Sex, Gender and Race Analysis:
Rape Culture
October 30, 2015
GWST1020
Prof: M.Denike
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This gender analysis will be discussing the topic of rape culture, meaning it will inspect
evidence for the issue through the lines of masculinity and femininity. It will also include race, as
racism and sexism both stem from the same hierarchy of discrimination and are often inseparable
in their explanations. What applies to one, usually applies to the other. For the purpose of staying
within word limits, ‘gender’ in this analysis will refer to the male and female identity. There are
those who identify outside male and female, who experience the same, and more often than not,
far worse, effects of rape culture. This is still incredibly relevant and equally deserving of
intensive research and discussion, but for the purpose of this essay, it will be primarily focused
on the cisgendered aspects. Rape culture produces, reinforces and socially constructs
sex/gender/race differences and inequalities. To discuss this, this paper will explain rape culture
and why it is an issue deserving a gender analysis. From there, it will study what differences and
inequalities there are between maleness and femaleness in rape culture, then it will explain how
these differences are reflected in society. Furthermore, it will show the process of social
construction of rape culture, that leads to the differences and inequalities expressed.
What is rape culture and why is it important in discussing gender/sex/race differences?
Rape culture is, by definition, a culture in which rape is prevalent and pervasive and is
maintained through fundamental attitudes and beliefs about gender, sexuality, and violence
(Theriault, 2015). More than that though, rape culture is not just one definition. It is something
that affects every member and every process of a society. It is just that, a “culture.” Culture is
what forms the foundation of a population, and when that culture appropriates negative
behaviour, it becomes normalized and acceptable, and weeds its way into the psyche of all our
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actions. An analysis of how rape culture is one especially prevalent aspect of a patriarchal
society could be studied in depth as well, but that is not the focus of this paper.
Rape culture is overdue for a gender analysis because it is one of the most obvious ways
in which we can see gender/sex/race differences and inequalities at work. The power dynamics
of rape culture are perfect examples of the inequalities between male and female, or black and
caucasian, or straight and gay. For example, we can look at the steubenville case from a few
years ago, where a young girl was raped by two of her peers, and the crime became public as
photos and videos circulated the internet (Newcomb, 2013). In the aftermath, the victim was
tormented, bullied, and blamed relentlessly for what happened to her, while the boys were given
sympathy from not only media, but their community, school, and friends, because, as put by
CNN, “these two young men that had such promising futures, star football players, very good
students, literally watched as their life fell apart” (Newcomb, 2013). This is rape culture, an
atmosphere of misogyny, glorified violence, and female objectification that cultivates fear and
danger for women (Newcomb, 2013). Whereas there is empathy towards the male perpetrators,
who are not blamed for “loss of control.” The same can be said for cases with male victims,
particularly gay men. The inequalities of the victim vs. perpetrator treatment stems from the
apparent lack of “masculine” traits. Rape culture also overemphasizes male libido, making it
normal to think that males cannot be raped, because they are supposed to be always accepting of
sexual intentions. There is also next to no stigma around the event of women raping men, for
these very same reasons. Maleness makes it even more difficult to come forward as a victim.
Now for the differences in racial aspects, they work almost the same way. Race is one of the
most ignored vulnerabilities of women who have been victimized by sexual assault (Timbang, N.
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2007). A 1994 survey of 243 women showed African American women at the highest rate,
followed by white women, Latinas, and Asian Americans (Timbang, N. 2007). This is part of a
larger institutionalized system that perpetuates racist policies and practices that enables the rape
of women of color to be especially prevalent (Timbang, N. 2007).
The continuation of rape culture operates as such; create an atmosphere of sexual
violence and dehumanization towards a particular group (ie, women & particularly women of
color, or homosexuals) using self-proclaimed superiority and positions of power, then ensuring
the continuation of dominant roles by making the hierarchy appear natural, and threatening and
ostracizing deviants of the structure. Rape culture produces an atmosphere where males are
typically in the position of power, or rather that rape is a weapon most often perpetrated by
males, or groups of males. This culture, in simple terms, produces a dominant, cisgendered,
straight male identity, and a subordinate, weaker, soft female (also cisgendered/straight ) identity.
