What is rape culture and how it is perpetuated through university policies
This post is definitely way overdue. While this blog isn’t prone to getting comments, I am sure there have been some readers who have seen our tagline: Individuals dedicated to exposing the perpetuation of rape culture at Tufts University at the hands of the administration and wondered “What the heck is rape culture?” Thankfully to an AMAZING POST at Shakesville (trigger warning), Melissa McEwan has shared with us a long and very accurate list of what rape culture is. In Transforming a Rape Culture, the definition of given is
A rape culture is a complex of beliefs that encourages male sexual aggression and supports violence against women. It is a society where violence is seen as sexy and sexuality as violent. In a rape culture, women perceive a continuum of threatened violence that ranges from sexual remarks to sexual touching to rape itself. A rape culture condones physical and emotional terrorism against women as the norm.
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.
For me, defining rape culture is like one of those words that you KNOW what it is, but then when someone asks you directly what it is your words fail you. But now we have a reference! To be honest, the quotation above is merely a tip of the iceberg.
I think to truly get a better grasp of how pervasive rape culture is in ALL of our daily lives one has to read the list of examples listed at Shakesville. I admit that it is kind of long, but it is something that sucked me in from the beginning. As I read through the post I saw so many points that I personally identified with and while my horror and disgust at our society increased I cannot deny that this is all stuff that I have found true.
The worst part is that a few examples triggered memories of what I have heard from Tufts administration – whether it is directly said to me or done to me or said to the greater community or some that I know.
“Rape culture is telling girls and women to be careful about what you wear, how you wear it, how you carry yourself, where you walk, when you walk there, with whom you walk, whom you trust, what you do, where you do it, with whom you do it, what you drink, how much you drink, whether you make eye contact, if you’re alone, if you’re with a stranger, if you’re in a group, if you’re in a group of strangers, if it’s dark, if the area is unfamiliar, if you’re carrying something, how you carry it, what kind of shoes you’re wearing in case you have to run, what kind of purse you carry, what jewelry you wear, what time it is, what street it is, what environment it is, how many people you sleep with, what kind of people you sleep with, who your friends are, to whom you give your number, who’s around when the delivery guy comes, to get an apartment where you can see who’s at the door before they can see you, to check before you open the door to the delivery guy, to own a dog or a dog-sound-making machine, to get a roommate, to take self-defense, to always be alert always pay attention always watch your back always be aware of your surroundings and never let your guard down for a moment lest you be sexually assaulted and if you are and didn’t follow all the rules it’s your fault.”
Rape culture can be so subtle because it is a part of every day life that those who may be playing a hand in its perpetuation can’t notice it. The examples in that quotation are often details that particular administration members would concentrate on when asking survivors about their attacks. Asking what one wore that night is NOT important relevant details.
Rape culture is the idea that only certain people rape—and only certain people get raped. Rape culture is ignoring that the thing about rapists is that they rape people. They rape people who are strong and people who are weak, people who are smart and people who are dumb, people who fight back and people who submit just to get it over with, people who are sluts and people who are prudes, people who rich and people who are poor, people who are tall and people who are short, people who are fat and people who are thin, people who are blind and people who are sighted, people who are deaf and people who can hear, people of every race and shape and size and ability and circumstance.
I shouldn’t hear comments from the people in charge about what kind of student I am or how “well behaved” I must be because I never had any disciplinary troubles beforehand. The reputation of both students need to be kept irrelevant. Survivors often don’t pursue any charges against their rapist (through on or off campus methods) due to how prominent they may be on campus. Students who work closely with the Dean of Undergraduate Education should not be exempt from being held accountable for raping.
Rape culture is pervasive insistence that false reports are common, although they are less common (1.6%) than false reports of auto theft (2.6%). Rape culture is pervasive claims that women make rape accusations willy-nilly, when 61% of rapes remain unreported.
Rape culture is the pervasive narrative that a rape victim who reports hir rape is readily believed and well-supported, instead of acknowledging that reporting a rape is a huge personal investment, a difficult process that can be embarrassing, shameful, hurtful, frustrating, and too often unfulfilling. Rape culture is ignoring that there is very little incentive to report a rape; it’s a terrible experience with a small likelihood of seeing justice served.
Rape culture is the fact that higher incidents of rape tend to correlate with lower conviction rates.
Rape culture is the Judicial Affairs Office repeatedly asking a survivor if she’s sure if she’s raped…if she isnt sure there was a misunderstanding. Asking if perhaps they could just let the “incident” slide. Rape culture is the administration HESITATING … waiting … thinking… holding multiple meetings before even THINKING about investigating whether a survivor’s report of rape are true. Rape culture is promptly punishing a stupid for cheating (with only one person’s word against the other), but stepping away from sexual misconduct because its “he said/she said”.
Rape culture is the pervasive narrative that there is a “typical” way to behave after being raped, instead of the acknowledgment that responses to rape are as varied as its victims, that, immediately following a rape, some women go into shock; some are lucid; some are angry; some are ashamed; some are stoic; some are erratic; some want to report it; some don’t; some will act out; some will crawl inside themselves; some will have healthy sex lives; some never will again.
Rape culture is refusing to offer a survivor support after an attack and then expelling them after not doing well in school. Rape culture is having a university give a time limit as to when a survivor should be “over” what happened to them, but never reaching out to them to ask if they’re okay.
Rape culture is silence around rape in the national discourse, and in rape victims’ homes. Rape culture is treating surviving rape as something of which to be ashamed. Rape culture is families torn apart because of rape allegations that are disbelieved or ignored or sunk to the bottom of a deep, dark sea in an iron vault of secrecy and silence.
Rape culture is Tufts sending out an alert about attempted robberies, but Tufts refusing to send out emails when students are raped on campus even though it is required BY LAW. Rape culture is the administration treating like rape on campus is like a DIRTY LITTLE SECRET that should be hidden and not be publicized at all. By treating rape as a dirty little secret, they are telling the survivors that they’re dirty little secrets that should be swept under the rug. Rape culture is administration members caring more about their jobs and protecting the reputation of a university than the fact they are contributing to traumatizing and ruining the lives of survivors. Rape culture is letting rapists graduate with a Tufts degree just so an institution doesn’t potentially fall in a magazine college ranking.
Rape culture is pretending that non-physical sexual assaults, like peeping tomming, is totally unrelated to brutal and physical sexual assaults, rather than viewing them on a continuum of sexual assault.
Rape culture is diminishing the gravity of any sexual assault, attempted sexual assault, or culture of actual or potential coercion in any way.
Rape culture is asking if there were any threats or weapons involved and then reacting that the attack isn’t as serious due to the absence of both.
Rape culture is alive and well at Tufts University. There could be a perfect policy written in the Pachyderm, but if every Tufts employee that is involved is not properly trained they are continuing rape culture in society from their attitudes, behaviors, ignorance, and questions. Implementation is just as important, if not more.
