Rape Myth Beliefs - Essay Example

? Factors That Have Been Found To Associate With People's Rape Myth Beliefs Introduction Rape myth describes certain attitudes as well as beliefs which contribute to sexual violence through blame game. The blame game aims to shift sexual assault blame from the perpetrators to the victim. Some of the rape myths include; women provoke men to rape. Men cannot be raped. Women present false reports concerning rape. Married man cannot rape his spouse. Rape happens at night. Women enjoy being raped in secret, among others. In most cases, women are raped. However, the rapists in these case men present false beliefs to defend their actions. There are several factors that have been found to associate people’s rape myth beliefs. Women should always submit to men. We live in a patriarchal community where men are the principal decision makers. Men believe that a woman should always submit to them. In this regard, men consider that if they ask a woman for sexual favors, women should always accept the request (Hamlin, 2008, para. 5). Failure of women to submit on request results to rape. When a man wants to satisfy his sexual urge and request a woman who declines, they apply force in order to purse sexual intercourse. This is not right at all. Women have got feeling and should be allowed to make their own decisions. If a lady is not in the mood to purse sexual intercourse or says no to sex, men should respect the decision. In most cases, men consider their female friends, neighbors and wives as sex objects. They believe that their friends and spouse are under no obligation rather than to submit to them, each time they request for sexual intercourse. Women are the weaker sex. Women are regarded as the weaker sex (Lonsway and Fitzgerald, 1995, p. 709). This is why in some communities, in the Middle East, Africa and Asia women were not allowed to undertake white collar responsibilities. Instead, women roles were; bringing up the children, taking care of the household and obeying each order from their husband without questioning. Currently, these traditions are evolving to allow women choose their career besides being wives. Nevertheless, the belief that women should not exercise their career is still rampant (Braun and Clarke, 2006. p. 84). This results to husbands raping their wives due to the fact that their actions should not be questioned. For a successful sexual intercourse, both man and women should enjoy. This should be preceded by an event of romance whereby they both kiss and explore each other’s anatomy. This arouses the women feelings to develop an urge for sexual intercourse. However, each time men develop the urge for sexual intercourse undress their wives without prior notice to satisfy their feelings. They do not care about the feelings of women since they consider their actions as authoritative and they are the authority. Wives end being raped almost daily by their husbands. Married couple should discuss and come into a consensus on when to have sexual intercourse. Men are more supportive to rape myths. Across the globe, most societies are male dominated. They consider their actions and thoughts outright. In regard to the myth that women provoke men to rape, women wear clothes such as miniskirts and tight trousers exposing their sexual parts (Lonsway and Fitzgerald, 1995, 705). More so, they expose their breast by wearing tight blouses. When dressing, the mind of a woman endeavors to celebrate her sexuality as a beautiful God’s creature. By so doing, ladies tend to wear sexy clothes that include miniskirts, tight trousers and blouses. Most of this sexy attire is on fashion; on the other hand, men presume that when ladies celebrate their sexuality through sexy clothes, they are provoking them to sexual intercourse. When men observe a lady thighs and breast clearage get sexually aroused. They wish to have a sexual intercourse with that particular lady who may be is a stranger or a close friend. These result into a plan of action, an action to rape (Gavey and Gow, 2001, p.350). The society is morally rotten. The society is morally decayed, and is not under moral obligation. This factor contributes to rape myths such as; incest is minimal, men cannot be raped, and women respond positively to rape (Worthington, 2005, p. 19). Therefore, majority of the members of the society cannot believe that an individual has been raped. There is a general assumption that there was a mutual agreement among the rapist and the casualty. When a father rapes her daughter it is assumed that her daughter gave in for sexual intercourse willingly. Women also force their husbands to have sexual intercourse also women may force any other man rather than their husband. The society assumes that, in a rape case, man is the rapist, and the lady involved is a victim (Antaki, Billig, Edwards and Potter, 2003). The cases of women rapist are on the rise. In the event that a woman is forced into sexual intercourse, women respond positively. Responding positively means that they do not show any efforts to resist by calling for help. In such a situation, they will be deemed to have conceded the act. Sexual intercourse affairs are rampant in the society. Thus, incest, men