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Rape Culture:
Examining It and Medias Role in It

By

Mia White
Ms. J Robotham
Period 4
March 31, 2016

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Outline

I.

Introduction: Media negatively affects society with its portrayal of sexual violence
towards women and encourages an environment conducive to rape culture through the
promotion of certain narratives.
a) Context: Engages the reader to think critically about how the media can influence
their attitudes towards rape, sexual violence, and women.
b) Thesis Statement: Media has a direct effect on societies perception of sexual
violence towards women and encourages an environment of rape culture through
certain narratives.
c) Background: Rape culture includes complex set of beliefs that encourage male
sexual aggression and or apathy and supports sexual violence against females.
Actions displayed in media, where violence is perceived as somehow sexy and
sexuality as having/needing a violent component, often fester such ideas.

I. Topic Sentence 1: Exploring the term rape culture and what it means
a) Defined by women
b) Defined by men
c) As portrayed in the media
II.

III.

Topic Sentence 2: Causality of female exploitation

a) Sexual objectification in the public eye
b) Exploitation in mass media forums
c) Womens responses
Topic Sentence 3: Consequences in legal proceedings
a) Juror bias
b) Victim blaming

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c) Statistically speaking

Conclusion: Media has a direct effect on societies perception of sexual violence towards
women. The medias often negligent portrayals of sexual violence allow for a festering of a rape
culture. Women and men vary in their responses to this phenomenon but both are negatively
affected. The constant exposure to media causes this issue to affect our very own legal systems.
Perceived societal acceptance of female exploitation may account for the medias acquiescence
in not standing more forcefully against such beliefs and explain the degree of disapproval seen in
womans general responses to such inaction

Rape Culture:
Examining It and Medias Role in It

Allen Ginsberg once said, Whoever controls the media, controls the culture. As media
is defined as all main means of mass communication (especially television, radio, newspapers,
and the Internet), it would make sense that something with such a large reach would have such a
significant impact. For most people, the media has a significant influence on their world view,
impacting how they interact with others and how they interpret things they encounter on a daily
basis. Sociologists have coined a term, mediated culture, describing this phenomenon wherein

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media reflects and creates the culture. One area in which this dual relationship is pronounced is
that of sexuality and the perceptions surrounding it. Media has a direct effect on societies
perception of sexual violence towards women and encourages and environment of rape culture
through certain narratives.
Mass media covers a wide array of topics for both informational and entertainment
purposes, including sexual assault. Sexual assault is defined as sexual contact inflicted upon a
person without consent or one incapable of giving consent. In the U.S. alone, there are about
293,000 victims of sexual assault every year (Statistics." RAINN). With that in mind, 68% of
all assaults are never reported to legal authorities. With such staggering figures its quite evident
how prevalent of an issue it is within society and by extension, the culture. With so many
different formats covering such a sensitive topic, negative connotations are bound to be attached
to the topic, if incorrectly handled.
As mediated culture dictates, media is a direct reflection of its culture while also helping
to shape it. While mass media has a large reach while covering many different topics it is hard to
ensure that it is not perpetuating harmful or negative ideas. This is often the case with coverage
of sexual assault, whether it be of news reporting or fictional accounts. Those who consume the
uninformed media then in turn accept what they are being shown, applying it into their own
beliefs, and then perpetuating these harmful ideas themselves, creating a cycle of sexual
violence.
The negative influence media has on the perception of sexual assault, its victims, and
even more specifically women themselves manifest itself into what is called rape culture. Rape
culture is a term coined by feminists, those who believe in the political, economic, and social
equality of the sexes, during the 1970s. It is defined as a complex set of beliefs that encourage

