http://www.tickld.com/cdn_image_postimage/73875f4c818e164b6328815060f85c29.gif

To start off with, rape culture is an intentionally provocative name for the concept that's designed to evoke a strong response, much like calling a tax on inheritance a "death tax" would be. What it's describing is the phenomenon of our society's excuse of one kind of action that is considered by the women's rights community to be rape. I say one kind because even though rape means any sex where someone does not consent, it usually has the connotations of assault. Although there are certainly people who say that assault to force rape is okay when the woman "deserves it," I will assume your female friend would not talk to you if that were the case, so I'll move on to the other kind. I wish there were a word other than sex or rape I could use to describe it, but that's what this other category is. One example is if someone has sex with someone who is passed out, or if the other person feels obligated to perform sexual acts. Rape culture describes the relative social acceptance of such acts in our society.

The other part of it is the belief that it's the woman's fault for getting raped because she drank or was dressed "slutty" or walked somewhere unsafe alone or any other such excuses.

As to the merits of believing it exists or not, you can only work to change something once you believe that it exists. Does that answer your question?

Making a post like this on international women's day is pretty repulsive, Fasces.

"One example is if someone has sex with someone who is passed out... Rape culture describes the relative social acceptance of such acts in our society."

Relative acceptance? This is a serious felony here in California, and - I expect - most other states. In fact, there was one recent prosecution for this of the son (and a couple of his friends) of a very politically powerful figure here a couple years ago.

Does OP mean believing in it as in believing it exists or believing it's a good thing?

If it's believing it exists, it's pretty obvious that it's a good thing to know what's going on, especially if you want to change something.

If it's believing it's a good thing, who says that?

Fasces349: And to think I was going to give exuses for you on your midterm/exam whining thread. You're a fucking college student who appears to care little for academics; you don't see the rape culture in the parties you go to? You don't hear how the frat boys talk about their female guests? You don't hear how a girl accusing a popular guy of rape is often ostracized and insulted by her perverse friends circle as well as the guy's buds? You don't hear the excuses for public groping, taking advantage of unconcious girls or demands for sex on eye contact?

There was a scandal involving two football players who raped a girl, I think this was about a year ago. Might've heard about it on a thread here, in fact. The story went something like, the two guys raped her, and the girl was called out on reporting them and ending their promising football careers, or something. I forget details, but it was a perfect example of "rape culture"

Is this what you're thinking of, Onar?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_Banks_(American_football)

@ JECE

To almost all of those questions my honest answer is no. To the one that the answer is yes (the reaction of friends) surely the accused man's friends blacking him instead of someone they don't know is perfectly right when their friend is accused of a serious crime? Indeed, it rather suggests they do indeed consider rape to be a serious crime, which is good. As far as the woman's friends turning on her goes, I would suggest that usually this doesn't happen, and when it does it is entirely her fault for choosing such crappy friends.

Backing, not blacking...

Rape culture is a product of a sex culture + primitive thinking not only by man.
Children are abused in a way everyday by our sex culture exposed to sexual content in every media possible, growing in a world that considers virginity or moderate sexual activity as wrong or losery.

"Children are abused in a way everyday by our sex culture exposed to sexual content in every media possible,"

Yeah, we hate it when that happens...

'the merits of believing in rape culture' - not getting violently assaulted is a good thing. not being exploited by others is a good thing. Thus acting in ways which aim to minimize occurrences of rape by challenging this culture is a good thing.

Do you agree at least in principle?

'One example is if someone has sex with someone who is passed out' - people who describe this as 'something other than rape' are perpetuating 'rape culture' - that's the idea.

Sine Taos brought it up, 'Virginity' is a rather weird concept aswell, you don't suddenly get good at sex when you lose your virginity, infact most of us here will most likely agree that sex gets better the more practice you have (and people are different so you have to relearn things every time...) The virgin boundary is also a sexist one, it might be a useful measure in a farming culture where the women/young girls are sold off as breeding stock to other farmers. Something to do with purity, presumably if they failed to produce children with their first owner then they are less valuable because they're probably not very fertile...

