The commodification of nature
is an area of research within critical environmental studies that is
concerned with the ways in which natural entities and processes are made
exchangeable through the market, and the implications thereof.
Most researchers who employ a commodification of nature framing invoke a Marxian conceptualization of commodities as "objects produced for sale on the market" that embody both use and exchange value. Commodification itself is a process by which goods and services not produced for sale are converted into an exchangeable form. It involves multiple elements, including privatization, alienation, individuation, abstraction, valuation and displacement.
As capitalism expands in breadth and depth, more and more things
previously external to the system become “internalized,” including
entities and processes that are usually considered "natural." Nature,
as a concept, however, is very difficult to define, with many layers of
meaning, including external environments as well as humans themselves. Political ecology and other critical conceptions draw upon strands within Marxist geography that see nature as "socially produced," with no neat boundary separating the "social" from the "natural." Still, the commodification of entities and processes that are
considered natural is viewed as a "special case" based on nature's
biophysical materiality, which "shape[es] and condition[s] trajectories of commodification."
Origins and development
Classical liberalism and enclosure
The commodification of nature has its origins in the rise of capitalism. In England and later elsewhere, "enclosure" involved attacks upon and eventual near-elimination of the commons—a long, contested and frequently violent process Marx referred to as "primitive accumulation."
Classical liberalism,
the ideological aspect of this process, was closely bound to questions
of the environment. Privatization was presented as "more conducive to
the careful stewardship of natural resources than the commons" by thinkers like Bentham, Locke and Malthus. The neo-Malthusian discourse of Garrett Hardin's "Tragedy of the Commons"
(1968) parallels this perspective, reconceptualizing public goods as
"scarce commodities" requiring either privatization or strong state
control.
Ecology Against Capitalism
As Foster points out in Ecology Against Capitalism, the
environment is not a commodity (such as most things are treated in
capitalism) but it is rather the biosphere that sustains all life that
we know of. However, it is important to note that in our society, it is
treated as a capitalistic value. For example, a price is put on lumber
in a certain forest or the quality of water in a river or stream, or the
minerals that are available under ground. These ways of putting a price
on the ecosystem tend to forget to put a price on exploiting it. This
can cause more damage to an ecosystem if the externalities for business
are not taken into consideration. One way to fix this problem is taxes
that will increase the cost of environmental damage. For example, a
carbon tax would help society get off of fossil fuels and go towards
renewables much faster. This is one step that many scientists and
experts agree needs to happen in order to transition away from fossil fuels and delay or even prevent man-made climate change.
Deregulation of governmental programs such as the EPA, and other
environmental organizations may be good for business, but it doesn't
serve the people who must live on a more polluted earth.
Capitalist expansion
Marxists define capitalism as a socio-economic system whose central goal is the accumulation
of more wealth through the production and exchange of commodities.
While the commodity form is not unique to capitalism, in it economic
production is motivated increasingly by exchange. Competition provides constant pressure for innovation and growth in a
"restless and unstable process," making the system expansionary and
"tendentially all-encompassing."
Through market globalization, the tendency Marx described in the Communist Manifesto
in which "[t]he need of a constantly expanding market for its products
chases the bourgeoisie over the entire surface of the globe," capitalism converts nature into "an appendage of the production process." As Neil Smith
argues, "[n]o part of the earth’s surface, the atmosphere, the oceans,
the geological substratum, or the biological superstratum are immune
from transformation by capital."
Neoliberal nature
Since the late 1980s, an ideology of "market environmentalism" has gained prominence within environmental policy. Such a perspective is based in neoclassical economic theory, which sees degradation as a result of the absence of prices in environmental goods. Market environmentalism gained widespread acceptance through the rise
of neoliberalism, an approach to human affairs in which the "free market" is given priority and money-mediated relations are seen as the best way to deliver services.
A neoliberal approach constructs nature as a "world currency,"
valued in international markets and given "the opportunity to earn its
own right to survive." This "selling nature to save it" approach requires economic valuation — either indirectly, as with cost-benefit analysis and contingent valuation, or through direct commodification. Critics of neoliberal environmental policy argue that this reduces the
importance of species survival "into a price whose rise or fall is
entangled with bets on their susceptibility to irreversible loss,
underscored by a calculus whereby species value rises with rarity, or
greater risk of extinction". Thus, neoliberal interventions like ecotourism and bioprospecting are
viewed by critics as ways of forcing nature to earn its right to survive
in the global marketplace.
While commodification efforts are propelled in large part by private firms seeking new areas of investment and avenues for the circulation of capital, there are also explicit policy prescriptions for privatization and market exchange of resources, production byproducts and processes as the best means to rationally manage and conserve the environment.
The neoliberal commodification of nature and its exploitation in the global south for the profits of the global north is also known as ecological imperialism, whereby ecological racism is understood as part of ecological imperialism.
Stretching and deepening
The
commodification of nature occurs through two distinct "moments" as
capitalization "stretches" its reach to include greater distances of
space and time, and "deepens" to penetrate into more types of goods and
services. External nature becomes an "accumulation strategy" for capital, through traditional examples like mining and agriculture as well as new "commodity frontiers" in bioprospecting and ecotourism.
David Harvey sees this as "the wholesale commodification of nature in all its forms," a "new wave of ‘enclosing the commons’" that employs environmentalism in the service of the rapid expansion of capitalism. This "accumulation by dispossession" releases assets at very low or zero cost, providing immediate profitability and counteracting overaccumulation.
Aspects of commodification
At
the most abstract level, commodification is a process through which
qualitatively different things are made equivalent and exchangeable
through the medium of money. By taking on a general quality of exchange value, they become commensurable.
Commodification turns on this apparent dissolution of qualitative
difference and its “renegotiation,” as commodities are standardized in
order to maintain a constant identity across space and time.
Commodity status is not something intrinsic to a natural entity, but is rather an assigned quality, brought about through an active process. The conversion of a whole class of goods or services necessitates changes in the way nature is conceptualized and discursively represented.
There is no "single path" to commodification.Noel Castree
stresses that commodification in fact involves several interrelated
aspects, or "relational moments," that should not be confused or
conflated as they can be employed independently of each other.
Element
Meaning
Privatization
Assigning of legal title over a commodity to a particular actor
Alienability
Capacity of a given commodity to be physically and morally separated from sellers
Individuation
Separating a commodity from supporting context through legal and material boundaries
Abstraction
Setting individual things as equivalent based on classifiable similarities
Valuation
Monetizing the value of a commodity
Displacement
Spatiotemporal separation, obscuring origins and relations
Privatization is the assigning of legal title to an entity or process. A commodity needs to be owned, either by an individual or a group, in order to be traded. Privatization of natural entities can entail enclosure or the representation thereof (as with intellectual property rights),
and represents a shift in social relations, changing rights of access,
use and disposal as things move from communally-, state- or unowned
modes into private hands.
Alienability is the capacity of a given commodity
to be separated, physically and morally, from its seller. If a commodity
is not alienable, it cannot be exchanged and is thus shielded from the
market. For example, human organs might be privatized (owned by their bearer) but very rarely would they be considered alienable.
Individuation is the representational and physical
act of separating a commodity from its supporting context through legal
and/or material boundaries. This could involve "splitting" an ecosystem
into legally-defined and tradable property rights to specific services
or resources.
Abstraction is the assimilation of a given thing into a broader type or process, the transformation of particular things into classes. Through functional abstraction, "wetlands" are constructed as a generic category despite the uniqueness of physical sitesand different gasses and activities are equated through carbon markets. Through spatial abstraction things in one place are treated as the same as things located elsewhere so that both can form part of the same market.
Valuation is the manifestation of all expressions of worth (aesthetic, practical, ethical, et cetera)
through a single exchange value. Monetization is thus foundational to
capitalism, rendering things commensurable and exchangeable, allowing
for the separation of production, circulation and consumption over great
gulfs of time and space.
Displacement involves something appearing as
"something other than itself." Commodities might be better thought of as
"socio-natural relations" than reified
as things "in and of themselves," but through spatio-temporal
separation of producers and consumers, the histories and relations of
commodities become obscured. This is Marx's commodity fetishism, the "making invisible" of the social relationships and embeddedness of production.
Problems with commodification
Critics
see environmental degradation as stemming from these processes of
commodification, and generally include at least implicit criticism of
one or more aspect. There appear to be three broad "problem areas" from
which the commodification of nature is critiqued: practical, in terms of whether or not nature can be properly made into a commodity; moral, in terms of the ethical implications of commodification; and consequential, in terms of the effects of commodification on nature itself.
Practical problems
Much
of the literature relates commodification of nature to the issue of
materiality—the significance of biophysical properties and context. The
qualitative differences of a heterogeneous biophysical world are seen to
be analytically and practically significant, sources of
unpredictability and resistance to human intention that also shape and
provide opportunities for capital circulation and accumulation.
The tangible non-human world thus affects the construction of
social and economic relations and practice, inscribing ecology in the
dynamics of capital. While some "natures" are readily subsumed by
capitalism, others "resist" complete commodification, displaying a form
of "agency." The ecological characteristics of marine fish, for example, affect the forms that privatization, industry structure and regulation can take. Water, also, does not commodify easily due to its physical properties,
which leads to differentiation in its governing institutions.
The demarcation and pricing of nature-based commodities is thus
problematic. Divisibility and exclusion are difficult, as it is often
not possible to draw clean property rights around environmental services
or resources. Likewise, pricing is a problem as many species, landscapes and services are unique or otherwise irreplaceable and incommensurable. Their monetary values are thus in many ways arbitrary, as they do not
follow changes in quality or quantity but rather social preference,
failing to convey "real" ecological value or reasons for conservation.
Moral difficulties
A
single monetary value also denies the multiplicity of values which
could be attributed to nature — non-monetary systems of cultural and
social importance. The environment can express relations between generations as a sort of heritage. Livelihood, territorial rights and "sacredness"
poorly translate into prices, and dividing a communal-social value — a
forest, for instance — into private property rights can undermine the
relations and identity of a community.