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male sexual aggression and supports violence against women (WAVAW). In a rape culture news
coverage of sexual assault repeatedly shows empathy toward the perpetrators, often men, while
placing the blame of their own assault on the victim. This further allows impunity towards the
perpetrator while making current and future victims less likely to report their attacks.
Rape culture is so complex that is also harms men, those who are personally victims of
sexual assault and those who arent. Men in a society plagued with an attitude of insensitivity
towards sexual assault are subjected to what is called toxic masculinity. This is a term referring
to socially constructed attitudes that men are inherently violent, unemotional, and sexually
aggressive (The Routledge Companion to Media & Gender."). This is a harmful ideology for
young boys, causing some to develop an insensitivity to sexual aggression and a skewed
perception of feminine worth. This is also harmful to male victims of sexual assault; society
looks down upon them because it is expected that their naturally aggressive sexual nature would
cause them to be able to fight off an attacker or actually enjoy the assault, they are shamed into
silence.
With the belief that men are inherently sexually aggressive comes the belief that women
are meant to supply the outlet for that aggression. This is played out frequently on television or
in movies by common tropes that suggest women are not intelligent enough to know whats good
for them, including unwanted sexual advances. Or that a woman has such an unsavory character
that she somehow deserves the sexual assault she receives. In these instances, the woman is
reduced to nothing but her sexuality and her worth judged solely by the men around her.
In a rape culture women are seen as tools for men to express their sexual aggression
towards and through. This is highlighted in the constant sexual objectification of women in the
media. Some women do find empowerment in taking their sexual liberation into their own hands

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but that is in stark contrast to actual objectification. Sexual objectification gives the impression
that women are simply meant to serve sexual pleasure, dehumanizing them. The concept of
reducing women to their sex while subjecting negative stereotypes upon them is so prevalent the
basis of every attack towards women. No matter her level of accomplishments her femininity,
sexuality, attractiveness, and usefulness are measured in degrading base terms. This is so
blatantly highlighted in the Michael Bay movie, Transformers. In this film Megan Fox plays the
female love interest. In one of the earliest scenes of the movie she uses her automotive
knowledge to fix the male leads vehicle, something he couldnt do himself. Instead of the scene
highlighting her stereotypically male talents, it is spent with the camera panning her scantily clad
body. This is a continued theme through the movie.

Once a woman is completely dehumanized and seen as a sex object that is where her
worth is measured. This ties into women in media in every format. A young woman attempting to
have a career in the public eye is advised to allow herself to be exploited. To allow herself to be
stripped of her identity and sold as a sexual entity is seen as the norm. When constant images of
women devalued and degraded are consumed by the masses it begins to influence the way they
see women in their own lives. Sexual violence begins to become to seem less sensationalized
when you can separate the victim from their humanity. It is also harmful to women in the way
they view themselves, they may develop negative body complexes and begin tying their selfworth to their sexuality.
Studies have shown that viewing images of objectified women
gives men greater tolerance for sexual harassment and

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greater rape myth acceptance, and helps them view women as

less competent and less human. (Clapp)
The act of treating a woman as nothing more than a body causes her to see herself as
nothing more than that. Survivors of sexual assault tend to report feelings and behaviors
consistent with the effects of objectification. These effects cause survivors to feel body shame
and feelings of disgust with ones body. Women and girls who are constantly bombarded with
objectifying images are likely to treat their own bodies as objects. They are taught to internalize
an observers perspective of their own body.
The ideal conditions under which legal proceedings occur under are with a jury of
nonbiased people able to evaluate the information given to them without letting prejudice dictate
their decisions. When they are unable to it is considered juror misconduct and a mistrial is called.
If a person lives in a society where sexual violence is seen as something inevitable they are
bound to have juror bias in terms of cases dealing with sexual assault.
More specifically, we propose that jurors rape culture
consistent schemas and scripts lead them to engage in
nonconscious, one-sided case building process known as
confirmation bias. (p. 1074 Albany Law Review)
Jurors are more likely to endorse flawed beliefs about rape and sexually objectify the victims
while also questioning the validity of evidence and victims testimony.
Victim blaming is a terrible consequence of rape culture, in which the victim of sexually
violent crime is held responsible. This includes questioning the victims validity, their
background, their judgement, and their actions leading up to the assault. A defense attorney for
the aggressor in a sexual assault case may use just this tactic in court to prove their clients

