Rape Culture: A Definition

This week, my good friend Camilla (who incidentally has a fantastic blog over here) pointed me towards this article, which got me thinking.

I appreciate the writer's thoughts on the topic, and I absolutely agree that we do need to question our attitude towards rape when it focuses on the victims rather than the perpetrators. However, her argument doesn't quite hit the mark for me - to replace the term 'rape culture' with 'rapist's culture', as she seems to be suggesting, is actually a step in the wrong direction.

To be raped can sometimes seem almost ephemeral, and it is often important to reify the relationship by making the connection that one was raped by x. One doesn't simply become the victim of rape, someone needs to make the decision to rape. This isn't reiterated often enough, and it needs to be. It needs to be, because until we do, society makes the attitude that a victim should feel shame more than a perpetrator, acceptable.

But that brings me to the crux of the definition I propound of 'rape culture': it is about society. Rape culture is the state of society which engages in slut shaming, victim blaming, and propagating rape myths. Rape culture is telling victims that they have to forget that they have been raped. Rape culture is the belittling of rape in jokes. Rape culture is the use of the word 'frape'.

Rape culture is where we let rape happen. We LET rape happen.

The majority of people don't rape, but many of them perpetuate a culture where rape is allowed to happen.

Rape culture is a society which is complicit in the perpetuation of rape.

The Truly Offensive 'F' Word

Over the past couple of months I've had numerous discussions about issues relating to my embryonic thesis - rape, sexual violence, inequality, patriarchy etc - with a number of very good friends, each of whom has seemed shocked at the fact I used the 'f' word to describe myself.

I am a feminist.

I understand that the term 'feminist' means very different things to many people. A postcard I picked up in Oxfam today read:

"Feminism encourages women to leave their husbands, kill their children, practise witchcraft, destroy capitalism and become lesbians." Pat Robertson, US Politician, 1992.

Yeah, ninety-two.

For me, Feminism is the acceptance of an ideology which promotes the equal political, social, economic, religious, legal and sexual rights of women and men. It does not mean that I hate men; instead, I argue that men themselves suffer from the effects of patriarchy. Patriarchy entrenches a gender binary which is portrayed as 'natural' by it's derivation from the notion of sex. Because I fit the 'natural', 'medical' definition of a woman, I am expected to embrace that identity and work within it. For men, they must adhere to the societal norm of the 'macho' - they will wear 'men's' clothes, they will engage in 'men's' activities. A man in a boob tube and hotpants, cross-stitching is something to ridicule and thus bring into line. For those who do not fit into the narrow binary of male-female, there is the pressing concern of choice. Someone must make a choice as to which gender they will be, because society cannot deal with anyone who accepts their identity as intersex. Every citizen will adhere to the gender chosen for them, and although this has some flexibility in modern Britain - I was able to walk into a shop and buy men's shoes without too big an issue, for example - there is certainly a bias towards women in that respect. A man who walks into a woman's shoe department is judged, often severely, and labelled for that. As a feminist, I believe that working against the patriarchy which perpetuates this binary is beneficial for men and women alike.

Another issue that crops up is the fact that Feminists were A-OK during the Suffragette movement, and back in the '60s but in the year 2010 women enjoy equal rights with men. This myth is one of my biggest bug-bears because it lulls the modern woman into a false sense of security. The law may say that women and men will be paid equally for the same work, but the law does not take into account the disproportionate number of women engaged in part-time employment because they have caring responsibilities. The law also perpetuates the image of the woman as primary care-giver for children, with inequality in maternity/paternity leave. Heaven forbid a couple who wish to co-parent. I have read about female academics in the US taking off their wedding ring to attend a job interview because married women are less likely to be employed as they might want to start a family in the near future, causing the male powers that be to find maternity cover and then she'll probably want to go part-time and we'll just have to go through the hiring process all over again. Married male academics are encouraged to wear a ring because they might want to start a family soon and that means that he's settled and committed. 2 women a week are killed by their partner and there is a call made to the police regarding domestic abuse every minute. I've written extensively about the issue of rape and legal inequalities so have a look at Why Frape isn't Funny and Repressed Ranting for further details on that.

Aside from that is the issue of women in other countries who suffer the most horrific forms of injustice and abuse. I've written before about the statistic that a Pakistani woman is raped every hour, every second rape is an attack on a minor and every fourth a gang rape. The situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo has also been mentioned in some of my posts. This week, a series of articles in the Guardian made me weep. The first contained one of the most appalling statistics I've ever come across. A South African woman is more likely to be raped than to learn to read. I cannot even comprehend what that statement means, let alone get my head around the case it mentions of a 7 year old girl gang raped at school by a 9 year old and two 11 year old boys. The second cites that 37.4% of men surveyed admitted to rape. Over a third.

I am a feminist because I refuse to stand back and convince myself that the world has become enlightened about women's issues and become equal. I am a feminist because I believe in a fair and equal society where everyone can express themselves as they wish without fear of ridicule or reprisals. I am a feminist because I believe that no-one should be fearful of their safety in their homes and on the streets.

