Grow hysteria in a petri dish, you get a Rape Culture

So do I believe in Rape Culture? Well the fact that you have to “believe” in it should tell you that I view it very sceptically, and would expect anyone using the term to have either a very clear idea of what it means and use it in context, or be some fear-mongering idiot who needs to have the stupid therapeutically hammered out of them with a sock full of batteries.

“Rape Culture” was a term first used in 1975 to describe the acceptance of rape as part of prison life, or indeed as part of the punishment those convicted are to endure. Which is very barbaric when you think about it, that we’re so blasé about punishments that we measure the sentences given to criminals not only in years lost being incarcerated, but also by how many times you are to endure a brutal non-consensual butt-fucking. While the definition of a “a setting that normalises and condones rape to an extent that rape is pervasive,” has not changed, the context sadly has. As a result there are people running around screaming in the faces of anyone that will listen that we currently live in a Rape Culture™.

Every time I hear somebody say it so casually a part of me dies, usually brain cells as I numb myself with another precious shot of alcohol. It’s better to do that than attempt to contradict somebody whose ideology and feelings are so all-encompassing in their life that they can’t rationally communicate outside of hysterical slogans, factoids, and clichés.

So, let’s analyse this shall we? In fact hold on, let me get a pre-emptive whisky first.

Okay, in the western world we don’t live in a rape culture, anyone who says we do is wrong/stupid/blinded by fear, and here is why:
Rapists are despised, even in prison they rank only just above child molesters (themselves also rapists) in terms of who can be beaten, stolen from, murdered or even raped themselves with little to no interference from the other convicts (and sometimes the guards). So here we have a situation where the scum and waste of society are gathered together, and at the bottom of this foul little shit-heap for everyone to persecute are the rapists. Suggesting we live in a rape culture would mean that the criminals in these places have a stronger moral compass than society at large, and if this is the case then I guess we can all look to Charles Manson for our spiritual guidance, I’m sure he’s just misunderstood.

Now let’s look at Duke Lecross, Brian Banks, “Jackie” at the UVA, and “The Mattress Girl”. All cases that took place in America.
Each one of these cases was initially publicised as a triumph against rape culture. The media wasted no time in condemning the accused rapists and hosts of the citizenry came together to shame and persecute the individuals that had been named. Responses included: banging pots and pans outside their dorms while shouting at them to confess at all hours of day and night, publishing their names, photos, and addresses to the public, locking them in prison for five years, expelling them from university, large numbers of the faculty publicly condemning them in the local newspapers, and starting a hashtag campaign to encourage hatred and harassment to those named as rapists. In a rape culture none of these things would have happened, indeed the claim of rape would be met with a simple shrugging of the shoulders and possibly another sexual assault for the lolz. After all, rape in a rape culture is normalised and accepted.

The reason I mention the above cases was because in every one the accusation was discovered to be unfounded. So let me clarify this: These individuals faced and endured persecution, expulsion, harassment, jail time, assault, and lived in fear of their lives because of an accusation of rape, an accusation that in a real rape culture would have no power. What’s more in some cases despite clear evidence of their innocence, some people continue to claim that they have somehow “got away with it” because they have been enabled by the boogieman of rape culture and persecute them to this day.

But of course some people will believe whatever helps them sleep at night, I’m looking at you Andrew Wakefield, you fuck!

So outside of a prison, where does rape culture exist? Well not in the west that is for sure, look to places where women can be stoned to death for reporting a rape because it’s classed as marriage infidelity, I’m pretty sure they need your help the most.

So why does it perpetuate?

Because it gives people control of others, that’s why.

Anyone who tells you that you should be permanently in a state of fear of 50% of the population isn’t doing so for your benefit, their doing it because people in a state of fear, emotional outrage, or anxiety are easier to control, an individual’s rational thinking is clouded and their dependence on perceived authority is heightened. Rape culture in the west is maintained as a myth not to protect anyone, but to sustain a level of fear and control that ironically is a staple of rape culture itself (according to some).

I can already feel the “1 in 5,” or “1 in 4, women are raped!” factoids boiling up behind the collective anger of the internet (the number varies depending on how hysterical they are feeling, or how badly they want to fear-monger). So rather than attempt the impossible task of changing somebodies religious/ideological dogma, I’ll let somebody else do it for me.

Also I’ll parrot RAIIN

Rape is caused not by cultural factors but by the conscious decisions, of a small percentage of the community, to commit a violent crime.

Rapers gonna’ rape, but nothing in culture will endorse it, or somehow change a non-rapist into one. If you’re still unconvinced I have one more point to make:

Dexter is a very popular TV series about a serial killer who stalks and kills other serial killers, it’s been well received, won many awards and is generally viewed in a positive light.
Now imagine me making a show about a serial rapist, who hunts down and rapes other rapists.
I’m pretty sure that wouldn’t even get off the writers bock. And I’m also pretty sure the acceptance of Dexter as a series doesn’t mean we live in a “Murder Culture.”