I say cisgendered because in rape culture these gender traits are made to push heteronormativity
and ostracize gender/sexuality fluidity. Straight sexuality is the only sexuality “allowed” in rape
culture, just as cisgender is the gender identity that is produced out of rape culture. Also, rape
culture aids in the production of dominant/subservient racial groups as well. Typically seen with
caucasian and European descent as the dominant controlling side, and people of color as the
subordinate and oppressed group. Meaning that in the context of rape culture, people of color are
generalized as being overly sexual (typically women) and more likely to be commit sexual
assault (typically men), producing a white fear of black sexuality (Collins, 2004), much of it
rooted in colonialist legacy. Racism in rape culture operates in an almost identical way to sexism.
Historically, women were property of the man to whom she was born to, married to or sibling of.
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Even if in modern times women are legally people, they are still depicted as objects, and
dehumanized, within rape culture, existing purely for male use. This same dynamic of the
dehumanization of femininity contributes to defensive homophobia and violence by men against
men perceived to be insufficiently masculine. By rape culture definition, male victims of rape
have been feminized and, just like female victims, ostracized and ridiculed (Wikia, n.d.). Male
victims are often brought up in an attempt to derail conversations about rape culture by people
trying to prove rape culture is not a real thing. These people are often ignorant of the fact that
misogyny underlies crimes of sexual dominance against men as well as women (Wikia, n.d.). In
cases of male rape, it seems that media coverage and other people’s reactions use verbs like
"hazing" rather than "rape" or "sexual assault" to describe the attack, downplaying the it as an
extreme display of adolescent masculinity rather than a crime of sexual violence (Wikia, n.d.).
These concepts of rape come from deeply entrenched gender norms about what is permissible
behavior for men and women (Wikia, n.d.).
When these dynamics are furiously denied by those they “benefit” (there really is no
benefit to anyone, rape culture is repressive to all), it only further proves the perverse structure,
because the easiest way to maintain power is to deny an imbalance exists, thereby inhibiting
progress that may otherwise correct that imbalance. A particularly harsh example being online
forums such as 4chan, reddit or simply comment sections on articles that discuss rape, rape
culture or feminism. For example, when feminists Zoe Quinn and Brianna Wu, spoke out about
the rape culture and violence against women that is so prevalent in mainstream video games, a
harassment campaign was launched against them, that included doxing (publishing private
information), threats of rape, and death threats, later hashtagged #Gamergate, which was
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essentially an internet war over video game ethics, and drowning out critics of the industry
(Dewey, C. 2014). In denying the existence of the problem these women spoke of, or protesting
that it is actually acceptable, harassers are effectively proving there is in fact a problem, and that
problem is rape culture.
All of the differences and unequal power structures discussed above are reflected in our
everyday lives. Individuals may not realize how they contribute to rape culture, but it is
something we all do, whether ignorant of participation or not. Think about mainstream tactics
used to educate people about rape, first of all; What are we told? Women are primarily told how
to not get raped. They’re given warnings and advice on how to avoid sexual assault, what objects
they can use as weapons, told to carry pepper spray, and that being out late is something to avoid.
The burden of stopping the rape epidemic is unjustly put onto the victim’s, while men are
actually encouraged to perpetrate behaviour that leads to committing sexual assault (Burt, 1980).
Think of mainstream pornography, fraternities, or male sports teams. It justifies the victimization
of femininity. These environments reflect gender/sex/race differences in rape culture by
reinforcing higher sex role stereotyping, adversarial sexual beliefs, and acceptance of
interpersonal violence, creating a greater acceptance of rape myths, such as “women ask for it”,
“rapists are rare, mentally unsound and individual problems”, or “they’re not acting like a
victim.” (Burt, 1980). Society also often promotes rape culture through trivializing or joking
about sexual assault and rape. How many times a day do you think you hear the words, “slut”,
“bitch”, “pussy”, and how much of them are in negative connotations? Who are they applied to,
and when are they used? How often do you witness touching between people that wasn’t
consented to, whether it be harassment by a stranger or friends grabbing the others breast,
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because they assume it’s acceptable. Do you remember being young and having an adult tell you,
“boys will be boys” or “If a boy bullies you it means he likes you”? And yet we wonder why we
have rampant violence against women. From shirts with the phrase “Eat, Sleep, Rape, Repeat”
on them, to jokes like “I stopped a rape today; I changed my mind”, or “Wanna hear a joke?
