Rape Culture Reinforced by the Media 16 | Page 2

Have you ever stopped to wonder why the latest pop-single details the persuasion of getting a women to have sex, or even why the cosmopolitan you were eyeing at Starbucks has a half naked Lea Michelle with a choker around her neck. Within our current society, physical and emotional degradation of women is condoned, and the portrayal of rape or dominance over women is percieved as sexy. These values have become prevelant norms within our society and have led many to consider us in a day and age of rape culture. Rape culture refers to a way of thinking that systematically trivializes, normalizes, or endorses sexual assault. There are various influences of this trend within our culture but none more influential than the continuous reinforcement of rape culture by the media. We see clothing and cologne ads with naked muscular men holding down a half-naked and defenseless female. Insinuating that rape is sexy and that the idea of rape or sexual assualt seems normal. This leads both men and women to assume that sexual violence is a fact of life. Men are more persistent and wont take no for an answer from the sexual object they intend to bring home. While woman are encouraged to be more passive and ridiculed for not giving in to this expected role. All of the most popular movies, music videos, and brands we endorse are guilty of this association, which makes this idea of sexual violence only more prevalent within society.