The Forces Behind Rape
The truth behind rape is that it is not about sex. Rape is about power, and it has been consistently found that those individuals who rape have the following attitudes:
- They minimize rape;
- Blame the victim;
- Excuse the perpetrator;
- And score high in a test on rape myth acceptance.
The sociology of rape
Benevolent sexism is a sexist ideology which proposes that because women are weak, special, and should be placed on a pedestal, they need a strong, capable man to control and protect them. While this attitude may not seem particularly damaging to some people, the reality is that it results from the overall structure of patriarchy, where societal dominance by men leads women to be placed in a position of inferiority and inequality. This attitude may be even more damaging than hostile sexism, because the justifications behind it are more accepted by the general population, including statements like "Women are good with children, and should be in the home more so than men."
Hostile sexism is the more overt, antagonistic sexism toward women, where it proposes that women are trying to control men through feminism or sexual seduction. Those who hold these attitudes would include statements like "Women just don't have the abilities that en do, so they should stay in the home." This type of sexist justification is less accepted than benevolent sexism, but it results from the same condition of patriarchal male-dominance.
Gender-role traditionality measures attitudes about traditional gender roles, concerning abilities, appearance, family roles, and work. Those who hold traditional gender roles, such as women not working outside the home and being subordinate to their husbands, are implicated in acquaintance or date rape scenarios.
Men have more power over women in society under patriarchy, or male rule, in every institution, including the government, the economy, the family, and the religious structure. This dominance manifests itself in the rates of rape in the United States and other patriarchal societies, where it is mostly men raping women; rape is about asserting power over someone who is seen as powerless, the dominant group over the oppressed group to maintain control.
