Rape Culture?

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Theresa

Do you have the citations for the articles you mention--especially the
Susan Erlich?

sara murphy
sem2  @  is4.nyu.edu

The term "rape culture" is used by Eleanor R. Hall and Patricia J. Flannery
in their article "Prevalence and Correlates of Sexual Assault Experiences
in Adolescents". Victimology: An International Journal 1984, vol.9, numbers
3-4:398-406, p.404. The article represents a study of urban midwestern
adolescents. barbara watsopn

Maria-Barbara Watson-Franke, Ph.D.
Department of Women's Studies
San Diego State University
San Diego, CA 92182
mbwatson  @  mail.sdsu.edu

Ehrlich, Susan (1998) The discursive construction of
sexual consent.  Discourse & Society 9 149-171

Kitzinger, Celia & Frith, Hannah (1999) Just say no?
the use of conversation analysis ni developing a feminist
perspective on sexual refusal.  Discourse & Society
10 293-316

Theresa Conefrey
conefrey  @  hawaii.edu

On Mon, 13 Mar 2000, Theresa Conefrey wrote:

> And another question about definitions:  In a long-term relationship,
> such as between a couple who had been married for many years,
> is it considered rape where the husband wants intercourse but the wife
> does not, although she finally gives in and goes along with it?  Here
> I'm thinking of the old "lie back and think of England" attitude.  In such
> situations, I'm assuming that most women would not label this experience
> rape.

Interesting question...It seems to me that, in long-term relationships,
both women and men often do lots of things, including engaging in
"unwanted" sexual intercourse occasionally, but "think of England" to
please their partners. In Edward O. Laumann et al., _The Social
Organization of Sexuality: Sexual Practices in the United States_ (U of
Chicago Press, 1994), the researchers define rape--including marital
rape--as coerced/forced. Using this definition, they found that 9 percent
of the female respondents reported having been (ever) forced to have sex
with a spouse. Very high percentage, of course, but different from "I'm
not in the mood right now," methinks, and shouldn't be labeled as rape.

niki
 ---------------------------------------------------------
Nijole (Niki) Benokraitis, Professor of Sociology
University of Baltimore, 1420 N. Charles St., Baltimore, MD 21201
Fax: 410-837-6051; Voicemail: 410-837-5294; nbenokraitis  @  ubmail.ubalt.edu
----------------------------------------------------------

What I find problematic is the term 'rape culture' itself,
as I think it can be misconstrued.   I believe the term is
meant to describe the 'culture' of rape, as with 'eskimo
culture', for instance, analyzing the lives, social context,
beliefs, etc that enable this 'culture' to exist.  But there is
another meaning that is conveyed by this term, and that
is that we live in a 'rape culture', just as we live in a
consumer society or an information society.  And if the
term is meant to convey that, or even if it's not, I don't
believe it is a good one to use.  Unlike the 'information'
or 'consumer' culture that we live in, not everyone has
experienced rape, or anything that might pass for rape,
nor are their lives regulated by it.  And unlike eskimo
culture, rape is widespread and not confined to a limited
area.  So it the term 'culture' that I question.  There's a lot
of truth in the web pages on 'rape culture' which cannot be
dismissed, but calling it 'rape culture' suggests that rape
will happen to everyone.  If it were called 'rape theory'
it might be more appropriate, as it would limit it to rape.

Liz Stanley refers to the 'drive reduction approach' ,  I
don't know the original source of that term or what exactly
is meant by it, but it seems to me it expresses more
accurately what is going on in our sexualized society, and
probably expresses better the aim of most men, which is to
satisfy, or reduce, their sex drive.  And if it is accepted that
men do have this insatiable drive, (whether biological,
hormonal or psychosocial or a combination), then women
also are a part of this dynamic, and their experiences are
diverse.  Some experience rape, some have good sex,
some use their sexual power to get what they want from
men, and so on.  It is a term that does not suggest that all
women are negatively affected within a sexualized
environment, neither does it suggest that all men are
potential rapists.

Sue McPherson
email: sue  @  mcphersons.freeserve.co.uk

I do like Sue's considered and thoughtful response.