Neoliberal policies have been implicated in greatly altered
patterns of access and use. Markets generally deal poorly with issues of
procedural fairness and equitable distribution, and critics see commodification as producing greater levels of inequality in power and participation while reinforcing existing vulnerabilities. Ecosystem benefits might be considered "normative public goods" — even when commodified, there is a sense that individuals ought to not be excluded from access. When water privatization prices people out, for instance, a sense of use rights inspires protest.While neoliberal approaches are often presented as neutral or objective, they disguise highly political approaches to resources and the interests and power of certain actors.
Problematic consequences
Through commodification, natural entities and services become vehicles for the realization of profit, subject to the pressures of the market where efficiency overrides other concerns. With climate commodities, the profit motive incentivizes buyers and sellers to ignore the steady erosion of the climate mitigation goal. Market exchange is "reason-blind," but without rational assessment of different strategies and the
ecological importance of particular natural entities, commodification
cannot effectively deliver on conservation.
Harvey thus declares that there is something "inherently anti-ecological" about capitalist commodification. It ignores and simplifies complex relations, obscuring origins and narrowing things to a single service or standard unit.
The treatment of things as the same for a particular end — either
profit or a single utility — leads to a homogenization and
simplification of the biophysical. As governments and private firms seek
to maximize carbon content for emissions markets, they invest
preferably in tree plantations over complex forest ecosystems, eliminating species diversity, density and resulting in domino effects on processes such as water flow.
The neglect of relational aspects also ignores the emergent
and embedded character of ecosystem functions. Components are
frequently dependent on each other and the result of interactions
between biotic
and non-biotic factors across space and at multiple levels. Alienation
and individuation may thus be counterproductive to the provision of
ecosystem services, and veils human perception of what an ecosystem is
and how it functions—and consequently how to best conserve and repair
it. John Bellamy Foster argues that neglect of such relational aspects is a result of economic reductionism. This reductionism leads to an inefficiency in promoting biodiversity
since as ecosystems are simplified into more basic commodities they can
no longer support as diverse a set of organisms as they could
pre-commodification. This creates a concern that the commodification of
nature lends itself toward undermining biodiversity through its pursuit
of attaching a value to nature.
Karl Polanyi voiced this concern when addressing the concept of
treating nature as a commodity. If nature were treated as a commodity it
would be concentrated down to its base parts and destroyed. Polanyi
highlighted many of the concerns that contemporary environmentalists
have by noting that nature's commodification would lead to its
pollution, overuse, and eventually imperil human life
Crisis and resistance
Incomplete capitalization and the fictitious commodity
When
confronted with natural "barriers to accumulation," capitalists attempt
to overcome them through technical and social innovation. This often involves the modification of nature to fit the needs of
production and exchange, allowing for fuller realization of profits.
Nature is "subsumed" to capitalist accumulation, losing its
"independent" capacity and approaching "the archetype of a ‘pure’
commodity."
However, as nature becomes "rationalized" and internalized, increasing the control of capitalists over exchange, production and distribution, a new contradiction emerges. Capitalist penetration into natural
commodities can never be complete, because a certain amount of
production, by definition, takes place prior to human intervention. Because natural entities and processes do not require capital or labor
to be produced, and their social, cultural and/or ecological value exceeds the market value placed upon them, they are considered pseudo- or fictitious commodities. This basic fictitiousness is the origin of the material contradictions that arise when natural commodities are treated as if they were "true" commodities, as completely privatizable, alienable, separable, et cetera.
Possible consequences of commodifying nature
Many scholars believe that ecology and capitalism are against one another regarding climate change. As environmental economics is a relatively new field of study, and
capitalism a significantly older economic system, radical change of
current capitalist systems is highly unlikely while internalization of
natural resources into the economy is much more feasible. John Bellamy Foster
believes that commodification of nature might be more dangerous than
the impending danger of climate change and ecologic disaster. Foster
fears that commodification of nature might lead to a system that favors
economy over ecology (endangering natural resources) and promote a form
of neocolonialism
that acknowledges the elements of capitalism, globalization, and
cultural imperialism, but disregards the idea of colonialism altogether.
Degradation of resources, underproduction of conditions
As
fictitious commodities with origins outside of capitalist production,
the value of nature, counter to the neoclassical assumption, cannot be fully accounted for in monetary terms, and there is a resultant tendency toward the overexploitation and "underproduction" of nature.
Natural entities that are commodified are subjected to the
competitive drive for accumulation. Capitalism is "ecologically
irrational," with a systematic tendency to overexploit its natural
resource base. At the same time, what O’Connor terms the "conditions of production"
(all the phenomena upon which capitalism depends but is unable to
produce itself, including environmental conditions and processes) are
subjected to indiscriminate degradation as they cannot be fully commodified. This is the "second contradiction" of capitalism, between the relations and forces of production and its conditions. Capitalism undermines its own production system, "producing its own scarcity."
Reclaiming the commons?
Recruiting
nature into relations of capitalist exchange "incites a good deal of
push back," as these entities and services "matter a great deal to
ordinary people." Social needs compete politically for access and control of an increasingly commodified nature, and as price is insufficient to resolve these competing claims, counter-movements emerge, expressing the "crisis tendencies" of capitalist nature through socio-political struggles over representation and access.
Protest movements, transnational coalitions, instances of
alternative practices and counter-discourses all fall within a broad
tent of resistance struggles to "reclaim the commons." This can be seen as Polanyi's "double movement," in which tendencies toward and against market coordination interact, based in a rejection of the treatment of the environment as alienable market goods.
Specific Examples in Modern Society
While
there are numerous natural resources that are being capitalized upon
all across the world, there are several more notable examples of
commodification of nature. The following examples are some that are
either more prevalent or larger in scale and scope.
Emissions Trading
Emissions trading,
commonly referred to as cap and trade, embodies commodification of
nature in that it allows for the trade of pollution and emissions within
a given limit for a specific environment. Rather than simply outright
prohibiting or allowing pollution and other various negative
externalities, cap and trade essentially permits members of an industry
to buy and sell units of emission with a maximum set for the industry as
a whole.
While there are various outlooks on whether emissions trading is
effective in cutting emissions or pollution, it is pertinent to
understand that this concept takes a company or individual's emissions
and presents them as something that can be bought or sold on a
specialized market.
Drinking Water
As capitalism has spread in leaps and bounds, so too has its reach on previously universal resources; one such resource is drinking water.
Water, a fundamental resource to human survival, now is a multibillion-dollar industry. Essentially what this means is that something that used to be
completely free and public has been taken and turned into a privatized
service. One modern example of water commodification is the current
conflict going on in Flint, Michigan.
Petroleum
As petroleum
has begun to be used for fuel and other various mechanical and
transportation uses, the demand for the natural resource has
skyrocketed. As a result, an economic industry has formed that completely revolves
around the extraction and sale of the resource. By extension, many other
industries also rely on the resource such as the automotive industry or
anyone that relies on transportation for their business.
Oil is just one of many natural resources being taken from the
environment to be sold in markets of various size and influence across
the globe. What sets this resource apart from others, however, is that
so many other industries are reliant upon oil that it has become one of
the most sought after resources across the world.
The nature–culture divide is the notion of a dichotomy between humans and the environment. It is a theoretical foundation of contemporary anthropology that considers whether nature and culture function separately from one another, or if they are in a continuous biotic relationship with each other.
In East Asian society, nature and culture are conceptualized as dichotomous (separate and distinct domains of reference). Some researchers consider culture to be "man's secret adaptive weapon"
in the sense that it is the core means of survival. It has been
observed that the terms "nature" and "culture" can not necessarily be
translated into non-western languages, for example, the Native American scholar John Mohawk
utilizes the term nature to describe "everything that supports life on
the planet," specifically when discussing the limits of science to ever
fully understand nature's complexity.
There is an idea that small-scale societies can have a more symbiotic relationship with nature. Less symbiotic relations with nature are limiting small-scale communities' access to water and food resources. It was also argued that the contemporary man-nature divide manifests itself in different aspects of alienation and conflicts. Greenwood and Stini argue that agriculture is only monetarily
cost-efficient because it takes much more to produce than one can get
out of eating their own crops,e.g. "high culture cannot come at low energy costs".
During the 1960s and 1970s, Sherry Ortner showed the parallel between the divide and gender roles with women as nature and men as culture. Feminist scholars question whether the dichotomies between nature and culture, or man and woman, are essential. For example, Donna Haraway's works on cyborg theory, as well as companion species gesture toward a notion of "naturecultures": a new way of understanding
non-discrete assemblages relating humans to technology and animals.
History
Within
European culture, land was an inherited right for each family's
firstborn son and every other child would need to find another way to own land. European expansion would be motivated by this desire to claim land and extract resources through technological developments or the invention of public trading companies. Other factors include religious (e.g. Crusades) and discovery
(e.g. voyages) purposes. In addition to the desire for expansion,
Europeans had the resources for external growth. They had ships, maps,
and knowledge—a complex of politics, economy and military tactics
that they believed were superior for ruling. These factors helped them
to possess and rule the people of the lands they came in contact with.
One large element of this was Western European's strong cultural belief
in private property.
Colonialists from Europe saw the American landscape as desolate, savage, dark and waste and thus needed to be tamed in order for it to be safe and habitable. Once cleared and settled, these areas were depicted as “Eden itself." Land was a commodity and as such, anyone who did not use it to turn a profit could have it taken from them. John Locke was one responsible for these ideals. Yet the commodities didn't end with the acquisition of land. Profit became the main driver for all resources that would follow (including slavery). The cultural divide that existed between Europeans and the native groups they colonised allowed the Europeans to capitalise on both local and global trade. So whether the ruling of these other lands and peoples was direct or
indirect, the diffusion of European ideals and practices spread to
nearly every country on the globe. Imperialism and globalisation were also at play in creating a ruling dominion for the European nation, but it did not come without challenges.
