Rape Culture Soc. 4925 John Hamlin

Is Rape Normal? Black’s Law Dictionary According to, constituting, or not deviating from an established norm, rule, or principle; Conforming to a type, standard or regular form; Performing the proper functions; regular, average Natural

What does this mean for everyday life? Patriarchy Images of women, images of men Socialization Sex and anger

Andrea Dworkin 1976. Our Blood: Prophecies and Discourses on Sexual Politics. NY: Harper & Row “Rape occurs when a man, who is dominant by definition, takes a woman who, according to men and all the organs of their culture, was put on this earth for his use and gratification. Rape is no excess, no aberration, no accident, no mistake… it embodies sexuality as the culture defines it. As long as these definitions remain intact… that is, as long as men are defined as sexual aggressors and women are defined as passive receptors lacking integrity … men who are exemplars of the norm will rape women.”

Rape Culture What is it? Non-material culture - norms, values, beliefs, etc. Material culture - stratification; occupation structure; family roles; etc.

Transforming a Rape Culture Emilie Buchwald, Pamela Fletcher, Margtha Roth. 1993. Milkweed editions. “It is a complex of beliefs that encourages male sexual aggression and supports violence against women. It is a society where violence is seen as sexy and sexuality as violent… In a rape culture both men and women assume that sexual violence is a fact of life, inevitable as death or taxes.” (preamble)

Definition of Rape Culture An integrated set of beliefs, norms, values and conceptions (non-material culture) that encourages and promotes the victimization of women embedded in compatible structural arrangements.