I would consider, however, that we live in a world of many subcultures,
not all of which have equal hold on us (certainly not equal hold in all
places and at all times).  And one of those subcultures incorporates
those themes of hegemonic masculinity, power, and violence which
validate rape.  It's not that we all experience that (sub)culture
equally; but that there are parts of society/culture where those values
and behaviors are validated and reinforced.  Those would include (but
not be limited to) certain drinking extablishments (some campus bars,
the situation depicted in "The Accused"); certain social fraternity rush
weeks and parties (well documented in the literature); neighborhoods,
ethnicities, even nationalities which support traditional patriarchial
views that the woman is the "property" of her husband.  Etc.

There are also numerous articles which show that rape myths (she really
enjoyed it, she dressed in such a manner that she's asking for it, etc.)
validate and reinforce the rape subculture.

At the times and places where that (sub) culture is reinforced, rape
behaviors are validated, giving permission to engage in rape.

An analogy:  yes, we live in a consumer culture, as Sue notes.  But
there are periods of our life when the demands of that culture are
activated more, and times when those demands are activated less, or even
suspended for a time.  For example:  When we act altruistically and in a
caring manner, we suspend the requirements of a consumer culture.

While we might refine the parameters of what we mean by "rape culture,"
it is still a useful term to refer to those values in society which are
more prevalent in some situations than others which validate and give
permission for rape behaviors.

I have many problems with the "drive reduction approach" which Sue
favors.   To quote Sue "it probably expresses better the aim of most
men, which is to satisfy, or reduce, their sex drive."  No, no, no.
Studies on rape consistently state that rape is "bad sex."  Even serial
rapists, who rape women they don't know, say that.  Rather, rape is
about power, about the ability of the rapists to impose their will on
the person being raped.  If they wanted to reduce their sex drive, they
could (to be blunt) masturbate.

Furthermore, the term "drive reduction approach" focuses on the
individual person (typically though not always male) who has a problem
within himself; and focuses on the rapist as a pathological individual.
 The material on date rape shows that the typical date rapist is
handsome, popular, sexually active - having sex but thinking he is
deserving of more.  It also shows that we cannot differentiate date
rapists in terms of internal personality characteristics.  That leaves
us with the option of looking at those aspects in the larger culture
which validate rape in a social and cultural context.

Sanaday's "rape free" society is stated not to exist.  But her
discussion of "rape free" and "rape prone" societies is instrumental in
allowing us to understand a sociocultural millieu which mitigates
against or in favor of rape.  And "rape culture" is a valid attempt to
look at those cultural values which support and reinforce rape
behaviors.

Mary L. Ertel, Associate Professor, Sociology
Central Connecticut State University, New Britain, CT   ertel  @  ccsu.edu

i would further suggest that sue revisit the early margaret bacon
studies (rutgers mid-to-late 70s)--i happened to be in her graduate
psychological anthropology class when she began recruiting subjects for
a (then thought by the academy to be silly) rape study, and one of those
who volunteered...

before the study itself even began, dr. bacon had confirmed the
concrete, totally unexpected, startled-the-research-world finding of how
prevalent the experience was--turned out for starters that almost all
the women in the class volunteered, as i had!

i would suggest that NON-exposure to rape (and, men who do NOT rape) is
the exceptional subcultural phenomenon in american society, and that
identifiable environmental factors (both sociocultural and locational)
"protect" (or, "isolate") some subcategories of women from this
experience, in the same way some subgroups of women are "protected" or
"isolated" from poverty or glass ceilings or gender bias despite their
prevalence for women as a group and legitimate designations as part of
the overall "character" of the culture--or, conversely, we can
legitimately label ours a "gun" culture even though there are
subcategories of men who abhor guns and violence (also with identifiable
causes of this "deviance")...

debbie <louis  @  umbc.edu>

In 1975, Cambridge Documentary Films, produced a film titled "Rape
Culture." It included: interviews with women from rape crisis centers,
women who had been raped,  male prisoners working against rape inside the
prisons, authors and philosophers, Mary Daly and Emily Culpepper and an
analysis of  media and culture starting with the movie "Gone With the Wind"
and other movie to an analysis of Hustler magazine--focussing on popular
myths about rape, particularly that women say "no" and mean "yes."  This
film was our second title, after "Taking Our Bodies Back: The Women's
Health Movement" and it was very extensively used in women's studies
throughout the United States and at internation feminist conferences.  In
the 80's we updated many parts of the film and included material from
N.Y.Women Against Rape, Take Back the Night marches and the Big Dan rape
trial. The term "rape culture" came out of long discussion that we had
about exactly what we were trying to illustrate in the documentary and to
my recollection it was the first time it was used.  Subsequently we saw
articles and book titles using this phrase.  If anyone has any other
information about the term we would be most interested.  Thank you,
Margaret Lazarus for Cambridge Documentary.