I am a feminist because if I am not, I am refusing my own voice and the voices of women across the world unable to speak.

I am a feminist, and I am proud.

The Gestation of the Mind

What an awesome title. I'm pretty proud of it, and I definitely think there should be a book with that title. Maybe there already is. Who knows?

Anyhoo, before this descends into a dull stream of consciousness, I'll get to my point. Way back in January, I set myself a few personal goals. Go on holiday (alas, one I have failed so far!), see Chris perform (achieved, and it was as awesome as I'd expected - go see for yourself in whatever he pops up in next) and to read at least 15 books. I thought 15 would be a manageable target, but one that would stop me from taking the easy route and watching some TV or what have you.

Nine months later, my mind has been conditioned, challenged and changed by the books I've read. Using my handy 'Read in 2010' list on Visual Bookshelf, I found the results interesting and thought I'd share.

(Not necessarily in chronological order and not including books purely consulted with the goal of completing my degree)

1. Women of Algiers in their Apartments - Assia Djebar
Unbelievably awesome. Back in 2009, I did a course grandly entitled 'Harems, Homes and Streets: Gender and Space in Middle Eastern Literature' and in it we touched on this. Intrigued, I read the entire book and was so challenged, moved and affected by it that I wrote an essay based on it for another class. A collection of short stories focussing on Algerian women during the Algerian-French war, Djebar critiques both the colonialist and native Algerian patriarchal representations of women, dramatically reappropriating Algerian women's bodies for Algerian women.

"Whispering, Baya translated for Anne, while she was rubbing her breasts with her hands; it was then the Frenchwoman stopped asking questions, looking at the wasted bodies around her in fascination. Arms of a masseuse, standing straight up on a marble slab, then kneeling down, encircling the body of a bather, who's face, belly, and breasts were crushed against the stone, her hair a reddish mass, her shoulders dripping with trails of wattery henna.

The masseuse opened her lips halfway, showing golden teeth that shimmered; her long, pendulous breasts were crisscrossed with little veins all the way to the tips. Under that light that came down in oblique rays from the skylight, her villager's face, aged before it's time, was turning into the mask of an oriental sorceress. The silver pendants she was wearing made a clanging sound every time her shoulders and knotted arms came sliding down on the neck and further down to the breasts of her bather [...] Stopping to catch her breath, then slowly pouring a cup of hot water over her naked bronze back, while hoarse sighs were exhaled below her."

Wow. Every time I read that section, I think about the complex interplay between Orientalist, and particularly artistic representations of 'Eastern women' in the hammam as a sensual, erotic and exotic experience, compared to the morgue-like undertones and hyper-realism of the passage. Just read it.

2. The White Tiger - Aravind Adiga

I struggled to see the hype with this one to be honest. It's a little like Zadie Smith's 'On Beauty', a nice enough book, but rather boring. The narrative style felt a little too smug-aren't-I-fabulous-breaking-away-from-traditional-prose but sticking a letter head at the start of the chapter is hardly ground-breaking.

3.The Satantic Verses - Salman Rushdie

Yeah. This was a bit of a trek to get through, especially during the stresses and strains of the final semester of 4th year. I definitely recommend reading it in as few sittings as possible, because the protracted way I read meant that I was getting rather confused about the plot! I do see where the controversy came from, although it wasn't as shocking as I was expecting. I suppose expecting shock is a bit of a paradox anyway though.

4. Yes Man - Danny Wallace

A bit of a departure from the previous 3 books, it was a nice light laugh which didn't require too much brainpower. Worth it for the wee snippet about his meeting with a monk.

5. The Parasites - Daphne du Maurier.

I love du Maurier, I truly do. 'Rebecca' will forever stand as the novel of my teenage years and I aim to collect all of du Maurier's works. The Parasites was ostensibly a rather dull reminiscing of childhood memories, but the disconcerting doubts raised in the reader's minds as we are brought deeper and deeper into the family's world is very, very well done.

6. The Sacraments and the Bible - Phil Layton

A wee book that said what I thought it would in defending the Salvation Army's position on the sacraments against what many would argue is contrary to Biblical teaching. Worth 30 mins.

7. The Alchemist - Paul Coelho

A graduation gift and a very quick read, I found the thinly veiled self-help philosophy a little grating and would rather the book would pick the plot of self-help and run with it rather than the absurd conflation of the two.

8. The Arabian Nights

A long read, at over 800 pages it gave the narrative frame of Sheherezade using her story-telling skills to save her live, along with a selection of the tales. I loved the mixture of genres on offer, there are moralistic tales, dramatic tales, comedic tales, adventure tales... I'm still intrigued as to the conflicting representations of women in the story and the tales will stay with me.

9. Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte

Recommended by Camilla, I had steadfastly steered clear of WH because it was written by a Bronte. Way back in 6th year, I compared the contributions of du Maurier's 'Rebecca' and Charlotte Bronte's 'Jane Eyre' to the feminist canon. 'Rebecca' was awesome, gave a portrayal of a woman consistently beaten down by men and a woman who will do anything possible, in life or in death, to get one up on a man. 'Jane Eyre' was an interminable whine of appalling monologues, ridiculous coincidences and the always vomit-inducing 'readers, I married him' comment.

