Sex, Violence and Transgression - Essay Example

?Late last year, there was a global outcry after a case in which gang of men raping and causing the death of a 23-year-old woman in India was reported in the press. This case received a great deal of publicity form both local and international media and consequently the proceedings against the four men who were later, convicted for the crime were closely followed. They were sentenced to death with the exemption of one who was a minor and he was sentenced to 3 years imprisonment since he could not be tried as adult (Biswas 2013). Nevertheless, as the many who believe the sentence was justified breathe a sigh of relief, it is important to note that the attack in all its violence and cruelty was neither remarkable nor unique at least not in the context of India. Contrary to what many in the west would like to believe, the incident was not given so much attention because it was unique rather, it was unique because if the attention it got. Ironically, despite the outrage, the rates of rape went up following the attack almost as if rapist were showing defiance or support to the six who had been captured (Lakshmi, 2012). From a critical examination of the circumstances surrounding this incident and many others around the world, one thing is clear; rape inherently transcends the mere act of sexual violation, it is a manifestation of skewed social cultural and gender based traditions and assumptions designed to repress, devalue and repress others through sexual domination. In this essay, the subject of rape will be analysed from a social and psychological point of view, by drawing on the concepts, of normalization, feminism and power to arrive to the conclusion that a great part of the reason why rape is still prevalent. This is because it is often tackled from a legal perspective as opposed to society introspecting and remedying the problem from within social cultural grassroots. In antiquity, the slanted views regarding women and their rights to control not only lives but this sexuality perennially placed them at the mercy of men and facilitated repression of their autonomy while encouraging myriad atrocities to be committed against them. This comes from the traditional dehumanization of women who were viewed across many ex post facto cultures across the world like inferior being and even property. Throughout history, women have need relegate to the roles of pleasuring men, making children and taking care of domestic chores, they are often describe as mothers, wives and mistresses as opposed to the more masculine titles applied to men. One of the most widely revered documents is the bible and in it one cannot help to notice the objectification of women which has been used by many retrospective contemporary Christian societies to justify the second class citizen status imposed on women. Christians and non-Christians anywhere in the world would be scandalized if some of the edicts proposed in the bible were applied in a contemporary scenario, according to the book of; Deuteronomy, when a man commits the crime of rape against virgin, obligated to pay her father 50 Shekels and must marry her without the option of divorce (Wells, 47). Essentially, this implies that rape was only “punishable” by a slap on the wrist of the man while the woman would be expected to be married to the very antithesis of love and affection for the rest of her life! From this example, there is no doubt that the position which these laws put women in regard to rape was extremely vulnerable and debasing. In European cultures on the other hand, due to the stratification of society, the nobles and even when they protested the patriarchal justice system required proof of semen release to prosecute frequently raped women from the lower classes. This narrow definition of rape meant that rape was not rape until the man achieved a climax and there is probably no better archetype of the complacency in which the violation of women thrived. Another issue involved the subject of rape within marriage, which was retrospectively, and even today, considered as acceptable or an oxymoron since the woman was expected to subject herself to the wiles of her husband. Today, most of those draconian laws have been changed or at least evolved to fit with modern thinking nevertheless, as is demonstrated by the case study above, men still objectify women basing their reasoning to primal and archaic predispositions. The laws and societal norms ultimately empower the men by providing them with options in the cases of rape such that they can even get away scot-free, however one should not imagine that women’s powerlessness in the face of rape is outdated. Even today, justice is largely masculine and women trying to make their case in court against a rapist often find that the system is slanted in favour of their aggressors. Rape cases are often tried from the rapist point of view and it is the onus of the woman to prove beyond reasonable doubt that she was raped; the disempowerment of women by male-centric judicial system is illustrated in the issue of consent. In the event of rape, a woman is expected to prove that she did not consent to the sex, however many rapists are freed, when a woman is under duress and probably fearing she will be harmed if she resists, it can be used against her and construed as consent (Little, 2005). It is impossible to suppress and anyone who is empowered with knowledge or economic independence and the fact that women have been disenfranchised for centuries speaks volumes their position. Women are often denied educational opportunities and even in the United States which is widely considered the stronghold of global democracy and freedom, they were only able to vote in the 20s (Laura, 1999). In every society where women are oppressed, they are denied the right to factors of production since men are in most cases the sole proprietor so properties such as land. In education women, education in the past was extremely gender based with focus being given to domestic skills while men were taught more many disciplines such as mathematics and philosophy. Today the milestones that women have achieve have been made possible by the fact that they have become empowered and better suited to control their lives and sexuality The feminist theory has been used both as a weapon of protest and tool for the examination of the rape phenomenal. Much of the theory of feminism is grounded on the concept of patriarchy and the inherent link between the power and coercion, which men invariable wield over women (Lea and Timothy, 2001). The underlying argument is that rape, from a societal point of view has been rape is not only produced supported and legitimized but it is a mechanism