Asking+For+It

Elizabeth Kostowski n8871914 Abbey Diaz

== Nobody's Asking for it, They're Asking for a Break http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=piDvki6X6KQ


 * Artifact **

The link above directs to an advertisement in the UK that highlights both the current prevalence of rape culture and the ridiculousness of this culture. It depicts a young woman in a clothes store conversing with a sales assistant about which skirt will be more likely to encourage someone to have sex with her against her will. After they have agreed upon the shorter skirt she breaks the fourth wall and states ‘as if’ and then the message ‘nobody asks to be raped, ever’ appears on the screen. This advertisement approaches the idea of women asking to be raped in a way that highlights the absurdity of the idea and discourages viewers from buying into the messages of rape culture.


 * Public Health Issue **

The number of incidences of rape and sexual assault in Australia is scarily high. Over the last twenty years the statistics show that rape is occurring more often than ever before. The policies that surround the educating of Australian children on the matter of consent, and how we as a society view rape and sexual assault in the mainstream media is a major part of determining why these incidents are occurring at such a high rate.


 * Literature Review **

In Australia there are two definitions that define sexual assault; the experience based definition, ‘unwanted behavior of a sexual nature directed towards a person that: which makes that person feel uncomfortable, distressed, frightened or threatened, or which results in harm or injury to that person’ and the offense based definition, ‘a physical assault of a sexual nature directed towards another person without their consent,’ (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2004). The offense based definition is used in legal matters so the following statistics have been gathered in accordance to that definition.

According to the Australian Institute of Criminology in 2011, there were 17, 757 assaults in 2010, which equates to 79 victims per every 100,000 people in Australia. Of these assaults it was found that the vast majority (60%) occurred in a private dwelling, with the next highest occurrence (8%) happening in a community area (Australian Institute of Criminology, 2012). Age is another risk factor, with women between the ages of 10-14 being assaulted more than any other age group. Men were reported to be assaulted less than women in every age group category and Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islander women are three and a half times more likely to be assaulted than any other ethnicity (Australian Institute of Family Studies, 2013). Knowing this we can then look at the percentage of people who knew their attacker, if we consider family members and know individuals to fall under this category then 73% of victims knew their assailant as opposed to the percentage who didn’t which was only 21% (Better Health, 2013).

Why does sexual assault occur at all? It can be partly attributed to the policies that educate Australian children on the matters of consent and healthy sexual relationships. In Australia there is not a nationally used program for schools that focuses on the issues of what constitutes consent (Milton, 2003). The National Framework for the sexual education of Australia’s young people was implemented in 1999 with the aim to properly educate each student to the same level about different aspects of sexual health. While this framework focuses comprehensively on the prevention of STDs and Blood Borne Viruses with the intention of making young people highly aware of the risks of unsafe sex and drug use (ARSC & ANCAHRD, 1999) it does not aim to educate young people about the importance of consent in sexual relationships and thus from a young age children are informed and educated about the physical aspects of sex but not the moral aspects.

In a similar way, mainstream media is bombarding people with sexual images and undertones in advertisements, television programs, movies, music etc. The media’s reach is expansive and is incredibly influential. Almost 40% of the world’s population, 2.7 billion people, are currently using the internet (ITU, 2013). In Australia alone, people watch almost three hours of television a day (ABS, 2011). Media very rarely depicts a responsible model of sexual relationships and when the media is as far reaching and influential as it currently is this leads to many problems (Jane Brown, 2002). Women are portrayed as sexual objects in almost every aspect of mainstream media, leading to an archaic view of women as property to be used at whim. Studies have been conducted to research the effect this has on consumers and it was found that stereotypes of a sex based nature will influence an individual’s belief system from a very young age (Ellis & Bentler, 1973).

Mainstream media is also the root of rape culture, the culture that believes that the victim of sexual assault is in fact at fault for their attacker’s actions. Sexual relationships in movies and television shows are often portrayed as sadomasochistic although this is thinly veiled by the notion of romance, indeed our culture can be categorized as a rape culture because of this rape-model image that heterosexual intercourse is based off (Herman, 1988). In an article written by Rudy, Popova and Linz music videos, print advertisements and television advertisements were examined to find the prominence of sexual suggestiveness and the amount of women that were fulfilling that role. It was found that women were portrayed as fragile and sexually suggestive in music videos and advertisements (Wallis, 2010) while men were less likely to be presented without clothes or in a sexual manner (Mager & Hegleson, 2010).


 * Cultural and Social Analysis **

Susan Griffin wrote, “rape is a kind of terrorism which severely limits the freedom of women and makes women dependent on men.” This rings true in a way that sadly defines a lot of the world’s culture; to be protected from men women must be protected by men. The need for protection at all is ridiculous. By this point in evolution, when technology and ways of thinking have progressed so far, the idea that a person’s body is still not their own to control is absurd.

