Rape culture, what is it exactly? How can we evoke a culture when we evoke a crime? Focus on a sociological concept still tenacious today and flourishing within our cinema screens.
To trivialize a sexual assault, sexist acts or even rape, not to take into account the concept of consent … On closer look pop culture abounds with this deplorable representation which contributes to the culture of rape. Polish film 365 Dni seems to put back at the heart of the debate this notion of consent within a narrative. This is why, we suggest you come back to the term rape culture, a sociological concept that lifts the veil on a considerably problematic phenomenon.
What is rape culture?
When we talk about culture, it is difficult to understand the relationship with the concept of rape. Everyone agrees that it is a scourge. It is a crime that destroys lives and must be denounced. It is not a culture. But, despite the legal condemnations established in the face of this, rape is often perceived through a collective thought governed by tenacious stereotypes. This is where we talk about rape culture. Because we often imagine rape in a parking lot or a dark alley, inflicted by a stranger. However, 91% of victims know their attackers. The consequences of this myth "real rape" are serious. Speaking out, attempts to report rape are sometimes difficult to take seriously and this crime is therefore often minimized. As a reminder, according to article 222-23 of the Criminal Code: "Any act of sexual penetration, of whatever nature, committed on the person of others or on the person of the author by violence, coercion, threat or surprise is rape. Rape is punishable by fifteen years criminal imprisonment. "
The culture of rape is a sociological concept used to qualify behaviors within a society which would be minimized, normalized, even encouraged. The culture of rape is the act of trivializing rape and all that it includes: non-consent and sexual assault, for example. In 2010, George Ritzer and J. Michael Ryan defined this phenomenon in The Concise Encyclopedia of Sociology. The culture of rape is manifested through the distorted image according to which women are the property of men, the latter refusing them all respect. They would thus give themselves the right to control and master their body.
It is mainly the culture of rape that discourages certain victims from speaking, from sharing their experiences and, very often, from filing complaints. However, there is no "real victim" or "real rape ". Any absence of consent within a sexual act evokes rape. Yet 20% of people believe that a woman who says no often thinks yes. But a no remains a no and a "may be" is not a yes. Youtube channel And everyone doesn't care sheds light on the subject in a video.
The culture of rape, a real scourge in pop culture
Furthermore, the culture of rape propagates the eroticization of power differences. Toxic masculinity then comes into play and men are considered, by collective thought and patriarchal society, to be dominant. To be dominant is to be muscular and rich. And to be muscular and rich is to acquire a power which is considered, deplorably, as something attractive. In an article, The world evokes the culture of rape as follows: "The culture of rape is to encourage women to offer sex for pleasure, or to get rid of a chore, or because they are afraid of the consequences."
Women are reduced to a position of weakness, suffering from gender stereotypes, just like men. Because, the most unbearable, it is indeed to think that women will end up loving what is imposed on them. Pop culture has often contributed to this trivialization of rape and sexual assault, thus romanticizing the many toxic relationships that made the heyday of the seventh art. So, inevitably, the general public is swimming in the scourge of rape culture. Terrible but true: sometimes you end up no longer making the difference between harassment and seduction.
In Star Wars: Empire Strikes Back, the audience thinks they are witnessing an incredibly beautiful and passionate scene between Princess Leia and Han Solo when the latter forces him to kiss her against a wall. However, the kiss is forced. The romanticization of this scene adds to the relationship between the two characters, a couple that has become iconic within pop culture. On closer inspection, the greatest classics of cinema have skipped consent many times. If it tears our hearts so much they rocked our childhood, some Disney films also contribute to this by failing to take into account the consent of his damsels in distress. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, the first animation feature film from the studios, idealizes a relationship, love at first sight, which was born just after an unwilling kiss. Indeed, if the prince saves Snow White from a terrible death, he kisses her during her sleep – she is even considered dead by the seven dwarfs at the time of the facts. It is the same for Aurore, in The Sleeping Beauty, who receives a kiss from Prince Phillipe while unconscious.
Each element of our culture impacts us and impacts our way of thinking
The rape culture in the cinema is illustrated in many ways. She also takes into account harassment, the fact of following and watching someone in her every move, without her knowledge. Because it implies once again the lack of consideration of consent. In 2019, Mariwenn, film student and author of a thesis on the culture of rape, evokes in an interview with Vews – RTBF, the cult film Mary at all cost : "Mary meets a man who is sympathetic, who does not harass her, who respects her. But she does not end up with this man: she chooses Ted, the hero of the film instead. Because he tells her that he loved him forever and that everything he did for her he did it because he loved him. " On closer inspection, the moral of the film is therefore perplexing: as long as a man is in love with a woman, chasing and harassing her is entirely acceptable.
Towards an awareness of the rape culture on our screens?
Fortunately, in recent years, more and more programs have attempted to bring a different perspective to rape. Some productions even put the subject of rape culture at the heart of their series and films. The mini-series Unbelievable, on Netflix, lifted the veil on the lack of consideration of rape victims, for example. Without comper 13 Reasons Why which, without filter, also evokes the concept of consent. Often educational in nature, these programs also target a relatively young audience and reveal another way of dealing with the subject of rape, assault or harassment, female gaze also being increasingly highlighted.
So, wouldn't the solution be to take into account everyone's responsibility in our way of eroticizing predation? It is simply a matter of knowing how to make a judgment and an analysis on an era, works of the past, by contributing to the creation of films, series or others which really resemble the spectator. Bring a nuanced look to the eroticization of predators, change your rifle by giving more voice to the victims rather than to the executioners that we sometimes tend to sexualize to make them more attractive.
See also:
Why 365 Dni on Netflix, hotter than 50 shades of Gray, is a real problem
Watch the chilling trailer for the Unbelievable series, the true story of a serial rapist
Why 365 Dni on Netflix, hotter than 50 shades of Gray, is a real problem