Cambridge Documentary Films, Inc.
P.O. Box 390385 Cambridge, MA 02139-0004
ph (617)484-3993  fx (617)484-0754
www.shore.net/~cdf
cdf  @  shore.net

Mary L Ertel wrote:

[snip]
>At the times and places where that (sub) culture is reinforced, rape
>behaviors are validated, giving permission to engage in rape.
>
>An analogy:  yes, we live in a consumer culture, as Sue notes.  But
>there are periods of our life when the demands of that culture are
>activated more, and times when those demands are activated less, or even
>suspended for a time.  For example:  When we act altruistically and in a
>caring manner, we suspend the requirements of a consumer culture.


I still cannot agree with the use of the term 'rape culture', and
the implication that all* women are affected.  And even the use
of the term subculture somehow doesn't capture what is going
on.  In a consumer culture, and information culture, we are
immersed in it and cannot escape it no matter what.  Rape is
not comparable.  Rape is just one aspect of a 'culture of
violence'. Just like 'spending' is one aspect of a 'consumer
society'.

[snip]>
>I have many problems with the "drive reduction approach" which Sue
>favors.   To quote Sue "it probably expresses better the aim of most
>men, which is to satisfy, or reduce, their sex drive."  No, no, no.
>Studies on rape consistently state that rape is "bad sex."  Even serial
>rapists, who rape women they don't know, say that.  Rather, rape is
>about power, about the ability of the rapists to impose their will on
>the person being raped.  If they wanted to reduce their sex drive, they
>could (to be blunt) masturbate.


If these rapists say it is about sex, shouldn't we be listening
to them?  Maybe not all rapists are the same.  Maybe some
rapes are about drive reduction (they just want sex).  Are all
men who rape the same?

The focus of my argument was the term 'rape culture', which I
do not see as a metatheory.  I do think that drive reduction
theory would reflect better what is going on in society.


>Furthermore, the term "drive reduction approach" focuses on the
>individual person (typically though not always male) who has a problem
>within himself; and focuses on the rapist as a pathological individual.


You know the theory then, do you?  I came across  the term,
and put my own meaning on it.  As I mentioned in my previous
message, men's sex drive has biological, social, psychological
and hormonal aspects to it.  The 'personal' part of it is what the
individual does with this drive.

[snip]
>
>Sanaday's "rape free" society is stated not to exist.  But her
>discussion of "rape free" and "rape prone" societies is instrumental in
>allowing us to understand a sociocultural millieu which mitigates
>against or in favor of rape.  And "rape culture" is a valid attempt to
>look at those cultural values which support and reinforce rape
>behaviors.


Then it would be preferable to call it 'rape theory'.

Sue McPherson
sue  @  mcphersons.freeserve.co.uk

Deborah,

I have to insist I don't believe 'rape culture' is a good
term to use.  Women can be protected from rape, to
some extent, but who can live not being affected by
this consumer, information society?

The analogy of 'gun culture' with 'rape culture' doesn't
work.  We live in a culture of violence, and guns (and
penises) can be used as weapons of violence.

Gun collectors argue that their guns are not used
for violent purposes, although guns can be.  Same
goes for penises.

Violence, whether by guns or penises is only part of the
story.  And the use of the term 'rape culture' does not
capture other elements of the use of penises.

