“Rape Culture”

While I’m not a big fan of “sensational” sounding titles, this brings up a topic we should all be paying more attention to (and not for the reason most media claim):

April is Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention Month, and it will be used to promote a big lie — namely, that we live in a “rape culture.”

The term “rape culture” was coined by politically correct (PC) feminists in the 1970s. It refers to attitudes, beliefs, and values that allegedly normalize sexual violence against women and encourage the act of rape by men. America is called a “rape culture” because sexual violence is deemed to be so pervasive that all women live in constant danger from all men. The violence or threat of it occurs on a continuum running from sexual glances to physical rape. The fact that so many people are unaware of the rape culture surrounding them only points to its omnipresence; that is, the rape culture is supposed to be as common as air and taken as much for granted.

The solution proposed by PC feminists is to change the fundamentals of society, especially with regard to gender, sexuality, and power. Institutions such as law, religion, and the educational system must be deconstructed and reconstructed in order to remove the alleged danger and discrimination that is inherent in being a woman today. Of course, this deconstruction and reconstruction requires extensive action by the state. For instance, PC feminists are trying to use the dubious legal doctrine of “affirmative consent” to increase the regulation of sex on post-secondary campuses.

The idea that America is a rape culture is a particularly vicious big lie, because it brands all men as rapists or rape facilitators. This lie has been successful despite reality. The rate of actual rape is declining. The crime is severely punished, and even an accusation can ruin lives; men who rape are reviled; the social messages on rape delivered regularly to young men are the opposite of encouragement.

Nevertheless, in January 2014, the White House Council on Women and Girls issued a report that stated, “1 in 5 women has been sexually assaulted while in college” (PDF). A key reason for this amazingly high statistic is that the report significantly expands the definition of rape, and it counts every accusation as true. Since then, the “1 in 5” statistic has gained legs in the media and been used as proof that we live in a rape culture. (For a debunking of the White House report, please see The Future of Freedom Foundation article “Making Men Rapists.”)

How do big lies like this one become politically powerful forces?

There’s so much in this article that it’s hard to compress into a single post, so I’ll just encourage you to read the rest of it.

POSTED BY TONY RAFETTO