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| - Rape culture is a term used to describe the normalization of sexual assault in a society. Wikipedia describes rape culture thus: "... a culture in which rape and other sexual violence (usually against women and gender diverse peoples ) are common and in which prevalent attitudes, norms, practices, and media condone, normalize, excuse, or encourage sexualized violence."
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| abstract
| - Rape culture is a term used to describe the normalization of sexual assault in a society. Wikipedia describes rape culture thus: "... a culture in which rape and other sexual violence (usually against women and gender diverse peoples ) are common and in which prevalent attitudes, norms, practices, and media condone, normalize, excuse, or encourage sexualized violence." It frequently includes objectifying women or portraying social relations as a "war of the sexes", both of which lead to dehumanization . Dehumanization, in turn, leads to sexual violence against victims being condoned as they are mentally considered "objects" instead of "a fellow human" . In this way, sexism that does not explicitly deal with rape can still contribute to rape culture, especially if the sexism implies that women are primarily or exclusively valued for their desirability to heterosexual men, or that sexual relationships follow a predator/prey model. We can as well see this from the point of view of rigidity of gender roles in a society. Whenever a society prescribes rigid gender roles, then it commits itself to disrespect for gender diverse roles. This amounts to objectification of the body and therefore any culture that prescribes rigid gender roles is a rape culture. This same dynamic of the dehumanization of femininity contributes to defensive homophobia and violence by men against men perceived to be insufficiently masculine. By cultural definition, male victims of rape have been feminized and, just like female victims, are thus erased, ignored ,or deemed unimportant. (Male victims are sometimes brought up in an attempt to derail conversations about rape culture by people seeking to invalidate the concept. These detractors are often unaware that misogyny underlies crimes of sexual dominance against men as well as women.) Rape Culture affects every woman. The rape of one woman is a degradation, terror, and limitation to all women. Most women and girls limit their behavior because of the existence of rape. Most women and girls live in fear of rape. Men, in general, do not. That’s how rape functions as a powerful means by which the whole female population is held in a subordinate position to the whole male population, even though many men don’t rape, and many women are never victims of rape. This cycle of fear is the legacy of Rape Culture.
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