Sue McPherson
sue  @  mcphersons.freeserve.co.uk
-----

>who can live not being affected by this consumer, information society?

the amish and several other orthodox religious sects.  families (yes
there are many) who voluntarily decline to own a tv, computer, and/or
credit cards. large areas of predominantly rural poor and voluntary
wilderness-dwellers. communities and individuals (there are many of
these too) who choose lifestyles and activities which purposely filter
out these stresses (i.e. structure input, environment and occupation so
that what is "received" is comprehensible, manageable, useful, and
healthful)...

surely, everyone is "affected" one way or another by these larger
contexts and dynamics (even in the active rejection them)--but in the
same way, those who are not direct subjects of rape or an immediate
environment of coercive violence still are in the structural position of
having to RESPOND TO them (as, taking conscious action to insure safety,
articulating opposing values/beliefs)--because they ARE the norm!...

debbie <louis  @  umbc.edu

Dear WMST-L:

Anyone who is involved in rape research should read the chapter,
"The Joy of Quickies" in John Gray's "Mars and Venus in the Bedroom".
It was a huge eye-opener for me, so much so that I told my story about
it in the January/February 2000 Feminista! article, "As Long As Men
Like Mr. Mars and Venus Exist:  How John Gray Helped Me Change My Mind
About the Feminists People Love to Hate".  The URL is:

http://www.feminista.com/v3n8/trigiani.html

Fundamentally, "Dr" Gray makes mincemeat of women's consent.  Since
Gray's books are so popular, I'm rather disturbed that relatively
few activists have used them to raise consciousness, for "Mars and Venus in
the Bedroom" is an excellent way to get people thinking about
the nature of woman's compliance in a patriarchal society.  Susan Hamson
and I are constantly raising consciousness on John Gray's advocacy of
"quickies".  Also, Annie Potts of the University
of Auckland wrote a wonderful analysis of the Mars&Venus cult in "The
Science/Fiction of Sex" (Sexualities, Vol. 1(2)).  Since we were not
able to get the article posted on the web, I wrote a brief summary of it:

http://web2.airmail.net/ktrig246/out_of_cave/potts.html

Concerning the term, rape culture, I don't use it because it implies that
there is no Gray Area (pun intended!) regarding consent.  We need to invent
new words which connote the fine lines between rape, complaint intercourse,
and consensual intercourse.

Kathleen Trigiani
ktrig246  @  airmail.net

*********************************************
"Out of the Cave:  Exploring Gray's Anatomy"
http://web2.airmail.net/ktrig246/out_of_cave/
You Don't Have to Settle For Mars&Venus!

>What I find problematic is the term 'rape culture' itself,
>as I think it can be misconstrued.  [snip]  But there is
>another meaning that is conveyed by this term, and that
>is that we live in a 'rape culture', just as we live in a
>consumer society or an information society.  And if the
>term is meant to convey that, or even if it's not, I don't
>believe it is a good one to use.  Unlike the 'information'
>or 'consumer' culture that we live in, not everyone has
>experienced rape, or anything that might pass for rape,
>nor are their lives regulated by it.

I haven't experienced rape (though who knows, if I hadn't succeeded in
facing down attackers on several occasions) but I have experienced rape
culture and my life has been influenced by a society awash in rape, rape
images, and rape denial. Which everyone is affected by, I think. Probably
much more, in fact, than the "information culture" affects illiterate
people in poverty or unwired folks.

  And unlike eskimo
>culture, rape is widespread and not confined to a limited
>area.  So it the term 'culture' that I question.

In that case, we will have to also stop using terms like "pop culture,"
"computer culture," and so on. I don't see why culture is necessarily
confined to limited areas. In fact, hip hop and many other kinds of
culture, including religions, are international, even though they have
regional variations.

>Liz Stanley refers to the 'drive reduction approach' ,  I
>don't know the original source of that term or what exactly
>is meant by it, but it seems to me it expresses more
>accurately what is going on in our sexualized society, and
>probably expresses better the aim of most men, which is to
>satisfy, or reduce, their sex drive.

The term you propose says nothing about the hostility, violence, rage and
subjugation that characterize the pattern of rape in modern societies.
(Anyhow, it doesn't seem to be that uncommon for the rapist not to achieve
orgasm.) "Drive reduction" doesn't address the social inducements to rape
that exist in, say, fraternity or athlete rapes where sexual conquest
(literally) gives bragging rights. And it elevates the male sex drive to an
uncontrollable force, which seems to me to be an essential tenet of "rape
culture."

Max Dashu    Suppressed Histories Archives
 <maxdashu  @  lanminds.com>

Making a film about rape and calling it Rape Culture
is differerent than feminists putting forth a universal
academic theory attempting to explain social and
personal relations between men and women and
calling it Rape Culture.

