Rape Culture in Media, Perspective, and Politics: When Will It Ever Stop?

As a self-proclaimed feminist, I can’t help but notice the constant talk of my body, attire, reproductive rights. It gets overwhelming to have the bodies of wounded women be talked about as if we’re objects, ready for objectification, have our representatives talk about “legitimate rape” and tell us that it is “God’s gift” in terms of pregnancy after rape. Every day is a constant reminder that my body is always under a spotlight, and every time the light gets brighter, the more triggered I feel.

While reading through articles on the Uloop pages from different Universities in the nation, I wouldn’t help but be drawn to an article titled, “Who Let The Sluts Out?” by a UC Santa Cruz student. As much as I didn’t want to click the link, I did. And needless to say, that spotlight got a hell of a lot brighter.

The discussions of policing attire, wanting to “slap the slut out of her”, and a few pointers on how to dress “modestly” was a product of living in a patriarchal society. The author’s further discussion of Slut Walk was a moot point after the damage that has been done prior to that last paragraph.

You may ask — why is this even such a big deal? Why can’t I just call her a slut for showing her thighs? Her “boobs spilling out”, or comment on any other physical attribute of a body that isn’t mine?

I’ll tell you why.

Part of living in a patriarchal society is knowing that it is male-dominated. The gender gap is real when it comes to equal pay, the hyper-sexualization (x) (x) and fetishation of women happens on the hour without anyone hardly noticing. This has become a normal state for us women. Now that we have all of the outside pressures out in the open, it’s time for some deciphering.

When we see a skinny, beautiful blonde girl with blue eyes, a flat stomach, and long legs–what do we do? We hate her for it. If she wears a crop top and has guy friends, she’s a slut. Why does this happen? As we all know from the links I’ve put together above, patriarchy affects our perception of ourselves and other women, making it a continual cycle of self-hatred for not being pretty enough, and hating others for being pretty.

Now, let’s talk about body policing and slut shaming:

We can all gather that sexualization of women in the media and in advertisements lowers our self esteem (x), so why do some of us feel the need to work against ourselves and move backwards? Not that slut-shaming a girl has lead her to kill herself recently, or anything. We tend to forget the weight of our words and tend to badger women for their own choices. Why do you care so much about what I do behind closed doors? Or what I don’t do? Why is anything that is so personal as sex be of ANY interest to you?

Body shaming girls who dress how they want to is contributing to the “holier-than-thou” ideology. Just because you don’t care for those cheeky booty shorts from Urban Outfitters doesn’t mean you can call a girl out, whether they’re a size 00 or 14, and tell them they look slutty. We already have so many forces out to get us, telling us that dressing provocatively means that gives men the consent they need to violate and torture women sexually. This, on all concluding terms, is what is called rape culture.

When the violence against women becomes a natural state in society, how is it that I should sit here and be complacent? Why should I let men tell me my place and tell me they’re an ally when all they ever do is support slut-shaming? There’s a perpetual state of sexism here, and it needs to be stopped. The only way that is going to happen, is if we all work together and stop feeding into this patriarchal monster and turn our forces against each other. We need to built an alliance between all women, and include factors that involve class standing, ethnic backgrounds, ableism, human sexuality, and gender to create a powerful bond.

Let’s start at indifference to other women’s attire. Stop caring. They didn’t ask for your opinion or judgement, so don’t give it to them, and try to put yourself into their shoes.

For more readings on feminism,

- Download Feminism is for Everybody by bell hooks
excoradfeminisms.files.wordpress.com/…/bell_hooks-feminism_is_fo…

- Check out An Introductory Feminist Reading List here.