A guy criticized me on twitter for using the term “rape culture” in regards to Brock “The Rapist” Turner. (Apparently he’s deleted the tweets, since.)
And I could go on about all sorts of facts and statistics, or how a marijuana possession charge could land you in jail for longer than this convicted rapist spent behind bars. Or hell, I could just point you at this article with 25 examples of rape culture.
But rape culture is only an expression of the sexist and patriarchal society we live in. It isn’t the cause – it’s a symptom. (A horrible, awful symptom.)
And it starts with the casual disregard of women, the unwanted objectification of women, and the insipid sense of entitlement toward women that men, sadly, tend to have.1
And there’s a beautiful, poignant example of what I mean embodied in this political ad.
That someone who has – and continues to be so blatant and say such Archie Bunker levels of blatant sexist remarks is still somehow taken seriously indicates that sexism – and by extension, rape culture – is still very much a real and present thing.
1 Yes, all men. Men who don’t do those things are men who continue to struggle and strive against the dominant patriarchal culture.