The native groups they encountered saw their relationship with the land in a more holistic
view. They saw the land as a shared entity of which they were a part,
but the Europeans saw it as a commodity that could and should be divided
and owned by individuals to then buy and sell as they pleased. And that “wilderness” is that the connection between humans and nature is broken. For native communities, human intervention was a part of their ecological practices.
Theories
The Role of Society
Pre-existing
movements include a spectrum of environmental thoughts. Authors,
Büscher and Fletcher, present these various movements on a condensed
map. Though it is simplified in thought and definition, it offers an
excellent way for readers to see the major conservation movements
plotted together in which elements of their philosophy are highlighted.
The following movements are as follows: mainstream conservation, new
conservation, neoprotectionism, and their newly proposed convivial
conservation. Each movement is plotted against two major factors: capitalism
and the human-nature divide. Mainstream conservation supports the
human-nature divide and capitalism, new conservation supports the
human-nature divide but rejects capitalism, neoprotectionism rejects
capitalism but supports the human-nature divide, and convivial
conservation rejects both the human-nature divide and capitalism. This
newest movement, though reminiscent of previous ones, sets itself apart
by addressing the political climate more directly. They argue this is important because without it, their movement will
only gain as much traction as those before it, i.e. very little. Lasting
change will come, not only from an overhaul in human-nature relations
and capitalist thought but from a political system that will enact and
support these changes.
The Role of Science
The nature–culture
divide is intertwined with the social versus biological debate since
both are implications of each other. As viewed in earlier forms of anthropology, it is believed that genetic determinism
de-emphasises the importance of culture, making it obsolete. However,
more modern views show that culture is valued more than nature because
everyday aspects of culture have a wider impact on how humans see the
world, rather than just our genetic makeup. Older anthropological
theories have separated the two, such as Franz Boas,
who claimed that social organisation and behaviour are purely the
transmission of social norms and not necessarily the passing of
heritable traits. Instead of using such a contrasting approach, more modern anthropologists see Neo-Darwinism
as an outline for culture, therefore nature is essentially guiding how
culture develops. When looking at adaptations, anthropologists such as
Daniel Nettle state that animals choose their mates based on their
environment, which is shaped directly by culture. More importantly, the
adaptations seen in nature are a result of evoked nature, which is
defined as cultural characteristics which shape the environment and that
then queue changes in phenotypes
for future generations. Put simply, cultures that promote more
effective resource allocation and a chance for survival are more likely
to be successful and produce more developed societies and cultures that
feed off of each other.
Transmitted culture can also be used to bridge the gap between
the two even more, because it uses a trial and error based approach that
shows how humans are constantly learning, and that they use social learning to influence individual choices. This is seen best in how the more superficial aspects of culture still
are intertwined with nature and genetic variation. For example, there
are beauty standards intertwined into the culture because they are associated with better survival rates,
yet they also serve personal interests which allows for individual
breeding pairs to understand how they fit into society. By learning from
each other, nature becomes more intertwined with culture since they
reinforce each other.
Sandra Harding
critiqued dominant science as "posit[ing] as necessary, and/or as
facts, a set of dualisms—culture vs. nature; rational mind vs.
prerational body and irrational emotions and values; objectivity vs.
subjectivity; public vs. private—and then links men and masculinity to
the former and women and femininity to the latter in each dichotomy". Instead, they argue for a more holistic approach to knowledge-seeking
which recognizes that every attempt at objectivity is bound up in the
social, historical, and political subjectivity of the knowledge producer.
Real-World Examples
National Parks
There
is a historical belief that wilderness must not only be tamed to be
protected but that humans also need to be outside of it. In fact, there have been instances where the removal of people from an
area has actually increased illegal activities and negative
environmental effects. National parks may not be particularly known as places of increased
violence, but they do perpetuate the idea of humans being removed from
nature to protect it. They also create a symbol of power for humans over
nature, as these sites have become tourist attractions. Ecotourism, even with environmentally friendly practices in effect, still represents a commodification of nature.
Another example can be seen in “the great frontier.” The American frontier became the nation's most sacred myth of origin.
Yet the lands protected as monuments to the American past were
constructed as pristine and uninhabited by removing the people that
lived and survived on those lands. Some authors have
come to describe this type of conservation as conservation-far, where
humans and nature are kept separate. The other end of the conservation
spectrum then, would be conservation-near, which would mimic native
ecological practices of humans integrated into the care of nature.
Author Marilyn Frye
describes feminist separatism as "separation of various sorts or modes
from men and from institutions, relationships, roles and activities that
are male-defined, male-dominated, and operating for the benefit of
males and the maintenance of male privilege – this separation being
initiated or maintained, at will, by women."
Background
Cultural critic Alice Echols describes the emergence of a lesbian separatist movement as a response to homophobic sentiments expressed by feminist organizations like the National Organization for Women.
Echols argues that "...the introduction of (homo)sex troubled many
heterosexual feminists who had found in the women's movement a welcome
respite from sexuality." Echols considered separatism as a lesbian
strategy to untie lesbianism from sex so heterosexual women in the
feminist movement felt more comfortable.
Cell 16, which was founded in 1968 by Roxanne Dunbar, has been cited as the first organization to advance the concept of separatist feminism. Cultural historian Alice Echols credits Cell 16's work for "helping establishing the theoretical foundation for lesbian separatism." Echols cites Cell 16 as an example of heterosexual feminist separatism, as the group never advocated lesbianism as a political strategy.
In No More Fun and Games, the organization's radical feminist
periodical, members Roxanne Dunbar and Lisa Leghorn advised women to
"separate from men who are not consciously working for female
liberation." Instead, they advised periods of celibacy, rather than lesbian
relationships, which they considered to be "nothing more than a personal
solution".
Meaning and purpose
Proponents
of feminist separatism have varied opinions on the meaning of feminist
and lesbian separatism; major debates include the degree to which women
should separate from men, whether it is a strict ideology or a strategy,
and how it works to benefit women.
General feminist separatism
In a tract on socialist feminism published in 1972, the Hyde Park Chapter of the Chicago Women's Liberation Union differentiated between separatism as an "ideological position" and as a "tactical position". In the same document, they further distinguished between separatism as "personal practice" and as "political position".
In lesbian feminist Marilyn Frye's (1978) essay Notes on Separatism and Power
she posits female separatism as a strategy practiced by all women, at
some point, and present in many feminist projects (one might cite
women's refuges, electoral quotas or Women's Studies programmes). She
argues that it is only when women practice it self-consciously as
separation from men, that it is treated with controversy (or as she
suggests, hysteria). Male separatism on the other hand (one might
consider gentleman's clubs, labor unions, sports teams, the military,
and more arguably decision-making positions in general) is seen as quite
a normal, even expedient phenomenon, while it is mostly not practiced
self-consciously.
Some feminist separatists believe that men cannot make positive
contributions to the feminist movement and that even well-intentioned
men replicate the dynamics of patriarchy.
Lesbian separatism
Charlotte Bunch, an early member of The Furies Collective,
viewed separatism as a strategy, a "first step" period, or temporary
withdrawal from mainstream activism to accomplish specific goals or
enhance personal growth.
In addition to advocating withdrawal from working, personal or casual relationships with men, The Furies recommended that lesbian separatists relate "only (with) women who cut their ties to male privilege" and suggest that "as long as women still benefit from heterosexuality,
receive its privileges and security, they will at some point have to
betray their sisters, especially Lesbian sisters who do not receive
those benefits." This was part of a larger idea that Bunch articulated in Learning from Lesbian Separatism (1976), that "in a male-supremacist society, heterosexuality is a political institution," and the practice of separatism is a way to escape its domination.
Separatism has been considered by lesbians as both a temporary strategy and as a lifelong practice. Lambda Award-winning author Elana Dykewomon spent the majority of her adult life in female-only communities, some of which she helped organize.
In her 1988 book, Lesbian Ethics: Toward New Value, lesbian philosopher Sarah Lucia Hoagland
alludes to lesbian separatism's potential to encourage lesbians to
develop healthy community ethics based on shared values. Hoagland
articulates a distinction (originally noted by lesbian separatist author
and anthologist, Julia Penelope) between a lesbian subculture and a lesbian community;
membership in the subculture being "defined in negative terms by an
external, hostile culture", and membership in the community being based
on "the values we believe we can enact here". Bette Tallen believes that lesbian separatism, unlike some other separatist
movements, is "not about the establishment of an independent state, it
is about the development of an autonomous self-identity and the creation
of a strong solid lesbian community". Lesbian historian Lillian Faderman describes the separatist impulses of lesbian feminism which created culture and cultural artifacts as "giving love between women greater visibility" in broader culture. Faderman also believes that lesbian feminists who acted to create
separatist institutions did so to "bring their ideals about integrity,
nurturing the needy, self-determination and equality of labor and rewards into all aspects of institution-building and economics".
Separatist lesbianism is a type of feminist separatism specific to lesbians. Many lesbian separatists bought land so they could live separately from men and heterosexual women.
Radical lesbianism and other similar movements represent a
rupture with the broader feminist movements. They offer an attempt by
some feminists and lesbians to try to reconcile what they see as
inherent conflicts with the stated goals of feminism. Many of these
conflicts and ruptures are a result of issues arising from broader and
nationally specifically cultural narratives around women. Some of them
are created independently in response to these needs, while others draw
inspiration from radical movements in other countries. This results in
no single history of radical lesbianism, but of separate national
struggles.
Internationally, radical lesbians often took advantage of
convergent international spaces to create their own events to increase
the visibility of lesbianism. Examples of this include the 1994 lesbian
march in New York on the 25th anniversary of Stonewall.
Another example was at the 1995 Beijing hosted World Women's
Conference. A third example took place during the 1997 Amsterdam hosted
Gay Games.
