No+Consent+for+Sex+is+Rape

Chloe Hyde n8795959 Abbey Diaz


 * Topic **

From ‘Condoms on Bananas’ to Negotiating Consent: Educating around safety and desire in human sexual relationships.

(http://dailycartoonist.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/purdue.jpg)
 * Present you artefact**

This is a newspaper clipping from an Independent student newspaper at Purdue University called The Exponent. It depicts a man having sex with a woman in the 'doggy position' that then swaps over to another man who was hiding in the closet without the woman's knowledge. The first man then appears outside the window and to the woman's astonishment she is no longer having intercourse with whom she thought and 'a magic trick has just occurred, Tah dah'. It is named after the movie called 'The Prestige' starring Christian Bale and Hugh Jackman as the movie is a tale about magicians.

This artefact represents a major public health issue of consent and rape. In this cartoon, sexual intercourse is initiated with the woman without her consent and according to state law this is the definition of rape. It is evident that this woman has not given consent to the second man, as the reaction after the switch is supposed to be surprise. The clipping was published in a humorous manner and portrays the woman to react like it's a funny magician trick and to be 'astonished'. This artefact educates readers that sex without consent is humorous and even goes as far as to suggest that women are sex objects to play around with.
 * Public Health**

Almost all western research and evidence regarding rape define it as a crime. Rape is hard to define universally, however, a common definition across most states and countries is that sexual penetration without consent or unwanted penetration is rape (Crowe, 2011, p. 22). The US department of Justice of statistics states that any intimate partner violence is primarily against women with females being 85% of the victims recorded in 2001 (Toohey, 2008, p. 1239). In regards to women's health rape is a violent act, therefore, it can physically leave trauma, bruising, lacerations and can also affect mental health. Rape can also lead to developments of sexually transmitted diseases, genital trauma and/or pregnancy. It is evident that rape and consent is an important public health issue.
 * Literature Review**

Recent theories and articles highlight the development of rape myths and scripts surrounding society’s view of consensual and non-consensual sex. The social construction of rape is understood by these myths and scripts which in turn influence sexual behaviour and beliefs (Ryan, 2011 p. 774). A myth is an attitude or belief that is generally false but continuously perpetuated through society and justified. Rape myths can either give society a false sense of security or can be used to validate sexual aggression, for example, “her clothes were asking for it” (Ryan, 2011 p. 774). Rape scripts are perpetuated through society through media and horrific stories. A common example of a rape script is the girl walking home alone in the dark and a violent man rapes and kills the woman. This in turn creates a rape myth that if women don’t walk alone at night then they won’t be raped. The stranger danger culture is a real rape script, however, in reality two thirds of rape cases the perpetrator is already acquainted with the women (ABS, 2013).

Another social construction of rape is how society is more focussed on teaching women how to avoid being raped rather than minimising the men committing the act (Swauger, & Witham, & Shinberg, 2013). Victim-blaming can occur as well due to the general subconscious thoughts of human nature that bad people deserve bad things (Swauger, & et al, 2013). This is considerably evident in the cases of rape involving sexual workers.

University and college communities are prevalent for generating ambiguous definitions of rape. Stereotypes in these communities are where men are the initiators of sex and women the gatekeepers. Lines can be crossed, however, through misunderstanding on the male’s part of what yes or no really means. This commonly occurs when the girl has shown initial feelings for the male and there is confusion on how far she is willing to go. Research studies show that majority of female college or university students in America believe that if women show initial feelings or ‘lead the man on’ that it’s not rape even though she didn’t want to go that far (Swauger, & et al, 2013). It has also been proven that women generally tend to excuse acquainted men’s behaviour and not reporting it as a crime. This creates a situation where the unwanted sex in tolerated not punished (Deming, & Covan, & Swan, & Billings, 2013).

Research and studies involving rape is a gray area due to a number of reasons. Definitions, views, beliefs, attitudes and behaviour about rape and consent are all heavily influence by the cultures of that particular community or individual. Majority of rape and consent problems are involved with women victimisation, however, this doesn’t mean that men can’t be raped. Also false accusations against men have been made for various reasons by women for media attention. In studies done on women who have been raped or general surveys, it is difficult for every woman to understand the exact definition of what rape is. The examples above involving college women and not believing they were raped is a good example of how the methods of studying this issue is limited.