Women’s rights”, the internalization of rape culture is reflected in our society every day, and the
examples are endless (Ridgway, 2014) . A Canadian university that allows the following
orientation chant: “Y is for your sister. O is for oh-so-tight. U is for underage. N is for no
consent. G is for grab that ass” (Ridgway, 2014), or Reddit threads with titles like “You just have
to make sure she’s dead” when linking to the story of a 13-year-old girl in Pakistan being raped
and buried alive (Ridgway, 2015), which both serve as disgusting evidence for how rape culture
permeates our society at individual, one-on-one levels, as well as in institutionalized ways.
The construction of all these values and internalized beliefs about sex, gender, race and
rape, are all social. They are produced and reinforced by people themselves. There is nothing
natural about the behaviours and hierarchies described here. (Ruth, 1995). As put by Sheila
Ruth, in her writing “Images of Women in Patriarchy-The masculine defined Women,” everything
known in our history, has been written through the males lens; meaning males were in control of
the processes of creating and distributing information, so seldom has anything of the past been
recorded without a bias of maleness and absence of female input and opinion. (p.104-107, 1995)
Through this, the female gender was depicted a certain way, as was the male. Females were (are)
labeled with non-threatening, subservient and “inferior” traits, such as quiet, soft, fragile,
compassionate, nurturing, and naturally smaller and weaker gender, and taught to be that way.
Males, on the other hand, were given what could be called “warrior traits”, such as; aggressive,
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strong, master or commanding, all of which are deemed superior to the feminine traits (Ruth, p.
104-107, 1995). The key idea here is that they are not anything people come by naturally. They
are socially constructed into being the norm. For emphasis on this concept, Patricia Collins
eloquently describes this, in terms of not just sexism, but racism as well. Racism, sexism and
heterosexism all use institutional mechanisms to maintain and enforce racial and sexual
hierarchies (Collins, 2004), which are the same structures upon which rape culture stands. When
ideologies that defend racism/sexism/heterosexism become taken for granted and appear natural,
which happens through the use of purposeful tactics like propagating dehumanization of deviant
groups, inevitably they become hegemonic (Collins, 2004). This relies on binary thinking to
produce, using oppositional categories, such as white vs. black, man vs. women, hetero vs.
homosexual, to create a norm. In most of, if not all, recent history, the “norm” has been; white,
masculine, heterosexual (Collins, 2004). Deviants of the norm must be stigmatized into
oppression for this system to work, which is exactly what we see in rape culture.
When not understood through the lens of social processes, rape culture is denied and the
incidents are constructed as ambiguous. But when viewed in the context of gender/sex and/or
race, it is impossible to deny the reality of its existence and the vast inequalities produced by it.
Rape culture affects men and women, hetero and homosexuals, caucasian and people of color,
and all other manners of contrived dualisms and real identities, by retaining these institutional
mechanisms that are harmful and detrimental to everyone in society.
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References
Burt, M. (1980). Cultural Myths and Supports for Rape. Journal of Personality and Social
Psychology. Vol. 38, No. 2, 217-230. Retrieved from
http://www.illinoisjltp.com/sources/Daum/11_Martha%20R.%20Burt,%20Cultural%20.p
df
Collins, P. (2004). Prisons for our Bodies, closets for our Minds. Routledge.
Dewey, C. (2014 October 14). The only guide to Gamergate you will ever need to read. [Article]
Retrieved from
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-intersect/wp/2014/10/14/the-only-guide-to-ga
mergate-you-will-ever-need-to-read/
Newcomb, E. (2013 March 25). Beyond Steubenville: Rape Culture and Complicity. [Article]
retrieved from
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/christandpopculture/2013/03/beyond-steubenville-rape-cul
ture-and-complicity/
Ridgway, S. (2014 March 10). 25 Everyday Examples of Rape Culture. [Article] Retrieved from
http://everydayfeminism.com/2014/03/examples-of-rape-culture/
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Ruth, S. (1995). The Image of Women in Patriarchy-the Masculine Defined Women. p. 104-107.
Theriault, A. ( 2015 October 19). Rape Culture: What It Is and How It Works. [Article]
Retrieved from
http://goodmenproject.com/featured-content/rape-culture-what-it-is-and-how-it-works/
Timbang, N. (2007). Why Do We Have to Talk About Racism? Connections, Vol IX, No.2.
p.7-10. Retrieved from
http://www.wcsap.org/sites/www.wcsap.org/files/uploads/documents/RacismandARapce
Culture2007r1.pdf
Wikia. (n.d.). Geek Feminism Wiki. Rape Culture. Retrieved from
http://geekfeminism.wikia.com/wiki/Rape_culture
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