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innocence. This tactic is a prime example of defendants attempting to justify the actions of their
client. In a rape culture these violent ideologies are so permissive, when a victim is attacked,
their persons is up for attack.
Out of every 100 reported cases of sexual assaults, 7 result in arrest, 3 of which are
referred to prosecutors, only 2 of which receive any jail time (RAINN). Such skewed numbers
cant help but indicate an issue within the legal system itself. These low conviction rates are just
a further extension of victim blaming. Rape culture allows for a lack of accountability by the
perpetrator.
Media has a direct effect on societies perception of sexual violence towards women. The
medias often negligent portrayals of sexual violence allow for a festering of a rape culture.
Women and men vary in their responses to this phenomenon but both are negatively affected.
The constant exposure to media causes this issue to affect our very own legal systems. Perceived
societal acceptance of female exploitation may account for the medias acquiescence in not
standing more forcefully against such beliefs and explain the degree of disapproval seen in
womans general responses to such inaction. Now that the depth of medias impact and influence
on perceptions on sexual assault and everything dealing with it have been examined, society
needs to consciously fight against those harmful ideologies.

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Work Cited
Fuchs, Erin, Kelley, Michael B., and Gus Lubin, Social media Makes Teen Rape More Traumatic
Than Ever, www.businessinsider.com, 2013, Web. Feb. 19. 2016
Herman, Dianna F., The Rape Culture, (Mountain View CA: Mayfield 1984), Women 4
Feminist Perspective, 1984, Web, Feb. 22. 2016
Hildebrand, Meagen M., Najdowski, Cynthia J., THE POTENTIAL IMPACT OF RAPE
CULTURE ON JUROR DECSION MAKING: IMPLICATIONS FOR WRONGFUL
ACQUITTALS IN SEXUAL ASSAULT TRIALS, Albany Law School ,Albany Law
Review, 2015, Web, Feb. 20.2016
Kuhn, Alison, The Role Media Plays in Shaping Our Media Culture, Iris Magazine, 2014, Feb.
22. 2016

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Malamuth, N.M and J. Briere, Sexual Violence in the Media: Indirect Effects on Aggression
against Women, Journal of Social Issues, Web, Feb. 19.2016
Rape Culture and Statistics, https://wearawhitefeather.wordpress.com/survivors/rape-culturestatistics/, Web, Feb. 20. 2016
Weisz, Monica G.; Earls, Christopher M., THE EFFECTS OF EXPOSURE TO FILMED
SEXUAL VIOLENCE ON ATTITUDES TOWARD RAPE, Journal of Interpersonal
Violence, Database, Feb.19.2016
Wright, Paul J., Tokunanga, Robert S., Mens Objectifying Media Consumption, Objectification
of Women, and Attitudes Supportive of Violence Against Women , Archives of Sexual
Behavior, 2015, Database, Feb. 19.2016
"Statistics." RAINN. N.p., n.d. Web. <https%3A%2F%2Frainn.org%2Fstatistics>.
"What Is Rape Culture?" WAVAW Women Against Violence Against Women. Women against
Violence against Women, n.d. Web. 01 Apr. 2016. <http://www.wavaw.ca/what-is-rapeculture/>.
Wood, Julia T. "The Routledge Companion to Media & Gender." (2011): n. pag. Nyu.edu. Web.
<https://www.nyu.edu/classes/jackson/causes.of.gender.inequality/Readings/Wood%20%20Gendered%20Media%20-%2094.pdf>.
"Reporting Rates | RAINN |." Reporting Rates | RAINN | Rape, Abuse and Incest National
Network. RAINN, n.d. Web. 01 Apr. 2016. <https://rainn.org/getinformation/statistics/reporting-rates>.