In the United States, the movement started in 1970, when seven women (including lesbian activist Del Martin) confronted the North Conference of Homophile
Organizations about the relevance of the gay rights movement to the
women within it. The delegates passed a resolution in favor of women's
liberation, but Del Martin felt they had not done enough, and wrote "If
That's All There Is", an influential 1970 essay in which she decried gay
rights organizations as sexist. The Furies formed a commune in 1971 open to lesbians only, where they put out a monthly newspaper called The Furies.
The Furies consisted of twelve women, aged eighteen to twenty-eight,
all feminists, all lesbians, all white, with three children among them. These activities continued into the early part of the decade.Other well known lesbian separatists groups include The Gutter Dykes, The Gorgons, and The Radicalesbians.
In a United States context, the practice of lesbian separatism sometimes incorporates concepts related to queer nationalism and political lesbianism. Some individuals who identify as lesbian separatists are also associated with the practice of Dianic paganism.
In Francophone countries, the term radical lesbian movement is used instead of lesbian separatism. It is roughly analogous to English-language lesbian separatism. Inspired by the writings of philosopher Monique Wittig, the movement originated in France in the early 1980s, spreading soon after to the Canadian province of Quebec. Wittig, referencing the ideas of Simone de Beauvoir, challenges concepts of biological determinism,
arguing that those in power construct sex difference and race
difference for the purpose of masking conflicts of interest and
maintaining domination. She and her allies saw heterosociality as well as heterosexuality as aspects of hetero-power, strongly to be resisted.
Latin American radical lesbianism developed during the 1970s, and
like other parts of the movement, resulted from specific national
conditions. Radical lesbianism began to develop in Mexico in 1977, led
by the group Mujeres guerreras que abren caminos y esparcen flores
(Oikabeth). Radical lesbianism arose in Chile in 1984 in response to
national conditions resulting from the dictatorship. Costa Rica
developed a radical lesbianism movement in 1986. During the 1980s and 1990s, life for lesbians in Latin America was
difficult because of lesbophobic repression across the region.
Consequently, the communities in Mexico, Costa Rica, Puerto Rico,
Argentina and Brazil began working more closely together on shared
goals.
Culture and community
Lesbian
and feminist separatism have inspired the creation of art and culture
reflective of its visions of female-centered societies. An important and
sustaining aspect of lesbian separatism was the building of alternative
community through "creating organizations, institutions and social
spaces ... women's bookstores, restaurants, publishing collectives, and
softball leagues fostered a flourishing lesbian culture."
Writing
During the second-wave of feminism, women created a network of publications, presses, magazines, and periodicals, known as the women in print movement. Some designated their periodicals and books "for women only", or "for lesbians only".
TheWanderground (Persephone Press, 1978), is a separatist utopian novel written from author Sally Miller Gearhart's personal experience in rural lesbian-separatist collectives.
Non-fiction
Wild Mares: My Lesbian Back-to-the-Land Life (University of Minnesota Press, 2018) documents author Dianna Hunter's experiences in a lesbian separatist collective.
For Lesbians Only: A Separatist Anthology (Onlywomen Press, 1988), edited by Julia Penelope and Sarah Lucia Hoagland, is a collection of writings on lesbian separatism.
Other examples are the London lesbian magazine Gossip: A Journal of Lesbian Feminist Ethics, Lesbian Feminist Circle, a lesbian only journal collectively produced in Wellington, New Zealand, the Australian periodical Sage: The Separatist Age,Amazones d'Hier, Lesbiennes d'Aujourd'hui, produced for lesbians only in Montreal, Quebec, and the Killer Dyke a magazine by the "Flippies" (Feminist Lesbian Intergalactic Party), based in Chicago. The Furies
was an American newspaper by The Furies Collective which intended to
give a voice to lesbian separatism, and ran from January 1972 until
mid-1973.
The Michigan Womyn's Music Festival,
or "Michfest", was a yearly music festival that took place every summer
until 2015. Michfest was established in 1976 and was active supporter
in the need for women to be separated at times from the "politics,
institution, and culture of men. Michfest offered women not only the
chance to 'live' feminism, but, as the quotes above testify, also acted
as a way of educating women about feminist forms, in ways that can
challenge the vilification of 'radical lesbian separatism'." Despite this claim to creating a community centered on women's
liberation, Michfest implemented policies excluding attendees if they
did not live up to their definition of a "womyn-born womyn." As a protest and alternative gathering, trans-inclusive activists founded Camp Trans.
Olivia Records was a separatist business in Los Angeles that produced women's music and concerts. Olivia Records was founded in 1973 by Jennifer Woodhul, Lee Schwing, Ginny Berson,
and Helaine Harris and was originally located in Washington, D.C.
Olivia Records sold nearly 2 million copies of albums with women
performers and artists that were marketed to women. The record company eventually shifted from music to travel, and is now a lesbian travel company called Olivia.
Womyn's land has been used in America to describe communities of lesbian separatists, normally living on a separate plot of land. Some lesbian lands have practiced the idea of ecofeminism
on these separate plots of land, which is the connection between the
oppression of women and the oppression of nature by men. Access to
temporary free land was often found through women's music festivals,
where lesbians would network and strategized their plans for lesbian
land. Lesbian separatism provided opportunities to "live their lives apart from ...mainstream society", and in the 1970s, "significant numbers of lesbian feminists moved to rural communities." One of these lesbians, Joyce Cheney, interviewed rural feminist separatists and lesbian separatists living in intentional community, land trusts and land co-ops. The result was her book, Lesbian Land (1976). Cheney describes the reason for many of these separatists' move to
lesbian land as a "spatial strategy of distancing ... from mainstream
society".
Reception
In a 1982 published conversation about black feminism and lesbian activism with her sister Beverly Smith, Barbara Smith, co-author of the Combahee River Collective Statement, expresses concerns that "to the extent that lesbians of color must struggle simultaneously against the racism of white women (as against sexism),
separatism impedes the building of alliances with men of color". Smith
writes that race places lesbians of color in a different relation to men
as white lesbians as "white women with class privilege don't share
oppression with white men. They're in a critical and antagonistic
position whereas Black women and other women of color definitely share
oppressed situations with men of their race". Smith makes a distinction between the theory
of separatism and the practice of separatism, stating that it is the
way separatism has been practiced which has led to "an isolated,
single-issued understanding and practice of politics, which ignores the
range of oppressions that women experience".
In 1983, anarchistBob Black
wrote: "Separatism may be absurd as a social program and riddled with
inconsistencies. But semi-isolation makes it easier to indoctrinate
neophytes and shut out adverse evidence and argument, an insight radical
feminists share with Moonies, Hare Krishna, and other cultists".
While advocating a broadly separatist policy, feminist Sonia Johnson points out that feminist separatism risks defining itself by what it separates itself from, i.e. men.
Lesbian poet Jewelle Gomez refers to her intertwined history with black men and heterosexual women in her essay Out of the Past
and explains that "to break away from those who've been part of our
survival is a leap that many women of color could never make".
Rape rates (police reported) per 100,000 population, 2010–2012
Rape culture is a setting, as described by some sociological theories, in which rape is pervasive and normalized due to that setting's attitudes about gender and sexuality. Behaviors commonly associated with rape culture include victim blaming, slut-shaming, sexual objectification, trivialization of rape, denial of widespread rape, refusal to acknowledge the harm caused by sexual violence, or some combination of these. It has been used to describe and explain behavior within social groups, including prison rape and in conflict areas where war rape is used as psychological warfare. Entire societies have been alleged to be rape cultures.
The notion of rape culture was developed by second-wave feminists,
primarily in the United States, beginning in the 1960s. Critics of the
concept dispute its existence or extent, arguing that the concept is too
narrow or that although there are cultures where rape is pervasive, the
very idea of rape culture can imply that it is not only the rapist who
is at fault, but also society as a whole that enables rape. Critics of
that line of criticism have disputed the notion that only one party
needs to be at fault, noting that the perpetrator can be the primary
wrongdoer, those who help cover it up or harass the victim acting as
accomplices, and that thus, also according to them, the wider society
and culture can still be blamed for its collective influence on these
individuals.
Two movements have addressed what they either fully or partially
perceive as being rape culture or a role being played by rape culture,
i.e. SlutWalk and Me Too.
Though their rationale for claiming and including that the role of rape
culture as being party to the particular social blights and crimes that
they are fighting can vary, these movements have helped spread people's
stories through hashtags and provide an online space where victims of different types of sexual violence can confide in each other.
Origins and usage
The term "rape culture" was first used in the 1970s by second-wave feminists in the United States and applied to contemporary American culture as a whole. During the 1970s, feminists had begun to engage in consciousness-raising efforts designed to educate the public about the prevalence of rape. Previously, according to Canadian psychology professor Alexandra Rutherford, most Americans assumed that rape, incest, and wife-beating were rare. The concept of rape culture posited that rape was common and normal in
American culture and that it was an extreme manifestation of pervasive
societal misogyny and sexism. Rape was redefined as a violent crime
rather than a sex crime, and its motive redefined from desire for sexual
pleasure to male domination, intimidation and control. Rape also began to be reexamined through the eyes of the victims rather than the perpetrators.
The first published use of the term appears to have been in 1974 in Rape: The First Sourcebook for Women, edited by Noreen Connell and Cassandra Wilson as a project of New York Radical Feminists. In the book, the group wrote, "our ultimate goal is to eliminate rape
and that goal cannot be achieved without a revolutionary transformation
of our society". This book and Susan Brownmiller's 1975 Against Our Will: Men, Women and Rape
were among the earliest to include first-person accounts of rape. Their
authors intended to demonstrate that rape was much more common than
previously believed. In the book, Brownmiller comments that women never talk about rape
because they do not want to be open about a "crime against their
physical integrity", which explains public ignorance of rape's
prevalence. Brownmiller, a member of the New York Radical Feminists, argued that both academia and the public ignore incidents of rape. She helped psychologists begin observing and studying what sparked this "rape supportive culture". Against Our Will is considered a landmark work on feminism and sexual violence and one of the pillars of modern rape studies.
