In response to the question, "Are we really living in a rape culture?" the editors of Transforming a Rape Culture state, "rape is a pervasive fact of American life, and its incidence is grown dramatically.  The most conservative figures show an 88 percent increase in the rate of forcible rape per 100,000 inhabitants over the past twenty years...(in that time) as many as 12 million women and children have been raped."  

A Rape Culture---what does that mean? The Rape Culture is best defined as a culture in which rape is prevalent and pervasive and is sanctioned and maintained through fundamental attitudes and beliefs about gender, sexuality, and violence.  Many feminists, scholars, and activists argue that the United States of America is the paradigmatic Rape Culture.  America's traditional gender roles which polarize the sexes, offer prescriptions and proscriptions for female and male sexuality.  These rigid ideologies serve to label men sexual subjects (read: predators) and women sexual objects (read: prey).  In a system such as this, it is no wonder rape is as prevalent as it is.

In a Rape Culture, rape is seen as inevitable.  It is widely accepted as a "fact of life" and there is little if any talk about ending the cultural practice.  In fact, rape is not seen as a sanctioned "practice" at all, but rather an isolated act that occurs between individuals---this is part of what I call the "mythography of rape."  (Please see the Lies and Statistics section for more information on this topic.)  I posit that rape is not an inevitable part of our society; it, like all other crimes and practices, can be eliminated.  I, for one, am committed to the struggle to end violence against women and revolutionize cultural norms and values.  
 

To further complicate this issue, Rape Culture is always already a culture that hates women.  How could it be any other way?  Ours also happens to be a white supremacist, classist, homophobic structure.  This patriarchal society capitalizes on the abuse, objectification, and hatred of women---that must stop.  In this site, I encourage everyone to take action now and actively engage in identifying the underpinnings of societal attitudes.  We must resist the dominant culture's ideological modes of compartmentalization along lines of race, class, gender, sexual orientation, ability status, religion, etc.  The quote, "divide and conquer" seems oddly relevant here.  
 

The point being that many of us live in a Rape Culture (a woman hating culture, an anti-gay culture, a racist culture, an ageist culture, an anti-semitic culture, a classist culture)---and we don't have to!  Within this site I argue for coalition-building and collaboration between anti-oppression struggles.  The Rape Culture affects us all and impacts every single one of our lives.  It's time to do something about it---Take Action Now!