Sue McPherson
sue  @  mcphersons.freeserve.co.uk

>
>I haven't experienced rape (though who knows, if I hadn't succeeded in
>facing down attackers on several occasions) but I have experienced rape
>culture and my life has been influenced by a society awash in rape, rape
>images, and rape denial. Which everyone is affected by, I think. Probably
>much more, in fact, than the "information culture" affects illiterate
>people in poverty or unwired folks.

But where do all these images about rape come from?  Probably
just as much from feminism as from patriarchal society.  And
what is the message going out from feminism? -   Look at this
excerpt from the pages on Rape Culture:

"The high incidence of rape in this country is a result of the power
imbalance between men and women. Women are expected to assume a subordinate
relationship to men. Consequently, rape can be seen as a logical extension
of the typical interactions between women and men. One way to analyze the
power relationship between men and women is by examining some of the common
social rules women are taught."

Rape is a "logical extension" of typical interactions between
men and women?  What this kind of statement is telling us
is that our interactions with men are governed by the fact that
any continued interaction will inevitably lead to rape.  This makes
it virtually impossible to carry on any relationship with men, if we
are constantly in fear of being raped.  It seems, from this quote,
that there can be no such thing as consensual sex.

Again, from the web pages:" RULE #5: Causal touching or
suggestive comments in social settings are meant as a tribute
to a woman's desirability".

As a matter of fact, I think such things - comments or touching -
can* be a tribute to women's desirability.  Not always, but they
can be.  They don't mean that someone necessarily is getting
ready to commit rape.

Web pages again: "Many women believe that being ogled by
a group of construction workers is nothing more than a form of
praise. Many sexual assaults, however, begin with a "harmless"
compliment or inquiry from a rapist. His comments are a way
of testing how accommodating the woman might be. The lack
of clarity about what constitutes insulting behavior and the
learned ambivalence women have about unwanted approaches
makes them vulnerable to sexual assault".

My thoughts on this: What can be worse than being ogled is not
being ogled at all!  But that depends on the situation.  Aren't some
of these "harmless compliments" just actually harmless compliments?

>In that case, we will have to also stop using terms like "pop culture,"
>"computer culture," and so on. I don't see why culture is necessarily
>confined to limited areas. In fact, hip hop and many other kinds of
>culture, including religions, are international, even though they have
>regional variations.


Pop culture, consumer culture and consumer culture all have
positive elements to them.  Even eskimos and mennonites
participate in consumer culture - taking the best of our world
and integrating it with their own culture.  There are good things
about pop culture, and bad things.  Can you say the same
about rape culture?  What is good about it?  It is one side -
it is half the story.  If we live in a rape culture, as described,
how can women ever have good relations with men, if all they
are doing in their interactions with us is preparing to rape us?

>The term you propose says nothing about the hostility, violence, rage and
>subjugation that characterize the pattern of rape in modern societies.
>(Anyhow, it doesn't seem to be that uncommon for the rapist not to achieve
>orgasm.) "Drive reduction" doesn't address the social inducements to rape
>that exist in, say, fraternity or athlete rapes where sexual conquest
>(literally) gives bragging rights. And it elevates the male sex drive to an
>uncontrollable force, which seems to me to be an essential tenet of "rape
>culture."

The term 'pop culture' says nothing about the things that
go on in that world either.  I would say that rape culture
theory does what you claim 'DRT' does, ie, elevate the male
sex drive to an uncontrollable force, by stating for instance
that the logical extension of interacting with men is rape.

Sue McPherson
sue  @  mcphersons.freeserve.co.uk

Sue McPherson wrote:

>Again, from the web pages:" RULE #5: Causal touching or
>suggestive comments in social settings are meant as a tribute
>to a woman's desirability".
>
>As a matter of fact, I think such things - comments or touching -
>can* be a tribute to women's desirability.  Not always, but they
>can be.  They don't mean that someone necessarily is getting
>ready to commit rape.

No, but it does mean that he has presumed a familiarity with the woman.
And when that is either premature or entirely inappropriate, the question is
why is it done and why is it to be considered a compliment?
Casual touching co-joins the person, whether it's done to a man or a woman.
It is a signal of dominance, possession, or affiliation. Yes, there are
variations, but we're talking about associates or veritable strangers in
social settings. The interesting aspect is that we see very little of this
when the would be recipient of such admiration is highly respected or in a
position of power. It is only done with one's intimates or to subordinates
and, in the case of a complete stranger, as a presumption of her status as
subordinate and less worthy of respect. Along these same lines are endearing
names, talking down to the woman as though she is a child, and casual
touching. None of this is considered appropriate when done to a perceived
superior. If this is culturally acceptable to most, the term culture
applies.