Sociology professor Joyce E. Williams traces the first usage of the term "rape culture" to the documentary film Rape Culture, released in 1975. Produced and directed by Margaret Lazarus and Renner Wunderlich for Cambridge Documentary Films, the film, Williams said, "takes credit for first defining the concept". The film discusses rape of both men and women in the context of a larger cultural normalization of rape. The film featured the work of the DC Rape Crisis Center in cooperation with Prisoners Against Rape, Inc., and includes interviews with rapists and victims, as well as prominent
anti-rape activists such as feminist philosopher and theologian Mary Daly and author and artist Emily Culpepper. The film explored how mass media and popular culture have perpetuated attitudes toward rape.
In their 1992 Journal of Social Issues
paper "A Feminist Redefinition of Rape and Sexual Assault: Historical
Foundations and Change", Patricia Donat and John D'Emilio suggest that
the term originated as "rape-supportive culture" in Against Our Will. By the mid-1970s, the phrase began to be used more widely across various media.
Overview
Feminists and gender activists conceptualize rape culture as a cultural environment that encourages gender violence, as well as perpetuating rape myths, ranging from treating rape as merely "rough sex" to blaming the victim for inviting rape.
Michael Parenti
believes that rape culture manifests through the acceptance of rapes as
an everyday occurrence and even a male prerogative. It can be
exacerbated by police apathy in handling rape cases, as well as victim blaming, reluctance by authorities to go against patriarchial cultural norms, as well as fears of stigmatization suffered by rape victims and their families. Other sociologists posit that rape culture links non-consensual sex to the cultural fabric
of a society, where patriarchial worldviews, laced with misogyny
and gender inequality, are passed from generation to generation,
leading to widespread social and institutional acceptance of rape.
One explanation for the commonality of these myths is that only
certain "bad" or "misbehaved" women are raped. This creates a category
of women separated from the general population which encourages an
"otherness" and reduces the idea that anyone is vulnerable to being
raped. One common rape myth is that no event is random. This promotes the idea
that the women who are raped were not raped for no reason, but that
they deserved it. If women believe that they were the cause of the rape,
they may not go to authorities. Society also uses the stereotype of men being aggressive as an excuse
for their actions. This justifies and normalizes rape. Society creates
these myths, scaring women before they are even raped. Another reason
for the acceptance of rape culture is the "just-world" fallacy,
the cognitive bias that leads some people to believe that what happens
to an individual in life is inherently tied to their actions and thus
seen as justly deserved. People who believe in this theory would also be
more likely to believe women who are raped deserve it in some way.
Finally, rape can be attributed to ways women were treated historically,
as a factor used to oppress and create control over women.
Brownmiller, in Against Our Will, discusses three ideas
that helped bring awareness to some clearly defined rape myths of the
early to mid 20th century. First, any woman can be a rape victim
regardless of age, size, shape, ethnicity, or status. Second, any man
can be a rapist, not just "evil" or "mentally ill" men as thought in
previous decades. Finally, rape can occur in many different forms
besides the stereotype of a violent, forceful rape done by a stranger.
The idea any women could be raped was a new proposition that
called attention to the notion of victim blaming. Now that rape could
affect anyone, there would not be a proper way for men and women to
avoid it. Some rape myths that were widely accepted on the basis of what
kind of women would be raped were ideas that the victim was always
"young, careless [and] beautiful" or they are "loose" women who "invite
rape" by provoking men."Although Brownmiller's idea about victim blaming was supposed to expose
rape myths thus eradicating victim-blaming, blaming the victim in rape
circumstances is still a common practice.
Rape culture can manifest when third parties separate the sexual
violence of select individuals and cast them off as deviant perverts
rather than acknowledging that anyone can be capable of rape. In the
1960s, rapists were often seen as mentally ill or deviants in society,
and this view persisted among some people into the 1990s.
Rape cases in which both parties previously knew one another has been coined as "acquaintance rape", a term first used in print in 1982 by feminist writer and activist Diana Russell. A book by Robin Warshaw, I Never Called It Rape was published in 1988 which provided the first in depth discussion on the subject. The term has subsequently been used by prominent academics such as Mary P. Koss.
Chris O'Sullivan asserts that acts of sexism are commonly employed to validate and rationalize normative misogynistic
practices. For instance, sexist jokes may be told to foster disrespect
for women and an accompanying disregard for their well-being, or a rape
victim might be blamed for being raped because of how she dressed or
acted. O'Sullivan examines rape culture and fraternities, identifying
the socialization and social roles that contribute to sexual aggression,
and looks at "frat life" and brotherhood ideals of competition and
camaraderie. In these groups, sex is viewed by young men as a tool of
gaining acceptance and bonding with fellow "brothers", as they engage in
contests over sex with women. In O'Sullivan's article, sexualized violence towards women is regarded
as part of a continuum in a society that regards women's bodies as
sexually available by default.
To some, the root cause of rape culture is the "domination and objectification of women". However, academic theory holds that rape culture does not necessarily
have a single cause, and causes may be localized based on other social
aspects of culture. Rape culture is a fluid and always-changing entity that is socially
produced and socially legitimated, so throughout time and place its
definitions will change. Reasoning about rape and rape culture is also
influenced by gender and heterosexuality norms.For example, in South Africa the overriding "war culture", which
emphasized masculinity and violence, led to a culture in which rape was
normalized. A University of California Davis
public document alleged that major causes of rape were the enforcement
of women having to follow social rules and the conditioning of gender
roles. Others say in a rape culture women are conditioned to assume
responsibility for male sexuality, and gender roles are socially
constructed and enforced on women through fear.
Since the late 20th century, researchers and activists have
repeatedly returned to the issue of rape culture on university campuses,
especially in the United States, Canada, and the U.K. Often, victims
are dissuaded from reporting sexual assaults because of universities'
and colleges' ambivalent reactions to rape reports and desire to
suppress bad news. Victims may not want to risk stigmatization and
scrutiny in their lives, especially in campus society. Victim-hood is a social creation, and is associated with stigma.
Definitions of what counts as "rape" and who is treated as a "genuine
victim" are constructed in discourse and practices that reflect the
social, political, and cultural conditions of society. For instance,
rape victims may not be considered as such if it appears they did not
struggle or put up a fight. Their emotional responses are observed and
reported during investigations to aid in deciding if the victim is lying
or not. In addition, college administration officials have sometimes questioned
accounts of victims, further complicating documentation and policing of
student assaults, despite such preventive legislation as the Clery Act, which requires colleges to report on crimes.
Rape culture is closely related to slut-shaming and victim blaming,
in which rape victims are considered at fault for being raped. Scholars
argue that this connection is made due to a culture that shames all
female sexuality that is not for the purpose of reproduction in a
hetero-normative married household. That some victims do not report rapes to the police due to fear of not
being believed is often cited as a symptom of a rape culture. 6% of women who did not report rape said it was because of fear of not being believed by police.
Victim blaming is part of a phenomenon known as 'Rape Myth
Acceptance', a term coined by researcher Martha Burt in the 1980s. It is
defined as prejudicial, stereotyped or false beliefs about rape, rape
victims, and rapists which can range from trivializing rape, denial
of widespread rape, labeling an accuser as a liar, stating that most
rape accusations are false, refusing to acknowledge the harm caused by
some forms of sexual violence, or accepting that the victim "deserved
it" because she was defined as a slut. Another cause of victim blaming has been the vague understanding of
what constitutes rape in the scenario of a victim wanting to have sex
with the perpetrator. If a victim wants to have sex but refuses to
consent to sex and the perpetrator continues, the situation would be
considered rape; however, it becomes easier for others to blame the
victim for the situation because he or she did "want to have sex".
Feminists frequently link rape culture to the widespread distribution of pornography, which is seen as an expression of a culture that objectifies women, reducing the female body to a commodity. Accounts of rapists often feature fusion of several pornographic motifs.
Prison rape is a topic about which jokes are abundant. Linda McFarlane, director of Just Detention International, states "Humor is part of the cultural attitude that (prison) is the one place where rape is okay."
Sexualization
Sexualization and sexual objectification are practices that contribute to the normalization of hyper-sexualized perceptions of women, which is a theme in rape culture. Hyper-sexualized or pornographic media is often attributed with perpetuating aggressive behaviors and attitudes supporting violence against women. Media depictions of violent sexual activity are also noted to increase behavioral aggression. Sexualizing imagery surfaces and reinforces misogynistic beliefs in some instances. This media can come in forms of movies, music, advertising, video games and more.
Victim blaming
Victim blaming
is the phenomenon in which a victim of a crime is partially or entirely
attributed as responsible for the transgressions committed against
them. For instance, a victim of a crime (in this case rape or sexual assault)
is asked questions by the police, in an emergency room, or in a court
room that suggest that the victim was doing something, acting a certain
way, or wearing clothes that may have provoked the perpetrator,
therefore making the transgressions against the victim their own fault.
Victim blaming may also occur among a victim's peers, and college
students have reported being ostracized if they report a rape against
them, particularly if the alleged perpetrator is a popular figure or
noted athlete. Also, while there is generally not much general discussion of rape facilitated in the home, schools, or government agencies, such conversations may perpetuate rape culture by focusing on
techniques of "how not to be raped" (as if it were provoked), vs "how
not to rape." This is problematic due to the stigma created and transgressed against
the already victimized individuals rather than stigmatizing the
aggressive actions of rape and the rapists. It is also commonly viewed that prisoners in prison deserve to be raped and is a reasonable form of punishment for the crimes they committed. Another factor of victim blaming involves racism and racial stereotypes. Victim blaming has serious consequences as it helps further perpetuate a
pervasive rape culture. Victims who receive negative responses when
disclosing sexual violence tend to experience greater distress and are
therefore less likely to report future incidents if they occur.
