
Another method of education that is important in decreasing RMA and
sexual assault is bystander education. Victims aren't just
responsible for preventing sexual assault; the community is too. The
problem with bystander involvement is, again, an issue with
education. Education on what is and is not sexual assault and
coercion will not just help stop people from being sexually
assaulted, but it also will provide the framework for intervention.
McMahon and Banyard report that “Some sexual violence prevention
programs include the discussion of engaging in proactive
opportunities” (10). By speaking up even just against sexist
language or slut shaming, sexual assault can sometimes be prevented.
If the potential aggressor realizes that his or her actions are not
accepted by society, he or she may rethink his or her actions.
The prevalence of rape myth acceptance, victim blaming, and slut
shaming in our society creates problems for sexual assault victims.
As women's emotions are downplayed, men continue to hold more power
over them, making it difficult for women to rise up as equals. Until we as Americans accept that there is a large problem, sexual assault
will continue to occur. Certain songs and television shows that both treat women as
commodities and constantly put women down also contribute to this problem. Education on what is and
is not sexual assault and what is and is not a rape myth is
imperative in reducing the prevalence of sexual assault and victim
blaming in our society. Until we as a society address this issue, it
will continue to be a large problem. By educating everyone,
including our youth, on sexual assault, we can reduce the number of
aggressors and increase the percentage of aggressors prosecuted for
their actions.
REFERENCES
Kahlor,
LeeAnn and Eastin, Matthew S. "Television's Role in the Culture
of Violence towards Women: A Study of Television Viewing and the
Cultivation of Rape Myth Acceptance in the United States."
Journal
of Broadcasting and Electronic Media.
55. (2011): 215-31. Print.
McMahon,
Sarah and Banyard, Victoria L. "When Can I help? A Conceptual
Framework for the Prevention of Sexual Violence Through Bystander
Intervention." Trauma
Violence Abuse.
13.3 (2012): 3-14. Print.
Morry,
Marian M. and Winkler, Erica. “Student Acceptance and Expectcation
of Sexual Assault.” Canadian Journal of Behavioural
Science. 33.3 (2001): 188-92.
Print.
Pacifici,
Caesar, Stoolmiller, Mike , and Nelson, Carol. "Evaluating a
Prevention Program for Teenagers on Sexual Coercion: A Differential
Effectiveness Approach." Journal
of Consulting and Clinical Psychology.
69.3 (2001): 552-59. Print.
Suarez,
Eliana and Gadalla, Tahany M. “Stop Blaming the Victim: A
Meta-Analysis on Rape Myths.” Journal of Interpersonal
Violence. 25.11 (2010): 2011-26.
Print.