>
>Web pages again: "Many women believe that being ogled by
>a group of construction workers is nothing more than a form of
>praise. Many sexual assaults, however, begin with a "harmless"
>compliment or inquiry from a rapist.
>
>My thoughts on this: What can be worse than being ogled is not
>being ogled at all!

Personally, I don't care to be ogled and am not alone in that. Maybe there
would be more women with that perception if we didn't have a culture that
teaches girls that this is a compliment. It is annoying to be startled from
thought by a wolf whistle or approached by a stranger thinking he's
complimenting me because my body is attractive to him. It is an imposition
and again, a presumption of familiarity where none exists.

  But that depends on the situation.  Aren't some
>of these "harmless compliments" just actually harmless compliments?
>
My culture has not taught me that a compliment of my intellect is something
a stranger would do, but it has told me that ogling my body is high praise.
It is the body that's emphasized. Has this harmed me? Yes. And if I bought
into it, it would harm me more. If I teach it to others or engage in it, I
harm them. It is cultural and it does subordinate. The quote you cited from
the web page did not say that rape is an extension of interacting with men.
It said that it's an extension of unequal power between men and women and
implied a complacency in rejecting facets of our cultural attitudes
contributing to that. It is no reach of the imagination to see the term
'rape culture' as expressing this extension. When those facets of culture
that lend to rape as acceptable, the term won't apply, but the above are
only a few of the ways we endorce acceptance of ourselves as bodies to be
prized rather than people interacting together.

Tamra Temple
McNeese State University

On Wed, 15 Mar 2000 13:40:14 +0000 Sue McPherson
 <sue  @  MCPHERSONS.FREESERVE.CO.UK> wrote

>Liz Stanley refers to the 'drive reduction approach' ,  I
>don't know the original source of that term or what exactly
>is meant by it, but it seems to me it expresses more
>accurately what is going on in our sexualized society, and
>probably expresses better the aim of most men, which is to
>satisfy, or reduce, their sex drive.  And if it is accepted that
>men do have this insatiable drive, (whether biological,
>hormonal or psychosocial or a combination), then women
>also are a part of this dynamic, and their experiences are
>diverse.  Some experience rape, some have good sex,
>some use their sexual power to get what they want from
>men, and so on.  It is a term that does not suggest that all
>women are negatively affected within a sexualized
>environment, neither does it suggest that all men are
>potential rapists.

I have to say I'm suspicious of Sue McPherson's line of reasoning since it
flows from what I think of as a hydraulic theory of male sexuality:  men
must release a sexual desire signified as under pressure inside them and
perpetually building, requiring release lest they -- what, explode?  This
disrespects the complexity of desire and sexual practice for both men and
women, by reducing men's sexuality to a hydraulic or pressure cooker model,
the mechanics themselves figured as the prime motivators, and by locating
women as the outlets for men's ... steam.

The other issue here is the amazing stock Americans put in biologized
models of human action and possibility:  the cultural basis of these models
usually goes unnoticed.  (Relevant to this discussion too is the recent
publication of work in evolutionary psychology arguing there's a biological
and evolutionary basis for rape.)   In some parts of the world (some
Melanesian societies), for example, men are understood as reluctant
participants in heterosexual intercourse:  heterosexual sex is thought to
sap men's life force, make them age more quickly, pollute their bodies,
drain them, and the like.  In other societies (in the Amazon basin),
heterosexual desire is figured metaphorically in terms of food  --  penises
as tasty food sought by hungry vaginas wandering around at night in search
of satiation.

The models of sexual agency and the loci of sexual desire in these schemes
can in no way be reconciled with the hydraulic model, and I think this
evidences the importance of recognizing that there are multiple ways of
figuring (and gendering) sexuality -- both cross-culturally and within
American society.  It also points suggestively to the value (and potential
political usefulness) of expanding by specifying (rather than contracting
by naturalizing) the variety of images and understandings people have about
sexual desire, its founding sites, its practical manifestations, as well as
analyzing the why and how of the processes through which particular
understandings become naturalized -- i.e., how they become linked to
masculine privilege and the reproduction of gender hierarchy (Melanesia),
or to gendered violence and social control of women (U.S.).  That could be
a more critical, and critically reflexive, link to "rape culture."