In the UK, victim blaming is a systemic problem in many regional police forces. This is especially apparent in regard to failing to properly protect victims of 'grooming gangs'.
These gangs typically repeatedly abuse and rape the same person over a
prolonged period of time, and often over years. According to former
detective, and child and women's safety campaigner Maggie Oliver,
'It's extremely typical to criminalise the victim. To investigate a
very organised gang of perhaps 20 men is very labour-intensive. It's far
easier to dismiss the victims as being drunk or as being guilty of
public order offences.'
Slut shaming
Slut shaming
may be considered as similar to victim blaming in that there is
condemnation of someone who has been involved in a sexual event or
events. The key difference is that victim blaming involves the person
being condemned for being a victim who has provoked their attacker (e.g.
because they wore more revealing clothing they are condemned for being
coerced or physically forced into being involved in a sexual event), and
slut shaming is based upon the person being condemned for their willing
participation in a sexual event. Slut shaming describes the way people
are made to feel guilty or inferior for certain sexual behaviors or
desires that deviate from traditional or orthodox gender expectations. A study of college women from sociologists at the University of
Michigan and the University of California found that slut-shaming had
more to do with a woman's social class than it did with their activity.Slut shaming can create a double standard between men and women and discrimination. The SlutWalk movement aims to challenge victim blaming, slut shaming and rape culture.
Effects
A protester's sign refers to rape culture.
Rape culture has been described as detrimental to both women and men. Some writers and speakers, such as Jackson Katz, Michael Kimmel, and Don McPherson, have said that it is intrinsically linked to gender roles that limit male self-expression and cause psychological harm to men. According to political scientist Iris Marion Young,
victims in rape cultures live in fear of random acts of oppressive
sexual violence that are intended to damage or humiliate the victim. Others link rape culture to modernisation and industrialisation,
arguing that pre-industrial societies tend to be "rape free" cultures,
since the lower status of women in these societies give them some
immunity from sexual violence. In industrial rape cultures, women emerge
from their homebound roles and become visible in the workplace and
other areas traditionally dominated by men, increasing male insecurities
that result in their using rape to suppress women.
Others also link rape culture to environmental insecurities,
where men objectify women as part of their struggle to control their
immediate environment. It is also linked to gender segregation, and the
belief that rape proves masculinity. Other manifestations of rape culture include denial of widespread rape, institutional apathy toward the problem of rape, minimization of rape cases by government officials, and excusing rapists as social anomalies. Studies have also shown that hypermasculinity is connected to sexual assault and rape culture.
One concern is that the rape culture in the United States can
influence juror decision-making in sexual assault trials. The result is
that men who have committed sexual assault crimes may receive little to
no punishment, which serves to strengthen the rape culture in the
American judicial system and American society as a whole. In addition to the law as written not being put into effect in
practice, legal definitions of rape have been criticized for placing a
high burden of proof on victims to demonstrate non-consent. Individuals likely use legal definitions and jury convictions in their conceptualization of "real rape". Laws, which are passed by (mostly male) lawmakers, tend to represent dominant groups' interests. Larcombe et al. posit "a legal definition of rape as non-consensual penetration
achieved through unlawful force, coercion, fraud or exploitation—that
is, containing a fault element that describes the tactic the perpetrator
used to effect the assault—may conform more closely to social and
social science definitions of rape." In contrast, in some jurisdictions
(e.g. Kentucky, Connecticut, Arkansas, Alaska, Alabama) words alone are
still not sufficient to legally prove non-consent.
According to a study by Acta Obstetrecia et Gynecologica
Scandinavica, of a set of "nearly 300 women who visited [a particular
rape clinic]," it was found that "70 percent experienced at least
'significant' tonic immobility and 48 percent met the criteria for 'extreme' tonic immobility during the rape."
The legal process can be so traumatizing for victims that even
professionals in the area would warn someone they care about against
participating.
Effects on women
According
to Ann Burnett, the concept of rape culture explains how society
perceives and behaves toward both rape victims and perpetrators. For example, a number of rape myths
are held in society, including "'no' means 'yes'"; that women can
resist rape if they really wanted to; that women who are raped are
promiscuous, therefore "asking to be raped"; and that many women falsely
report rape to protect their own reputations or because they are angry
at the accused perpetrator and want to create a type of backlash. A theory on why rape myths are so common is because they are
perpetuated by norms already present in society. Researchers claim that
communication and language is created by the dominant patriarchy. In
positions of power, men control how women are portrayed in the media,
their bodies and voices are subject to censorship, etc. which forces
women to submit to the gender stereotypes formed by the dominant
culture. The dominance of the male voice in society creates the concept
of a "slutty woman" and forces women to monitor their own behavior in
fear of how they will be perceived.
One effect rape culture has on women is their lack of
understanding or a feeling of ambiguity surrounding the idea of consent
and rape. Burnett's study, following college women's experiences of
rape, revealed that many students could not define what the term rape
really meant, did not believe consent had to be verbal and felt sexual
consent was always vague and hard to pinpoint.Along with this were people believing women who had "allegedly been
raped" were "asking for it" because of how they were dressed or their
flirtatious behavior. Women in the study also assumed that men expected sex in exchange for drinks or dinner bought earlier for the woman. Because of their lack of awareness of what rape was and because of how
they were acting/what they were wearing, women believed they had in some
way provoked the rape to happen. Some women also did not report the rape if it did not fit the
stereotypical definition of rape, i.e., physical injury and force
committed by a stranger. When raped by someone the individual knew,
women felt less inclined to label the assault as rape.They could not, therefore, report the incident or rape because they
were either confused about what had happened or believed it to be their
own fault.
After a rape has already occurred or after the victim
acknowledged that she has been raped, women still did not report the
incident because they felt it would ultimately hurt or punish them. Some
reasons that women did not report their rape: they did not want to
bring attention to themselves; psychologically, they did not want to
have to remember what had happened to them; and they did not want people
to find out or they would
gain a negative reputation. Because of the existing rape myths mentioned above, women knew that
reporting rape could potentially make them out to be "a slut" or "easy",
and garnish a reputation that would affect how others perceived them. Many women noted that they felt that they could not even admit the rape
to friends and family they trusted most, because they were so afraid of
repercussions. Women felt that they would not be supported, would have their validity
questioned or be blamed for the incidents that happened. As a result,
rape can lessen women's trust in others and make them feel isolated.
Another effect rape culture has on young women is a victim's
self-reflection. After a rape, women reported feeling dirty, thought of
themselves as slutty, and believed that they had been "used" or were
"damaged goods". Women felt ashamed about what had happened and felt
that they no longer fit the ideal "pure and virginal" stereotype that
men want. Women's belief that they were somehow rotten and that no one would want
to be with them after the rape created feelings of depression and
anxiety amongst victims.
If women do choose to discuss their rape with others, many still
remain under scrutiny unless it is proven that they are telling the
truth. Men belonging to the college study reported that they felt the rape was
validated if the woman had taken the accusation to court and then won.
Only then was the rape taken seriously by men. Men were also more likely
to victim-blame the woman for the rape, especially if the case was not
reported. Women who chose not to tell or chose to tell only people who
were close to them were often deemed liars or exaggerators when others
found out about the incident. Because no legal action was attempted, other parties often believed
that the rape was "not a big deal" or "must not have happened". Without some kind of validation from a person in authority, rape
(according to college students in the study) was believed to not be as
prominent or to affect as many women as was the reality.
Although there is a wide range of research on the consequences of
sexual violence on victims, there is little information on its economic
effects, especially for marginalized and economically disadvantaged
victims such as black and Latina women and girls. The consequences of sexual violence disproportionately harm these
specific demographics, because they make up a large portion of people
afflicted with income poverty and asset poverty. Simply being from one
of these impoverished backgrounds increases the risk of sexual violence
and discourages victims from reporting a rape crime, as there is less
confidence in the police and a higher crime rate in poor areas.
Toxic masculinity—a
concept first posited by some feminist scholars—is a term describing a
number of negative traits and expectations burdening men in society.
Society has strict notions regarding males and how they are supposed to act. However, when males are the victims of sexual assault
people often do not believe them. Many people do not believe that men
can be victims, as they are often the perpetrators of sexual assault. Men are portrayed as strong, tolerant and emotionally resilient to these kinds of actions. Male victims of rape are often blamed and told that they allowed it to happen because they did not fight hard enough. This concept of how men are supposed to act has created strict notions of how men are supposed to present themselves. When men come forward and report the assault, they are often met with
dismissal, and rejection by authority figures and medical practitioners. Often men have trouble when it comes to vulnerability and when men come
forward with their assault, authority figures will often treat them
with little respect as their masculinity has been questioned.
After a male has experienced a sexual assault, there have been
many reported incidences of negative effects—such as suicidal thoughts,
depressive episodes, sexual dysfunction, feelings of worthlessness,
extreme anxiety and guilt—which end up putting a strain on their future
relationships. This shows that females and males have similar reactions to the trauma associated with rape victims.
While sexual assault upon men by other men has been seen as
mainly existing in prisons; it does not take place only among
incarcerated men. Mitchell et al. (1999) presented that male rape takes place among male
college students who were either forced or pressured into sexual acts. When it comes to male sexual assault, gay men are more likely to be
rape victims and will not be treated as fairly as a lesbian in the
judicial system. Rumney (2009) mentions how homosexuals and the gay community are at risk of becoming rape and sexual assault victims. In addition, Rumney suggests that being labeled as homosexual increases their risk of being a victim of sexual assault. When a male is sexually assaulted and labeled as homosexual it can
create negative attributes and unjust treatment in the criminal justice
system. Rumney also found that homosexual males are more willing to report a rape rather than heterosexual males.
Chapleau, Oswald, & Russel (2008) address how we need to
break down the gender differences in rape myths and learn to accept that
it happens to both sexes. When it comes to how societies function on a social and ideological
basis, due to the fact that males and females experience the same
negative effects of rape, we need to start addressing and breaking down
rape myths. Whatley and Riggio (1993) also found that males more than females tend to blame the victim, even when victims are male.
