Societal Double Standards on Rape?

[mtr]

This might seem lol, but I had to share it.

It's worth noting that approximately 10% of rape victims are men. Yet for whatever reason, such incidents are often disregarded. When a guy gets raped, you hear statements like "lol he became a prison bitch". But no one ever jokes about a female getting raped. Ever.

To justify my point without resorting to anecdotal experiences, take a look at this.

The famous South Park makes numerous jokes about children getting raped and molested, and yet not in 14 seasons has any of the victims been female.

Why is rape against men something to joke about but rape against women something that is taboo even to discuss?

 

[yiran]

It's a social stereotype that men are the rapers and women are the victims.

 

[Alan]

There are double standards for pretty much everything, maybe they just leave this in there to balance it out?

 

[Vineon]

Its also probably worth noting that those 10% (whats that from) were probably also raped by men. Yes it should also be taken seriously.

It goes beyond stereotypes, save exceptions as rare as lottery winners, rapists are men.

 

[monkfish]

no one ever jokes about a female getting raped. Ever.

people joke about rape all the time. theres even a new social phenomena dubbed the 'facebook rape' which im sure youre aware of.

 

[cantab]

It goes beyond stereotypes, save exceptions as rare as lottery winners, rapists are men.

In England, the law is such that a woman cannot commit rape - the definition requires the perpetrator to have a penis.

people joke about rape all the time. theres even a new social phenomena dubbed the 'facebook rape' which im sure youre aware of.

That is not joking about rape, that's using the word to refer to something completely different. (Said usage may be considered insensitive, but it really has nothing to do with sexual assault.)

 

[MK Ultra]

Firstly, cantab that is shocking.

Secondly, there is a general perception that men simply enjoy sex - consensual or not. While it is possibly traumatising, assuming a female perpetrator has no stds, there are no drawbacks to sex for the male. Add that to the fact that most men are stronger than women, and and a double standard concerning rape comitted by a female is almost inevitable. I also found out recently that in the us, if a female rapist becomes pregnant, the victim is legally bound to pay child support.

Edit @ cantab: That a rapist must have a penis.

 

[cantab]

Firstly, cantab that is shocking.

What is?

 

[AJers]

Hopefully over time the stereotype(s) will change; I know that they're slowly making some headway with domestic violence (as in, the man can be the victim as well). But there's still a lot of gross misrepresentation and general biases against men about this issue as well as in other cases where the victim is perceived as being "weak" or "needing protection" in some way.

 

[Deck Knight]

The Boondocks plays with this as well, as Tom Dubois is always worried about doing anything against the law lest he be sent to prison and anally raped. Almost no television show deals with the matter seriously, although there are comic adaptations than can delve into it. If it exists its more of a backstory or a plotpoint.

The problem is a lot of the laws treat rape as a crime of sex rather than a crime of power. This is why they take the rape of male students by a female teacher so lightly, whereas they bring out the guillotine for female students raped by a male teacher. They obsess over the mechanics but not the motives.

Most ironically is that the more oversexuallized the society is, the less willing they seem to prosecute the rape of minors on either side. If the girl is 15 and the coach (for example) is 40 they start getting cognitive dissonance, and it only gets worse if they're "15 1/2" or 16. It shouldn't be the case but it is, because people fail to associate the purpose of the crime is power, not sex. People hate extortion but they think sex is honky-dorey.

 

[MrIndigo]

In England, the law is such that a woman cannot commit rape - the definition requires the perpetrator to have a penis.

I think you'll find that's no longer the case; I think the UK passed similar amendments to Australia where penetration by penis or object qualifies, in which case women can rape a man by shoving something up his anus.

However, in Australia we have had other reforms that now defines sexual assault as simply sexual intercourse without consent, and then defines sexual intercourse to include objects.

That is not joking about rape, that's using the word to refer to something completely different. (Said usage may be considered insensitive, but it really has nothing to do with sexual assault.)

People do joke about rape, e.g. "Nine out of ten people enjoy gang rape."

It's not a social stereotype that women are victims and men are perpetrators; 90% of rape victims are female, 99% of perpetrators are male.

What -is- an interesting social stereotype is that child molestation and sexual assault is almost always portrayed with male victims. In reality, girl victims are much more common; this is the only case of rape portrayal that typically goes against the statistics. It's possibly to do with the cultural prejudice against homosexuality, associating homosexuality and pedophilia in order to demonise the former more.

 

[yiran]

It's not a social stereotype that women are victims and men are perpetrators; 90% of rape victims are female, 99% of perpetrators are male.

What -is- an interesting social stereotype is that child molestation and sexual assault is almost always portrayed with male victims. In reality, girl victims are much more common; this is the only case of rape portrayal that typically goes against the statistics. It's possibly to do with the cultural prejudice against homosexuality, associating homosexuality and pedophilia in order to demonise the former more.

You're right but people think all rape victims are female and perpetrators are male.

About the child thing; I've never realised boys to be the rape victims in any examples though.

 

[Thund91]

This is just random speculation, but there are probably more male rape victims than statistics would actually represent. It's just that they have the fear of being ridiculed for reporting being raped (either by a male or female), so they decide to bottle it in. Men do bottle in emotions much more than females, and communicate just to answer more than communicating for the sake of conversation.

Yes I like Psychology. >___>

 

[Chou Toshio]

Eh, there's probably a lot of unreported rapes in general.

 

[Xav]

Rape in not cool/funny in any circumstances, and should not be tolerated even if the victim is male. In both instances the victim has been assualted and a man getting raped is no less bad than a female getting raped. There are double standards everywhere in life but this particular one does not sit well with me.

 

[Death Phenomeno]

I believe one of my best mates (let's call him Bob) was raped during his childhood, but it's just a theory. Allow me to explain.

Another one of my best mates (let's call him Allen) is very fond of telling rape jokes. And whenever he starts, Bob begins acting very strange. He always tries to change the subject as fast as he can, and he acts both upset and nervous. Usually, Allen simply replies "C'mon! It's funny! Just don't imagine it!" or something like that. Anyway, not long ago, he walked into a room where Allen had just made one of his jokes and several people were laughing. Bob's face immediately changed and he screamed at the top of his lungs "RAPE IS NEVER FUNNY!", and then he stormed out. Unfortunately, few people actually realized what had just happened. And then some thought that his outburst was just a mood swing.

But my biggest clue happened when his then-girlfriend was retelling one of Allen's jokes, and began nagging Bob as to why he didn't find it funny in the slightest. The result was… well, his reaction was violent, to put it simply (no, he didn't punch her). That same day they broke up for undisclosed reasons.

I'm not planning on directly asking him, ever. But if my theory is correct, I also don't want Allen to keep being such an idiot around Bob. For the record, I don't find Allen's jokes funny either. Then again, I just ignore him. And something tells me that I shouldn't.

 

[AJers]

It wouldn't be that hard to either: a. get Allen to stop; or b. have Allen stop getting invited to group things.

I guess my friends and I are overly protective of one another because I know when one is uncomfortable and doesn't mention it but other friends pick up on it we automatically change the subject. I don't think there has been a single instance where someone insisted on staying on a subject when it obviously made another person uncomfortable. Allen sounds like an ass, is he amusing enough to be worth it?

Don't get me wrong, Bob sounds like he's feeding the fire by acting the way he is acting, but as his friends if you know the subject makes him uncomfortable why would you bring it up in a group setting and/or as a joke in the first place?