As such, I had avoided the Bronte's like the plague, but I finally decided to rise above and goodness me I am glad. A decent plot, a good mystery, one heck of a romance and not a single character made teeth-achingly sweet. This was a proper romance, violent, passionate, confusing...

10. Appropriating Gender: Women's Activism and Politicized Religion in South Asia - Patricia Jeffrey

The start of my NLS journey, 'Appropriating Gender' hammered home the sexualized and gendered way women, and particularly Muslim women, relate to their nations and states. Women's sexuality is controlled and utilized for the purposes of the state. Fascinating.

11. May on Motors - James May

A quick and easy read, with a few giggles.

12. The Limits of Bodily Integrity (Law, Justice and Power) - Ruth A. Miller'

Particularly fascinating to read after 'Appropriating Gender' this book opened my eyes to a whole new way of thinking. Her discussion of Foucauldian biopolitics, with particular reference to the womb, blew my mind. I don't necessarily agree with everything she said, but it has given me a whole new framework in which to consider my chosen topic.

13. The Elementary Forms of Religious Life - Emile Durkheim

Having studied for 4 years, certain theorists will keep coming back like a case of herpes. Instead of fighting it, I decided to actually consider these theories in their full texts rather than as the detached and abstract notions I knew them as. Durkheim has obviously been hugely influential within RS, and I do feel like I have more of a grip on his ideas now, but I found the fact that I was rather unprepared for the book to spend so much time detailing how the Australian tribes demonstrate this (with what we now know to be flawed anthropological information) to be rather tiresome and made completion of this book take FOREVER.

14. The Ritual Process - Victor Turner

As above, really. Liminality is one of the more classic theories I still consider relevant and useful, although there was nothing really new to learn by reading the entire text.

15. Toward a Feminist Theory of the State - Catharine MacKinnon

Love, love, LOVE a thousand times over. My last blog about squeeworthy moments - credit belongs to this lady. Her examination of how sexuality is socially constructed and the mass ignorance surrounding this has led to a number of discussions about how we define sexuality, and has prompted a serious consideration of my own definition. Her piercing critique of rape law as 'with force without consent' has transformed my way of thinking about rape as a crime and built up rage against the male legislators who will continue to write laws which are illogical and dangerous, as well as perpetuating the notion that there is a clear and objective line between licit sexual activity and rape is something which I will struggle with for years to come.

Well, there you go - you've seen how my ideas have been built up from a cluster of confused beginnings, to a proper thesis-baby (though still not ready to survive on paper) as well as the lighter, or at least non-academic, relief I've awarded myself with.

Things That Make Me Squee...

Tea. Obviously.

Cake. Also pretty obvious.

Not being homeless. Definitely loving that.

Family.

Friends.

Finding someone with a theory which complements my own thoughts. As fun as persistently debunking phenomenology as a dangerous and irrelevant methodology was, it's also good to find someone with whom I can agree. I was a bit worried that I had a massively skewed mind, because I'd spent so long reading articles, books and theories that were, for want of a better term, complete rubbish.

In my research over the Summer I've actively had to stop myself from loudly squeeing in the National Library of Scotland at some of the work I've come across. Consent theory is so flawed that definitions of consensual sex are misleading and dangerous for women? Yep, agree with that. Foucauldian biopolitical understandings of the womb have contributed to the extended control women's bodies are subjected to? Pretty self-evident if you ask me. Definitions of sexuality have been formulated on male terms, further entrenching women's inferior position at even the most intimate level and making rape impossible to define and hence to legislate against? Absolutely true.

No funding troll can strangle the academic squee within.

Graduand No More...

... for I am a GRADUATE!

I robed up, clumped up a ramp, was whacked on the head with a bunnet made from John Knox's britches and clapped for others. A lot.

I found the whole experience to be rather stressful actually. Minute directions throughout Edinburgh, a dash for robes, being made to sit through photos, skipping lunch, dealing with the partners of my parents, dashing up and down to New College for returning my robes... I didn't get a chance to properly reflect. All that was going through my head was - I can't be late - and a rather whingy little graduand-zilla protesting that it was MY day, and that my parent's partners shouldn't be getting in the way. I was annoyed at them hanging around, at them being places they had no places to be, at being an inconvenience meaning that I couldn't see my parents... How selfish of me.

I also felt rather alone after the rushing was over. Everyone else was celebrating with their parents and I was left to my own devices. Given my increasing sense of, well I suppose you could call it mourning, I was rather upset. The best four years of my life are over, numerous very good friends of mine are gone and I'm not certain about my future. Reconvening with friends for a few drinks afterwards kind of cleared away my maudlin mood - the future is full of opportunities to make new friends and may be even better.

But still, I had to have a wee cry when my supervisor e-mailed his dissertationists/'Islamicists' to congratulate us and tell us that "you're all good judges in your own hearts as to how much you've progressed and developed as researchers and thinkers."

Aww.