Rape is one violent form of oppression and is a mechanism by which
individuals or groups gain, express and maintain their dominance and
power over others. This is evident when rape is used as a tool of war,
when men are raped in jail, or when rape occurs on the basis of someone's
race, age, ability or sexuality. Rape is about the use and abuse of
power to intimidate, degrade or control others with less status. The
fact that women and children are raped more often than men is a manifestation
of lesser power and inferior status in society.
Structural and institutional powers and societal beliefs maintain a
culture where women have less power and status. Power imbalance or discrimination
is also practised on the grounds of race, class, sexuality, age and
ability. Sexual violence for women then, is not only an extension of
sexism, but often exists in conjunction with these other forms of oppression.
As feminists, we do not believe that rape is inevitable, but rather
that rape and other forms of men's violence are a result of learned
attitudes and behaviours which are reinforced by a society that often
defines manhood or masculinity through domination. Too many men make
choices to exert power and control over others by using sexual violence.
Men who rape CHOOSE to rape and must always be held accountable for
their actions. Other men can and do choose non-violence.
Men who rape are behaving according to a belief system which says they
have the right to own, dominate and punish women and to use rape to
control women. But where would such a belief system come from? How does
it show itself in everyday life?
Recent research shows that approximately one third of young men believe
it is OK to force a young woman to have sex if she has "led him
on". In other words they believe they have the right to use violence
to make a girl do what they want, regardless of that girl's wishes,
rights or needs.
When so many boys and men believe that it is OK to use a little force
to have sex and when so many believe that when women say "no"
they really mean "yes" or that somehow women enjoy being raped,
rape becomes an extension of normally accepted male behaviour.
The belief in their right to rape and dominate as boys or men will
continue to occur unless we challenge and change the "rape culture"
that sustains it. Despite some changes last century, when we look at
who has power in society and who makes the major decisions, we see that
men still dominate our institutions - government, banks, business, medical,
legal, media, religious, educational and the family. This male power
is connected to historical, religious and cultural beliefs that it is
acceptable for men to dominate and control women and children: men are
the heads of the household; a man's word is law; men lead in dancing;
women take male family names when they marry; etc.
We've all heard a sexist joke. We've all seen women objectified on
TV. We have all seen situations in which men are the boss. We read about
rape every day in the newspapers.
The ever-present threat of rape can act to control women's behaviour.
It can limit how she dresses, when and where she goes, how she behaves,
etc.
The legal system is so difficult for the victim/survivor that only
10% of women report the crime and only 5-10 % of those cases receive
convictions. Why are the sentences so minimal?
Why do so many people refuse to believe the woman or children who say
it has happened to them?
Why do so many fail to offer support and try to get the survivors to
sweep it under the carpet and forget it?
We believe that the reasons are intrinsically linked with the social
and political context in this country, which constantly reinforces the
message that it is natural and normal for men to dominate and control
women and children, even violently if they choose. Thus rape can be
said to not only reflect but reinforce gender inequality.
Gender Conditioning
Gender is a term used to describe the the set of behaviours
attached to being male or female. It is obvious in our culture that
boys and girls are brought up differently. Our culture teaches us or
constructs what it is to be "feminine" or "masculine".
These sex roles or gender identities are in opposition to one another
and have negative effects for both girls and boys.
One need only look at a toy catalogue to see how girls and boys are
taught to be. Toys targeted at girls consist of dolls, tea sets and
items related to beauty while toys targeted at boys are full of action
men, competitive and aggressive video games and things that make boys
active. Teenage girl magazines are full of tips for girls about how
to get and keep a boyfriend and how to look beautiful. Popular boys
magazines are full of the latest video games, with no mention of girls
or how to look. Toys, magazines and television, like many other parts
of our culture, overwhelmingly teach girls to be passive, submissive,
caring, nurturing and that our worth lies in our beauty for our relationships
with boys/men. Boys are taught to be the opposite to girls. Being aggressive,
competitive, dominant and to show no emotion are masculine traits.
It is seen as "natural" and "ideal" for men to
be in control and for women to like this behaviour, to be submissive
and to fulfil men's needs, even to the extent of liking aggressive sexual
behaviour and wanting to be dominated by a powerful man. Women and men
internalize these imposed stereotypes of male domination and female
submission/objectification.
The female image continues to be used to sell products. Like the commodity
for sale, the female body is commercially exploited as a sexual commodity
. Stereotyped images of women - which fulfil male sexual fanatsies,
objectify women and promote a passive, glamorous, sexually available
female - reinforce the myths about rape and the idea of women as sex
objects.
Pornography is an extreme form of female objectification. It says nothing
about a women's sexuality, but says a lot about how society wants men
and women to behave.
Gender conditioning creates a power imbalance between men and women.
Differences between the sexes however, need not be hierarchial or oppressive.
Similarly differences in culture, sexuality or ability need not be oppressive.
Thankfully, feminists have made significant changes to the lives of
women. It is almost inconceivable for some women in Western cultures
to imagine a life where they were not allowed to vote, work, obtain
child care or receive an education. The movement towards women getting
equal rights and the "girl power" notion embraced by many
young women who believe they can do anything, often obscures the fact
that women continue to be terribly discriminated against.
Generally, women still have lower incomes, lower representation in
major decision-making bodies, do the majority of unpaid work and child
care, especially at home, continue to be treated as sex objects by the
media and face discrimination in a host of other economic, political,
educational, social and moral arenas which are really too broad to be
covered by this booklet.
The new Western superwoman ideal, who is expected to have it all and
do it all, is only possible for a privileged few and she will burn out
if expectations around feminity and masculinity do not change. Families
of the future need to be based on shared responsibility for housework,
child care, earning a living and the like, and these roles should not
be gender defined.
What can I do? 