If we, as a highly developed culture, ever wish to abolish this ridiculous notion then as a society we must work as one. There are many movements already embracing this idea; with organizations running ‘Slut Walks’ where women take control of their own sexuality and begin the act of re-signification (Butler, 2012). Feminism is a large part of the movement that encourages women to take back their own bodies. The feminist ideal of women being equal to men plays a very important role in abolishing sexual assault and rape. For these crimes to end, society has to accept the role of women as equals not fragile, weaker beings to be preyed upon.

Social change has also played a part in the understanding of what constitutes rape. As women reached a more equal level to men, new ideas and issues about consent were brought to light. In Australia in the early 1980s marital rape became criminalized and this signified a giant step forward in acknowledging a person’s right to say no even if they are in a situation where they may have previously said yes (ALRC, 2013).

While some social change has affected this matter positively, much has also had a negative effect. As society became more open the content of the world’s media changed with it. The over sexualisation of the media is effecting people’s views from a very early age and as a result the younger generation is growing up seeing irresponsible models of sexual relationships (Malamuth & Impett, 2001). This could be a part of the reason that levels of sexual assault have risen drastically by 22% in the last twenty years in Australia alone (Australian Institute of Criminology, 2009).

As the levels of sexual assault rose, it also became clear which cultural and social demographics were being affected most heavily by this issue. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander demographics are three and half times more likely to experience sexual assault than any other ethnicity. Being aware as a society of the prevalence and impact of sexual assault is incredibly important since not everyone is affected to the same level by this issue. If not everybody is affected, then the whole culture must be made aware of it so that the issue doesn’t slip through the cracks and get ignored. To combat this issue the public health experts should focus their attention on the media and how it is portraying sexual relationships. To change the ideas of society, what influences society has to be changed first. If sexually responsible models of relationships are portrayed in the media, then the younger generations will grow up being influenced positively as opposed to being exposed to rape culture and growing up thinking this is normal.


 * Analysis of the Artifact and Reflection **

From the analysis above it becomes clear that sexual assault and rape is an issue that must be taken seriously. The artifact shows how society currently views women as sexually promiscuous and not the master of their own bodies. It draws attention to the effect of rape culture and how easy it is for a person to be influenced by this culture. When the man says, ‘She’s asking for it’ he implies that she is asking to be violated. The ad then shows how ridiculous this notion is by drawing attention to the fact that nobody would go out looking to be forced into a sexual situation against their will. This ad struck me on a personal level as the girl in this ad represents not only every woman who has ever been in that situation but also how easily things like this occur. It scared me to realize how casually a situation like that could come about.

After doing the research and analyzing this topic it has become clear to me how influential the media can be and how much damage this can cause. It has led me to the belief that there needs to be some sort of mediation of what is deemed appropriate. This analysis has also inspired me to be critical of the media and to always double check my sources as I don’t want to be influenced negatively by what I see.

My reflections on others work:

http://healthcultureandsociety2013.wikispaces.com/page/messages/No+Woman+is+Ever+Asking+For+It

http://healthcultureandsociety2013.wikispaces.com/share/view/64730812


 * References **


 * Australian Bureau of Statistics (1997–2010.) Recorded crime, victims, Australia (various issues; title varies). ABS cat. no. 4510.0. Canberra: ABS
 * Australian Bureau of Statistics (2002–10). Population by age and sex, Australian states and territories (various issues). ABS cat. no. 3201.0. Canberra: ABS
 * Australian Institute of Criminology (2011). Australian crime: Facts and figures.
 * Australian Bureau of Statistics (2011). Time spent on cultural activities. Retrieved from []
 * Australian Law Reform Commision (2013). Sexual assault and family violence. Retrieved fromhttp://www.alrc.gov.au/publications/24.%20Sexual%20Assault%20and%20Family%20Violence
 * Australian Institute of Criminology (2009). Trends in violent crime. Retreived from []
 * Better Health Channel (2013). Sexual assault. Retrieved from []
 * Brown, J. (2002). Mass media influences on sexuality. Journal of Sex Research, 39(1), 42-45. Retreived from [|http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00224490209552118#.Umv7QRCkvzw]
 * Department of Education and Early Childhood Development (1999). National framework for education and STIs, HIV/AIDS and blood-borne viruses. Retrieved from []
 * Herman, D. (1988). Rape culture. Retrieved from []
 * International Telecommunications Union (2013). ICT facts and figures. Retrieved from []
 * Linz, D., Popova, L., & Rudy, R. (2011). Contributions to the analysis of gender roles. Sex Roles, 64(3), 151-159. Retreived from []
 * Malamuth, N., & Impett, E. (2001). Research on sex in the media. Retrieved from []
 * Milton, J. (2003) Primary school sex education programs: views and experiences of teachers in four primary schools in Australia. Sex Education: Sexuality, society, and learning, 3 (3), 241-256.
 * Renold, E., & Ringrose, J. (2012). Gender and education. Retreived from []