through which the male gender use to cement power relations against the “weaker sex” which is an age old aphorism for women (Lomax, 2013). According to the feminist ideology, rape is a product of societal construction, and the gender, which allows men to be condoned and women to be victimized even when they are the victims. From an early age, men are socialized to think of themselves in term of their masculinity, which directly implies superiority over the female gender. According to the BBC.UK, the four rapists after being sentenced were reported to have appealed to the crowd gathered outside “brothers help us” (Biswas, 2013). Clearly these men saw themselves as part of larger society men and somehow expected that their fellow men (note the word brother), may sympathize or renders assistance. A murderer in a convectional scenario would never expect or deign to plead for mercy and even if he were to do so, he would not use his gender identity. The actions and words of the rapists however embody social attitude of, “we against them” that is the men vs. women to which the rapists were appealing. In India, government figures estimate that 1,330 rapes occurred in Delhi alone between January and November 2013 which is significance rise compared to the 706 in the whole of last year, this should is not however be seen as a only a reflection of rape per se (Biswas,2013). It bespeaks a permissive culture that literally encourages sexual harassment, which has been normalized and termed as “eve teasing”; the casual reference to potential acts of sexual violence is clearly one of the cultural factors that have made the vice so prevalent. Here, the concept of normalization proves a hardy tool to for analysis of discourse on rape, grounded in the wider construct of rape culture normalization of rape can describe as societal attitudes that justify overtly, covertly, rape, or related action. The suppression of women makes it easy either for the society and sometime the victims to try to rationalize the act of rape to prevent further victimization or out of a genuine belief that they deserve it. It includes tendencies such as victim blaming, and sexual objectification or trivializing rape (Suarez and Gadalla, 2005). Take for example a common cliche normally used flirtatiously when a woman has dressed in a sexually attractive way, “you look like a walking felony”, and the woman in question will probably smile in appreciation for what may be genuinely meant as a compliment. However, a deconstruction of the statement reveals a stark picture of how callous and society has become about rape considering that the statement is rarely taken in offence. It inherently justifies the perception that a woman who dresses in an attractive way is sub-consciously asking to be raped, hence the reference to felony, of course the same has no masculine equivalent. Despite progressive studies made in the field of gender and women affairs, one of the most damaging claims made under the guise of objective studies is that many women have rape fantasies (Shulman and Horne, 2006). Anyone who has been raped had a chance to interact with victims of rape can however attest to the fact that being raped is about as far as one can go from the word fantasy. Rape results in severe physical and psychological problem and many victims have to carry the mental scars around for the rest of their lives, furthermore, there cases of women who commit suicide after they have been abused. Nevertheless, the rape fantasy argument has been used ad infinutum to justify rape and the practice, this is classic example of one of the many attempts to normalize it and make it appear as if women would put themselves in circumstances in which it may happen to them. Conclusion At the end of the day, from the various factors and issues discussed herein, one must concede that to rape as crime transcends the mere action of forced sexual activity and trying to solve it as that as history has consistently proved will only cure the symptoms but not the scourge. Rape happens not only because men can physically dominate women on a physical level most cases but also because they have been cultural and socially taught to see themselves as the dominant sex. Therefore, they see sex as a way through which they can assert their primal power over women whom history, social, religion and sometimes even the law has relegated to a secondary position in the gender distribution of power. This is made worse by the perpetuation of a rape culture in which the atrocity is normalized and justified in various ways, many that serve to covertly condition the society against victim of rape (Pearson, 2000). Ultimately, the four rapists may have been sentenced to death, and while to many that may be the ultimate punishment; it serves no purpose in the bigger picture. That rape incidences increased after the outcry that followed the incidence is evidence that a long term is badly needed and this is only possible if society re-examines eliminates the gender based perception and practices that create a mental and social-cultural space in which rape occurs and is justified. References Biswas, S., 2013. “Delhi gang rape: Four sentenced to death”. BBC.UK. [Online] Available at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-24078339 Lakshmi, R. 2012, Gang rape of a woman on a bus in New Delhi raises outrage india, Washington post. [Online] Available at: https://www.google.co.ke/search?q=Washington%2C+D.C.&oq=Washington%2C+D.C.&aqs=chrome..69i57.435784891j0j0&sourceid=chrome&espv=210&es_sm=93&ie=UTF-8 Laura, P., U.T. 1999, Century Held Vast Changes for U.S. Women; It started without right to vote and ends with myriad options; Women See Vast Change During the Past Century, Salt Lake City, Utah. Lea, S, and Timothy, A., 2001. “The Social Construction of Rape in the Talk of a Convicted Rapist”. Feminism & Psychology. SAGE, Vol. 11(1) Little, N. J. 2005. From no means no to only yes means yes: The rational results of an affirmative consent standard in rape law. Vanderbilt Law Review, 58(4), 1321-1364. Lomax, T. "Occupy Rape Culture". The feminist Wire. [Online] Available at: http://thefeministwire.com/2011/11/occupy-rape-culture/ Pearson, A. 2000, Rape Culture: Media and Message, Off Our Backs, Inc, Washington. Shulman, J.L. & Horne, S.G. 2006, "Guilty or Not? A Path Model of Women's Sexual Force Fantasies", The Journal of Sex Research, vol. 43, no. 4, pp. 368-377. Suarez, E.; Gadalla, T. M. 2010. "Stop Blaming the Victim: A Meta-Analysis on Rape Myths". Journal of Interpersonal Violence 25 (11): 2010–2035. Wells, B. 2005, "Sex, Lies, And Virginal Rape: The Slandered Bride And False Accusation In Deuteronomy",Journal of Biblical Literature, vol. 124, no. 1, pp. 41-72. Read More