Deborah A. Elliston
Department of Anthropology
New York University
25 Waverly Place * New York, New York  10003
E-mail:  deborah.elliston  @  nyu.edu

Many women who are raped by men they know think it is their fault for
any one of a number of reasons e.g. I should not have let him in the
apartment, I should have known, I must have done something.  Thus it is not
surprising , albeit dismaying, that some women date these men.  Some also
think that "men are like that" and they have to accept it.
These comments have been made to me in my research and when women have
disclosed to me, which they frequently do.

Pauline Bart p[bart  @  ucla.edu

Dear Women,
Having studied rape and rape resistance (Stopping Rape: Successful Survival
Strategies) and , a batter term, violence against women, since all forms of
violence v. women interaction to form a net of social control over women as
a class, I would add to the concept rape culture, structural supports of
rape.  By the social structure I mean how the institutions of society are
complicit in the underreporting of rape and the lack of punishment for
rapists.  Included in the institutional structures are the economic
institutions as well as the alleged criminal "justice" institutions.  It is
no accident that so many imprisoned women have histories of rape , incest
and battery.
Best, Pauline  pbart  @  ucla.edu

>But where do all these images about rape come from?  Probably
>just as much from feminism as from patriarchal society.

I strongly disagree that naming the problem is the same as creating the
problem.

No problem here if you disagree with any particular definition of what rape
culture might be. But as I noted before, there is no one authoritative
source for this concept, and many descriptions of it have emerged over the
years.

BTW, I think two definitions of culture are getting confused in this
discussion. One category is an overall national or ethnic culture, and the
others we have been talking about are more general and not necessarily
limited by region or ethnicity.

> If we live in a rape culture, as described,
>how can women ever have good relations with men, if all they
>are doing in their interactions with us is preparing to rape us?

Naming a constellation of ideas/images/behaviors/ as rape culture does not
equate to saying all men will rape, are rapists.

Naming rape culture is saying that there are cultural expectations and
definitions that legitimize and even promote rape. These occur in the
media, especially in advertising (remember the fashion ads showing women
bruised or lying disheveled on the ground, legs akimbo, as if they had just
been raped) and in bestsellers like _American Psycho_ that detail torture
and dismemberment of women. They occur in the legal system, as when lawyers
browbeat a woman on the stand (a behavior which has been curtailed in some
places but not absolutely eliminated, as witness the difference in the way
women and men are treated in custody cases re their sexual lives). Not to
mention the low rate of prosecution and conviction for rape, and the
reluctance to report rape -- founded in the difficulties thrown in women's
way personally, socially, etc.

Jokes, unwelcome touching, staring, comments, following, stalking, are all
behaviors that put the burden on women, who are expected to cope with
whatever is thrown our way lest we be somehow unfair to men.

All men are not rapists, but when going out on a date, or when some guy
comes up from behind too quickly, how are women supposed to know who is and
who isn't? Especially when the cultural stereotypes misrepresent who is
likely to rape! Either way, in a rape culture, the woman will be blamed.
Juries still let off athletes who say they misunderstood what the woman
wanted.

>I would say that rape culture
>theory does what you claim 'DRT' does, ie, elevate the male
>sex drive to an uncontrollable force, by stating for instance
>that the logical extension of interacting with men is rape.

It doesn't say that. It describes a cultural context that enables and even
glorifies rape (witness the loving detail showing it in movies, which tend
not to depict effective  female resistance, and in the made-for-TV shows
which underline the threat and power of the rapist for an hour and 20
minutes and show the female triumph, after much humiliation, only in the
last minute of the show, often in a freeze-frame -- no lingering there, no
aftermath.)

Saying "rape culture" does not define the male sex drive as an
uncontrollable given: on the contrary, it says that the epidemic of rape we
suffer under is due to cultural causes, social structures, values systems.
That there is another way that respects women's boundaries, bodies, and
agency.


Max Dashu    Suppressed Histories Archives
 <maxdashu  @  lanminds.com>