or a lady being raped by their spouse or peers is considered as a normal sexual intercourse affair. Over 70% of the rape casualties are familiar with their attackers (Gavey and Gow, 2001, p. 25). Drug and substance abuse Ladies indulge in alcohol and substance abuse. In regard to the myth that women under alcohol and substance abuse are willing to participate in sexually activity, drunk ladies are a seen as sexual objects (Hamlin, 2008, para. 9). Ladies may consume alcohol to enjoy or celebrate an event. Others may consume drugs as a result of peer pressure or addition. This does not mean that they are subject to sexual intercourse. Most ladies under alcohol and substance abuse ends up being raped. Drugs and alcohol submit a lady to a situation unable to make decisions. She may be raped without consent. Morally decayed ladies Morally decayed ladies indulge into prostitution. There are those who engage in this practice for fan and other for business purposes. In the developing countries, ladies engage into prostitution as a result of poverty. Prostitution is a means of earning the daily bread. Nevertheless, men mistreat such ladies through rape. 10% of the rape cases are reported by commercial sex workers. The sex workers are either gang raped or enticed to have sex with a potential customer whereby later they are not compensated (Lonsway and Fitzgerald, 1995, p. 45). Irresponsible college students Some College students are naive. Regularly, they attend house and pool parties planned by their peers. In such parties, they get drunk in celebration mood. When the ladies get drunk, their male counterparts take advantage of the situation and force them to have sexual intercourse. Sometimes this turns to group sex where all the party attendants undress and have sex with anyone without consent. 20 % of the graduates lose their virginity in their college life (Worthington, 2005, p.12). Such behaviors contribute to the increase of HIV as well as AIDS among other sexually transmitted diseases. Peer pressure among teenage and the youths Teenagers and youths male or female share their sex experiences. In the event that there is one peer who does not have a story to narrate regarding his/her sexual experience, he/she wishes to poses such experience. The inexperienced character makes effort to have sexual intercourse. In an attempt to possess such experience, boys rape girls and girls prove men to have sexual intercourse with them. This result to increase in rape cases among the teenagers. This factor can be associated with the myth that ladies provoke men to rape them (Gray, 2006). This is in regard to the situation whereby the young ladies prove men to break their virginity or even have sex with them. As a result, they feel superior to their peers since they possess sexual experience (Burt, 1980, p. 221). Promiscuity In regard to the myth that rapist belong to the lower class and are criminals, most rapist turns out to be directly opposite of this (Hamlin, 2008, para. 12). Bosses rape their juniors, fathers rape their daughters and college mates rape their peers out of promiscuity. People turn out to be promiscuous depending on their characters, environment and the society around them. A child brought up in a morally decayed society might end being a rapist unlike another one brought up in a morally upright society. The environment and people around us contribute to our morals. If there are promiscuous characters around us, we might end up inheriting some their traits. Conclusion The list of rape myths may be endless, for this paper only a few have been quoted depending on their significance to Factors that have been found to associate with people's rape myth beliefs. The myths may differ from society to society. The society at large has got a major role to play in efforts to demystify these myths. The factors discussed above unearths of major facts behind some myths. Reference list: Antaki, C., Billig, M., Edwards, D., and Potter, J. (2003). Discourse Analysis Means Doing Analysis: A Critique Of Six Analytic Shortcomings. Discourse Analysis Online, 1 (http://extra.shu.ac.uk/daol/articles/v1/n1/a1/antaki2002002-paper.html) Braun, V. and Clarke V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3, 77–101. Burt, M. R. (1980). Cultural myths and supports for rape. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 38 (2), 217 – 230. Gavey, N. and Gow, V. (2001). ‘Cry wolf’, cried the wolf: Constructing the issue of false rape allegations in New Zealand Media texts. Feminism Psychology, 11 (3), 341-360. Gray, J. M. (2006). Rape Myth Beliefs and Prejudiced Decision Guidance: Effects on Decisions of Guilt in a Case of Date Rape. Journal of Legal and Criminological Psychology, 11 (1), 75 – 80. Hamlin, J. (2008). List of rape myths. Accessed on 5th Feb 2013 from: http://www.d.umn.edu/cla/faculty/jhamlin/3925/myths.html Lonsway, K. A. and Fitzgerald, L. F. (1995). Attitudinal antecedents of rape myth acceptance: A theoretical and empirical reexamination. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 68 (4), 704-711. Worthington, N. (2005). Negotiating news representations of rape: Reporting on a college sexual assault scandal. Media Report to Women, 33 (4), 6-14. Read More