Prevalence
In
sociological studies, the phrase "rape culture" is used to distinguish
so-called rape-prone countries (such as the United States) from
countries where rape is a relatively rare crime ("rape-free" countries). Rape statistics reported by law enforcement agencies can differ from estimates of sexual violence due to the dark figure of crime. While research about rape culture has been mostly conducted in developed countries,
there are a number of other countries that have been described as "rape
supportive" societies. These places have similarities in terms of
beliefs and gender stereotyping, but there are some significant
differences that explain the high rate of rape and sexual assault in
these countries. Rape culture can form in some religious settings.
American rapper Sean "Diddy" Combs has been accused of kidnapping, drugging and coercing women into sexual activities.
Rape culture is a term that was coined in the 1970s during the
second-wave feminist movement and is often used to describe contemporary
American culture as a whole. In the United States, rape is a criminal offense. However, rape is one
of America's most underreported crimes, with low prosecution and
conviction rates compared to other violent crimes, and the societal
stigma linked to it is rarely reflected in the official punishments
enforced for its perpetration. Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network
reports that In the United States, rape occurs every 107 seconds; 68%
of those assaults are not reported, and two-thirds of them are committed
by someone the victim knows (RAINN, 2014). A survey conducted between 2000 and 2013 in the United States suggests
that where rape culture is prevalent in the media, there is more rape.
Police get more rape reports in locations where rape culture is more
popular in the media, but make fewer arrests as a result. Rape culture
in the media, in turn, is most widespread during the criminal justice
system's arrest and prosecution phases. Because lesser police vigilance
or courtroom abuse may dissuade future victims from reporting, while
increasing potential perpetrators' sense of impunity, the link between
rape culture and crime is more likely to reflect an increase in rape
than increased victim reporting. In reaction to the increased concern on rape culture in the United
States, Steinberg and Sager (2015) write: "There is no way to inoculate
our children from becoming victims or perpetrators of rape. But parents
can help their children recognize and avoid the erroneous and harmful
attitudes surrounding sex, power, control, and coercion.... Perhaps by
doing so, we can shift the dialog and begin to create a culture that
fosters healthy boundaries and ends all forms of sexual violence."
In the realm of the arts, Lady Gaga's award-nominated song, "Til It Happens to You",
highlighted the existence of rape culture in the United States and
around the world, and urged listeners to consider how sexual violence
against women is ignored in society. The song was composed for the
documentary The Hunting Ground,
in which college girls from all around the country speak out about
being raped on their campuses and how various officials covered up their
assault. Multiple students who were sexually attacked on college campuses are featured in The Hunting Ground,
who claim that college authorities either ignored them or required them
to traverse a convoluted academic bureaucracy to get their allegations
addressed. Many college officials were more concerned with reducing rape statistics for their institutions than with the welfare of their students, according to the film. The documentary includes interviews with college administrators who
claim that they were pressured to keep rape incidents hidden. Experts interviewed by the filmmakers assert that the majority of rapes
are committed by a tiny number of repeat perpetrators. According to
Director Kirby Dick, less than 8% of the population is responsible for more than 90% of all sexual assaults. Producer Amy Ziering
said that "our failure as a society to apprehend perpetrators leaves
criminals at large who are savvy and experienced, and able to continue
to commit these crimes with impunity."
In South Africa
In a 2011 study conducted by Rachel Jewkes, Yandina Sikweyiya, Robert Morrell and Kristin Dunkle, men from the three districts in the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal
provinces of South Africa were surveyed about rape. The prevalence
among the men was high; about 1 in 4 men had raped another person,
mostly young women.
Men said they had committed rape for a number of different
reasons. Many raped women and young girls for "fun" or out of boredom.
Gang rapes were also quite common amongst the men, about 1 in 5 men had
participated in one, which reflected the society's belief that it was
common and "what boys do". Drinking and peer pressure were also common
reasons for raping. A majority claimed they had raped because they were
punishing the women, either acquaintances or girlfriends, for having
made them angry. Sub-areas and communities saw rape as a legitimate
punishment for women and reasonable under certain circumstances. Some men also had sex with very young women or virgins in order to "cleanse themselves of diseases". Young women were often targeted because they were virgins and because
the men believed they were easy to overpower and would not report it.
Men were not afraid of repercussions.
Researchers have attempted to explain the high rate of rape in
South Africa and have connected it to the traditional and cultural norms
embedded within the society. Certain norms like the belief of rape
myths, the inequality between men and women, and the need to express
their dominance made the rape appear justified to the assailants. Many
began raping when they were young teenagers for entertainment,
reflecting the notion that rape is a pastime for young men and boys.
Rape and sexual violence are also prevalent in South Africa
because of confusion about what is to be regarded as rape. Certain acts
of sexual coercion may not be legally distinguishable. While the
criminal offense of rape is condemned by the society, many rapes or
sexual assaults might not be recognized as such and thus are not thought
to be unacceptable behavior.
Activist Pumla Dineo Gqola says that events like the rape trial
of then Vice President and also former President of South Africa, Jacob Zuma, are not surprising and are a reflection of ideas of masculinity and femininity in contemporary South Africa. The high rate of rape in South Africa, combined with the inability of
the criminal justice system and the healthcare system to contain the
crisis, have been compared to a 'gender civil war'. The majority of women in South Africa are raped by people they know. It is argued that rape in democratic South Africa has become socially acceptable and maintains patriarchal order.
Corrective rape
is a hate crime committed for the purpose of converting a gay person to
heterosexuality. The term was first used in the early 2000s when an
influx of these attacks were noted by charity workers in South Africa. This homophobic phenomenon and other ignorances perpetuate rape culture and put lesbian women at greater risk of rape.
Intersectionality as a tool of analysis identifies that black lesbians face homophobia, sexism, racism and classism.
University
2004 anti-rape march at Rhodes University
On 17 April 2016, a list of the names of 11 men and titled 'Reference List' was posted anonymously on Facebook.
The post gave no descriptions or made any allegations. However, within a
matter of time, students were able to connect what these students had
in common which were rape allegations. The students demanded a
suspension and investigation of the individuals on the list. The police
were called to intervene in order to neutralize the protests at Rhodes University. This put rape in universities in the spotlight.
National protest
On 14 February 2012, the One Billion Rising
campaign was launched globally. Its aims were to raise awareness of
violence against women, to inspire action for justice and to promote
gender equality. The ‘billion’ in the campaign's title refers to the UN
statistic that one in three women will be raped or beaten in their
lifetime: approximately one billion women and girls. Many African
countries were involved in the campaign, including the Democratic
Republic of Congo, the Gambia, Kenya, Nigeria, Sudan, Somalia, South
Africa, Swaziland (now Eswatini) and Zimbabwe. Often cited as one of the
most dangerous places in the world to be a woman, South Africa's
statistics for rape and gender-based violence galvanized thousands of
South Africans to rise in support of the campaign at a range of events
and through various media since the campaign's inception.
On 6 August 2016, four women staged a silent protest at the IEC
results announcement ceremony. The protesters said that they could not
be silent given the rape and gender-based violence in South Africa. Even
though President Jacob Zuma
was acquitted of the charges, the young protesters says that an
acquittal does not mean the president is innocent due to the failure of
the legal system.
Cultural values
Cultural values stemming from traditional practices still influence South African rape culture. Ukuthwala,
also known as "wife abduction", is a traditional marriage practice in
which a man kidnaps a young woman with the intent of convincing the girl
and her family to agree to the marriage. Another belief, kusasa fumbi
or sexual cleansing,
is the idea that having sex cleans the body, specifically from
illnesses. A more specific type cleaning would be virgin cleansing,
which is the belief that having sex with a virgin will eliminate deadly
diseases such HIV/AIDS. Kusasa fumbi is a reflection of the indigenous medical views of the country.
Several scholars have described India as having a rape culture rooted in both its culture and legal system, which blames victims
of rape, is sympathetic to perpetrators, and treats women who have been
raped as "damaged goods" who then suffer further social discrimination
afterwards. While there are laws on the books to protect victims of rape, these
laws are often not enforced, especially when the perpetrator is from a
more powerful caste or is wealthier than the person who was raped, there
is often a failure to properly gather evidence from rape victims and to
care for them afterwards, and there is little legal assistance for
them. Two main types of rape that are prevalent in Indian Society which are political rapes and honor (izzat)
rapes. Beyond the typical type of assault for dominance and control,
comes rape with the intention of revenge. Because women are not seen as
individuals but rather as objects or possessions, rape is sometimes a
political move to seek revenge against an enemy. Fights and feuds are
settled by raping the rival's mother, wife, daughter or sister. Honor
rapes are used as a tactic to take away sometime of value belonging to
the woman. Because women are seen as objects for men to possess, taking
away her honor through rape diminishes her worth. The societal attitude
of linking a woman's celibacy with family honor compels her to safeguard
the family's honor in India. However, in the case of rape, instead of
endeavoring to transform male-dominated, socially constructed, biased
attitudes, people expect women to change by demanding that they dress
properly or restrict their activities.
Historically in India, journalistic coverage of rape and sexual
abuse has been limited and typically prejudiced against the victim.
Women victims who reported rape were seen as people who do not believe
in preserving the honor of their family. The victim often fights a
lonely battle against her tormentor where justice is not delivered
timely. The increase in media coverage of the 2012 Delhi gang rape case helped to draw attention to the prevalence of sexual brutality towards women in India.
According to NCRB 2015 statistics, Madhya Pradesh has the highest raw number of rape reports among Indian states, while Jodhpur has the highest per capita rate of rape reports in cities.
In Pakistan
Violence
against women is seen as a private matter not believed to be
"appropriate for intervention or policy changes". This is due to
Pakistan's patriarchal
society and gender roles that expect men to be violent and women to be
fragile. Cultural norms also embrace violence and discrimination towards
women, emphasizing that women would not be able to live alone without
men. Normalization of violence against women continues to be reflected
in the rates of rapes in Pakistan.