But virginity and the 'purity' of it (which leads american teens at least to have more anal sex... and probably enjoy themselves less) is rather lost in an urban society - i would hope.

I'd rather meet a woman who was comfortable with sex, and had positive associations with it. Than one who didn't have a frakking clue what she was doing.

</sex positive>

'You are posting too frequently, please slow down.' - not You're posting too frequently!

+1 JECE...

I know people who have been raped, Fasces, and frankly, in 2014, asking what "Rape culture" is seems somewhat akin to asking what "the glass ceiling" or "equal treatment is"--

Namely, like them or not, you should've learned the meaning of these terms a long, long, LONG time ago (especially as you fashion yourself as some sort of super-smart wunderkind.)

It's not that fucking hard, and it's not a matter to be treated lightly, and it's certainly not something to be treated as if it were "bullshit."

But then, I guess it'd be expecting too much of your super-intelligent noodle to wrap your head around the idea of the basic societal underpinnings that allow for and in some instances even encourage actions and mentalities that lead to rape...

After all, you have far more important things to do than show basic dignity towards your female counterparts by acknowledging the legitimacy of this all-too real problem for female (and males) in Western society, right?

Don't be so quick to talk about Western Society, obi, the term 'rape culture' is largely unknown in the UK and, I suspect, much of the world outside the US.

@Octavious, amongst the more educated people in britain it is well known... I suspect it isn't generally know because the "lad culture is so immanent

@ SD

Intellectual snobbery aside, that's simply not true. It is not a term in common use, nor is it a subject of debate in any of the traditional platforms. The only place I have ever seen it discussed at all is on this forum, and I am a fan of politics and current affairs.

I imagine it may be mentioned more regularly by certain feminist or left wing groups, but it hasn't any traction at all with the general public.

The general public falls victim to lad/rape culture and ignore it's existence - ask anyone that truly cares about the plight of females - go to any women's group at a uk university and ask them if they've heard of it! Patriarchy isn't a term discussed traditionally or known by the ignorant rabble, but it is a well known term for anyone that has an opinion worth listening to on the matter.

Any women's group at uni? You mean FemSoc? I dare say they would know about it, and maybe both their active members would agree with it. But we are talking a very small minority of university students here.

I'm surprised by your comments, Octavious. I live in the UK too, as you know, and I think plenty of the people I know would recognise the term "rape culture" whether or not they're involved in feminist discourse.

Anyway, on a positive note, I am really very glad to see the number of people willing to challenge the misogyny embedded in the OP.

Shame on you for even feeling this was a reasonable question to ask, Fasces, you ignorant shit.

@ Jamie

Seriously? Outside of left wing politics and feminist groups where do you hear it talked about? I'm genuinely interested.

@tolstoy: no, it was a lot more recent than that. But I think that there is more than one case of this sort of thing happening kind of proves my point.

I used to think like you do about this, OP. I just scoffed and said "whatever." But I'm a man, so I don't notice this shit. When I stopped to consider the statistics and all, it's really the only conclusion you can reach.

Whatever excuses you might make for the reasons it happens, an unacceptably large portion of women are raped at some point in their lives, and an unacceptably large portion of rapists get away with it. By definition, that is a culture of rape.

Anyways, to answer your question, OP, there are no "merits" to believing in it, if you are a white man. That's what privilege is all about - it doesn't concern you so you don't really see it. Just ask Draugnar (for example) - racism is dead, and we don't live in a rape culture.

Lol I don't think Draugnar thinks racism is dead. On rape culture, he would probably argue the definition rather than denying what happens

@ Yellowjacket

Our courts demand a presumption of innocence and that guilt is proven beyond reasonable doubt. An inescapable consequence of this is where a case hinges on one person's word against another, more often than not there won't be a guilty verdict. This is not rape culture, this is the rule of law carried out to the best of our ability, and until genuinely reliable lie detectors are used in courts I see no just solution to this, but in the meantime the handing out of far stiffer gaol terms for those cases that can be proven would be a good start.

Jesus Christ Octavious you should quit while you're ahead.

To most of the rest of you, I'm pleasantly surprised that we seem to be moving in the right direction on at least this issue as a forum. A male-dominated forum, I might add.