Social and gendered norms, myths, scripts and context all play an important role in how to understand and address the issue of unwanted sex. Cultural norms of victim blaming suppress the women’s ability to stand up for what has happened and their rights (Deming & et al, 2013). Social context in which the event occurred also influences how the woman views the unwanted sex. This is due to the gray areas of what really is rape, the influence of alcohol and suggested intention by the woman for other things but not sex. These factors determine how the woman decides who is to blame for the outcome of the events, and almost always in college and alcohol situations, the man is excused for his behaviour (Deming & et al, 2013). This creates a propagation of tolerance to the act and also norms in which ‘it just happens’. Peer pressure also plays a large role in how these acts can occur and be excused.
 * Cultural Analysis**

As mentioned above, there are a great number of women affected by this crime and these implications involve negative trauma on physical health and mental health. What is also concerning is that only 25% of women actually report these incidents, suggesting that the cultural norms, victim blaming, peer pressure and unknown definitions of rape are suppressing the real figures on the amount of women forced into unwanted sex. This increases the importance of addressing this issuing and abolishing the negative culture surrounding rape and sex.

Obviously gendered norms are focussing mainly on women being the victims of this occurrence; however, as stated above male rape does unfortunately happen as well. Culture is a major determining factor of how the society views rape. It is known that in some countries, the man has all sexual rights over the women if they are married, introducing another gray area: Can a woman be raped by her husband? Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities have a higher rate of sexual assault and rape. It is reported that aboriginal woman are 4.6 times more likely to be the victims of violence and 12 times more likely to be the victims of sexual assault or assault compared to their non-indigenous counterparts (Keel, 2004). It is clear that there is inequality in who is affected by this horrible crime.

The artefact suggests a cultural norm in the publishing university that exploits women as sexual objects and disregards their rights and consent in sexual intercourse. This is a common example of how humour can lessen the offensive and chauvinistic message. It completely contradicts the definition of rape by law and it confirms that this is an issue that needs to be addressed and that disrespectful treatment of women is occurring. Personally this artefact triggers anger at the nerve of the publisher and how someone could find that humorous and actually want to attempt the position. It also worries me that this is a sex position of the week, suggesting that each week they advertise a new sex position. This is not encouraging rape culture, however, it is lessening the importance placed on sex and the mental effects it can have especially on women. The most shocking thing I have learnt during this assessment is the real rape scripts of ‘the girl walking home alone at night and being sexually assaulted by a violent stranger’ is actually not the common cause of rape and that majority of the cases are by known perpetrators. In future I will endeavour to research a topic from many different angles as I have found that one angle is not sufficient in gaining thorough unbiased understanding.
 * Analysis of Artefact and Reflections**

ABS. (2013). Crime Victimilisation, Australia. [] Crowe, J. (2011). Consent, Power and Mistake of Fact in Queensland Rape Law. //BondLawReview,(p.21-40)// [] Deming, M.E., & Covan, E.k., & Swan, C.S., & Billings, D.L. (2013). Exploring Rape Myths, Gendered Norms, Group Processing, and the Social Context of Rape Among College Women. //Violence Against Women April.// Accessed on 30 October 2013, doi: 10.1177/1077801213487044 Jozkowski, K.N., & Peterson, Z.D. (2012). College Students and Sexual Consent: Unique Insights. //Journal of Sex Research, 50(6).// P. 517-523. Accessed on 30 October 2013, doi: 10.1080/00224499.2012.700739 Keel, M. (2004). Family Violence and Sexual Assualt in Indigenous Communities: “Walking the talk”. //Australian Government.// Accessed on 03 November 2013, from [] Ryan, K.M. (2011). The Relationship between Rape Myths and Sexual Scripts: The Social Construction of Rape. //Sex Roles 65 p. 774-782.// Accessed on 30 October 2013, doi: 10.1007/s11199-011-0033-2 Swauger, M., & Witham, D.G., & Shinberg, D. (2013). No Stranger in the Bushes: The Ambiguity of Consent and Rape in Hook up Culture. //Sex Roles: A Journal of Research//. Accessed on 30 October 2013, from [] Toohey, S.J. (2008). Women’s Health Domestic Violence and Rape. //Medical Clinics of North America, 92(5).// P. 1239-1252. Accessed on 30 October 2013, from https://www-clinicalkey-com-au.ezp01.library.qut.edu.au/#!/ContentPlayerCtrl/doPlayContent/1-s2.0-S0025712508000485/
 * References**

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