Blog 9: Rape Culture in Mass Media

An important topic that was covered this week was the spreading of Rape Culture in our society through the media. Specifically we looked at the lyrics and music video of the popular song "Blurred Lines" by Robin Thicke. While I have heard this song many times since it came out, I've never really paid attention to the lyrics. It sounds like I'm not the only one though, as there were several people in our class who also hadn't realized how terrible the lyrics truly are. I can also relate to the student who mentioned their camp kids sing this song without fully comprehending it, since my 9 year old sister does as well and she's the impressionable one that might get bad ideas about what relationships are meant to be like later in life. This is how prevalent rape culture has become in our society, as it's ingrained in our pop culture to the point where there isn't really much we can do to thwart its spread.

In this way, the media is able to influence our culture's beliefs and norms through women believing that sex is supposed to hurt and be forced, which is a horribly unhealthy way of thinking. This promotes inequality in showing that women are meant to be quiet and dominated, while men should be aggressive and in control of interactions with women, whether these be in a date setting or in the bedroom. Another effect of Rape Culture is when victim blaming occurs. Victim blaming is when a rape occurs and the victim of the sexual assault is the one who is blamed for the act. This can be due to what they were wearing or how they were acting, which Rape Culture says is their own fault for the transgression. This is certainly not an excuse for sexual assault, as contrary to what our society may suggest, it isn't the victim's fault. However, there's no easy fix for getting Rape Culture out of the media, as the controversy that it causes tends to also cause it to become more popular and talked about, further promoting it.

An important factor to notice is that in society's attempts to prevent rape, they always preach to young women about how to avoid getting raped. There is a curious lack of attempts made to educate young men about how not to become rapists.