Rape is not often reported in Pakistan due to the inequality between the two genders. Some women do not come out because they want to uphold their family's honor. Victims of rape that are discovered might lose their families, their
husbands and their homes. They think of themselves as "beghairat", a
person without honor or someone who has lost self-respect, because of
what has happened to them and they do not want to be stigmatized or
humiliated by society. Women often feel discouraged from talking or
reporting about their rape because of these reasons.
A notable case occurred in 2002. 30-year-old Mukhtaran Bibi (Mukhtār Mā'ī) was gang raped on the orders of the village council
as an "honor rape" after allegations that her 12-year-old brother had
sexual relations with a woman from a higher caste. In reality, he was
kidnapped and sodomized by three men. Mukhar Maiai's 12-year-old
brother, Abdul Shakoor (or Shakur), was abducted by three men from the
Mastoi tribe, he was taken to a sugar field where he was gang raped and
sodomized repeatedly. When the boy refused to stay silent about the
incident, he was kept imprisoned in the home of Abdul Khaliq, a Mastoi
man. When police came to investigate, Shakoor was instead accused of
having an affair with Khaliq's sister, Salma Naseen, who was in her late
20s at the time. Shakoor was then arrested on charges of adultery but
later released. In later trials, Shakoor's rapists were convicted of sodomy
and sentenced to five years of imprisonment. The Mastoi tribal council
(jirga) convened separately regarding Shakoor's alleged affair with
Naseen. They concluded that Shakoor should marry Naseen while Mai (a
Gujar tribeswoman) be married to a Mastoi man. Villagers rejected this
conclusion due to the belief that adultery must be punished with
adultery. Mai was called to the council to apologize to the Mastoi tribe
for her brother's actions. When she arrived, she was dragged to a
nearby hut where she was gang raped in retaliation by 4 Mastoi men while
an additional 10 people watched. Following the rape, she was paraded
nude through the village. Although custom would expect her to commit
suicide after being raped, Mukhtaran spoke up, and pursued the case,
which was picked up by both domestic and international media. On 1
September 2002, an anti-terrorism court sentenced six men (including the four rapists) to death for rape.
Societies in which rape is almost non-existent
There are societies in which rape is almost non-existent, such as the Minangkabau of Indonesia. According to anthropologist Peggy Sanday, rape is less likely to occur
within cultures that are peaceful (have low rates of interpersonal
violence), promote mutual respect between the sexes, and lack an
ideology of male toughness (machismo). The society of Minangkabau has an Islamic religious background of complementarianism and places a greater number of men than women in positions of religious and political power. The culture is also matrilineal,
so inheritance and proprietorship pass from mother to daughter. The
society of Minangkabau exhibits the ability of societies to eradicate
rape without social equity of genders.
Criticisms
Some
writers, academics and groups have disputed the existence or prevalence
of rape culture or described the concept as harmful. Others believe
that rape culture exists, but disagree with certain interpretations or
analyses of it.
The Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network
(RAINN), an anti-sexual violence organization, in a report detailing
recommendations to the U.S. White House on combating rape on college
campuses, identified problems with an overemphasis on the concept of
rape culture as a means of preventing rape and as a cause for rape,
saying,
In the last few years, there has been an unfortunate
trend towards blaming "rape culture" for the extensive problem of sexual
violence on campuses. While it is helpful to point out the systemic
barriers to addressing the problem, it is important to not lose sight of
a simple fact: Rape is caused not by cultural factors but by the
conscious decisions, of a small percentage of the community, to commit a
violent crime.
In the report, RAINN cites a study by David Lisak, which estimated
that 3% of college men were responsible for 90% of campus rapes. RAINN argues that rape is the product of individuals who have decided
to disregard the overwhelming cultural message that rape is wrong. The
report argues that the trend towards focusing on cultural factors that
supposedly condone rape "has the paradoxical effect of making it harder
to stop sexual violence, since it removes the focus from the individual
at fault, and seemingly mitigates personal responsibility for his or her
own actions".
Academic Camille Paglia has described concerns about rape culture as "ridiculous" and "neurotic", an artifact of bourgeoisliberal
ideologies that people are essentially good and that all social
problems can be remedied with education. This rape culture concept is
much to the detriment of young college-educated women, she says. Paglia
argues that said individuals are ill-prepared to anticipate or cope with
the small minority of deeply evil people in the world, who simply do not care about following laws or obeying social convention. Moreover, Paglia says, feminist proponents of rape culture tend to completely ignore male victims of sexual assault.
Caroline Kitchens, in a 2014 article in Time magazine
titled "It's Time to End 'Rape Culture' Hysteria" suggested that
"Though rape is certainly a serious problem, there's no evidence that
it's considered a cultural norm. ...On college campuses, obsession with
eliminating 'rape culture' has led to censorship and hysteria." According to Joyce E. Williams, "the major criticism of rape culture
and the feminist theory from which it emanates is the monolithic
implication that ultimately all women are victimized by all men".
Christina Hoff Sommers
has disputed the existence of rape culture, arguing that the common
"one in four women will be raped in her lifetime" claim is based on a
flawed study, but frequently cited because it leads to campus anti-rape
groups receiving public funding. Sommers has also examined and
criticized many other rape studies for their methodology, and states, "There are many researchers who
study rape victimization, but their relatively low figures generate no
headlines."
Sommers and others have specifically questioned Mary Koss's oft-cited 1984 study that
claimed 1 in 4 college women have been victims of rape, charging it
overstated rape of women and downplayed the incidence of men being the
victims of unwanted sex. According to Sommers, as many as 73% of the
subjects of Koss's study disagreed with her characterization that they
had been raped, while others have pointed out that Koss's study focused on the
victimization of women, downplaying the significance of sexual
victimization of men, even though its own data indicated one in seven college men had been victims of unwanted sex. Sommers said that Koss had deliberately narrowed the definition of
unwanted sexual encounters for men to instances where men were
penetrated.
Other writers, such as bell hooks,
have criticized the rape culture paradigm on the grounds that it is too
narrowly focused; in 1984, she wrote that it ignores rape's place in an
overarching "culture of violence". In 1993 she contributed a chapter to a book on rape culture, focusing
on rape culture in the context of patriarchy in black culture.
Barbara Kay,
a Canadian journalist, has been critical of feminist Mary Koss's
discussion of rape culture, describing the notion that "rape represents
an extreme behavior but one that is on a continuum with normal male
behavior within the culture" as "remarkably misandric".
Jadaliyya, an academic initiative by the Arab Studies Institute, published a report critiquing the concept of rape culture, stating that orientalists have appropriated the term to promote raciststereotypes of South Asian men (as well as Arabs and Muslims) as being prone to rape in Western media and academia. The report came in response to the 2012 Delhi gang rape,
in which many Western media outlets reporting on the incident depicted
Indian men as "culturally lacking and barbaric". The report claimed
Western orientalists have reduced "India's rape crisis to a cultural
problem".
The UN conducted its 'Multi-country Study on Men and Violence in
Asia and the Pacific' in 2008 in six countries across Asia. Its
conclusions, published in 2013, seemed to indicate a substantial number
of men in Asian countries admit to committing some form of rape. The study's general conclusion about high levels of rape have been
recognized as reliable; however, questions about its accuracy perpetuate
the debate about how societies perceive rape and social norms. A closer
look at the study's methodology reveals questions about cultural
definitions of rape, the study's sample size, survey design, and
linguistic accuracy, all of which highlights ongoing challenges in
trying to quantify the prevalence of rape.
SlutWalk is a feminist organization that formed in response to a public statement made
by Toronto police officer Michael Sanguinetti on 24 January 2011. While addressing the issue of campus rape at a York University safety forum, Sanguinetti said that "women should avoid dressing like sluts in order not to be victimized". In addition, it also happened in India created by a group of college students to help address the violence enacted upon women. The SlutWalk happening in India shows that it is intended for women
everywhere and that it should not only focus on urban women.
The SlutWalk movement are credited with popularizing the term via
mass media reports about the protesters in the English-speaking Western
media. The rallies aim to raise awareness of rape culture—which they define as
a culture in which "sexual violence is both made to be invisible and
inevitable"—and to end slut-shaming and victim blaming. One primary goal of this organization is to deconstruct the stigma that
often comes with being a victim of rape or sexual assault. Ringrose and
Renold said that "the stigma relates to the way women dress and behave,
but in fact male sexual aggression is the problem". A SlutWalk that took place in London promoted several different kinds
of attire including lingerie, nipple tassels, and T-shirts with slogans
to demonstrate what women wear is not a form of consent for sex. The SlutWalk of Philadelphia was rebranded as The March to End Rape
Culture. The idea behind the name change is so the walk can be more
inclusive and promotes more diversity in its participants, volunteers,
and sponsors. The original SlutWalk took place in the city of Toronto, Ontario. Amber Rose
is also a figure in the United States where she holds her annual Amber
Rose SlutWalk in Los Angeles, California while also raising awareness
for empowerment and the Amber Rose Foundation.
SlutWalks
have taken place in some conservative Catholic countries such as Costa
Rica, Nicaragua and Guatemala. According to "Sex and the Barrio" writers
Edgerton and Sotirova, SlutWalk protests began in South America taking
on the name "Marcha de las Putas". They are protesting the idea that women dressed in revealing clothing
are asking to get raped. They held the walk in the Argentine capitol of
Buenos Aires on 28 September 1990, a day that was named the Day for the
Decriminalization of Abortion in Latin America. Due to the overwhelming Catholic influence, some SlutWalks have taken
on an anti-Catholic tone in response to sermons, such as the one in Costa Rica, where a leading clergyman preached that "Women should dress modestly to avoid being 'objectified'", adding that the purpose of sex is "fertilization". The march even reached the Cathedral of San Jose just as mass was concluding.
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