______________ Gender Comm ______________ October 10, 2012 The Inherit Male Rapist Course Content Social Learning

Theory is described as the way individuals learn to be masculine or feminine primarily by imitating others and getting responses from other to their behaviors, (Wood, 48). This theory is responsible for the gendered activities such as roughhousing for boys to be masculine and playing with dolls for girls. This teaches boys to be aggressive and physical. Symbolic Interactionism is the process by which we learn who we are and what that means in the culture into which we have been born. Here in the United States, while there are still stereotypes of gender, there are much extreme limitations put on gender in cultures like those in the Middle East. Here in our culture, we see men as the strong and successful figures on the extreme spectrum, with women being domestic, (Wood, 52).

Artifact The artifact I have chosen for this paper is a series of posters that depict men as the sole perpetrators of rape. These posters have been seen on college campuses for a few years now thanks to the efforts of the campaigns behind them. Some of these campaigns include Men Can Stop Rape and Men of Strength. They have been widely circulated on the internet on social media sites like Facebook and Tumblr where I have seen them multiple times. The intended audiences are the men on these campuses, in an attempt to deter female rape from happening.

These posters include such insights So when she changed her mind, I stopped, So when she wanted me to stop, I stopped, and So when she said no I said ok. These posters feature a male and female couple with the title My strength is not for hurting. As of this time, no poster from this campaign has depicted female on male rape. I believe these posters reinforce the most negative and widely circulated idea that men are the sole reason behind rapes occurring. These types of ads not only represent this idea, but they assume every man has instincts of rape. The theme of the campaign my strength is not for hurting implies that men have always been seen as not in control of their own strength, and as a result they rape women.

Analysis This, I believe is one of the most quiet, but gravely offensive stereotypes society has today. Through social learning theory, men have come to fulfill gender roles such as being dominant, strong and aggressive. This is turn has led us to the belief that rape only happens when a male rapes a female, because rape is an aggressive act. But there are so many negative biases against men in the rape culture. Rape culture is known as a culture where the act of rape is normative, meaning it is essentially a condoned behavior. It is often portrayed in the media as male on female rape. For instance, we often forget that men can be raped and in fact a recent study shows that men are raped more than women. Our prison system has single-handily made us one of the few countries that has more men raped a year than women. (Men Outnumber Women Among American Rape Victims.) There are even instances in which male rape is not only overlooked but celebrated in the case of Olga Zajac in Russsia when she tied up a male robber,
Viktor Jasinski, and kept him as a sex slave for three days. The media was biased on reporting

the news story, with many comments on the news site praising the woman for giving him what he deserved, (The Indian Express). Another theory that attributes to this idea is symbolic interactionism where men are expected to protect women. Men are expected to protect women and when seen through the lens of our rape culture if they found as rapists they are no longer the protectors. Even more so, we see more male criminals incarcerated than women, which leads us to believe that men are inherently more violent than women are. We begin to make rapist and male assailant into synonymous terms. When we stereotype one gender, we begin to silence their voices as individuals, effectively boxing them in to one representation of a whole population. The silence also comes in the idea that a man simply cannot be raped. Whether it is his own strength or sex drive, expectations are made that if a man does not want to have sex, he will find a way. Men are painted as sexual beings that should be celebrating the opportunity to have sex. Often, men feel as they cannot report a rape because no one would believe that he would be un-wanting of sexual activity. Even more common is the idea that men are stronger than women and it is impossible to let a woman dominate you into doing something you do not want to do. How can a man be raped when he could simply overpower the woman? Yet, the problem formulated in our society is that men are inherently rapists incapable of controlling their sexual urges. This idea is prolific in our society from phrases such as he thinks with his penis. Another common phrase is if women do not want to be raped, they should not dress immodestly. This phrase is not just about women deserving rape but also the idea that a man would be tempted into rape just by what a women is wearing. In addition men are less likely to report rape and there is a severe lack of support for male rape victims.

Recommendations I believe that these types of campaigns further the belief in our culture that men are responsible in rape situations and that they are uncontrollable. While I do believe that certain artifacts are effective in spreading awareness, I feel they are very biased towards men. Some campaigns resort to more direct slogans like Boys: If you give a girl a ride, remember not to rape them. This aggressive approach to anti-rape artifacts silences the other side of the issue: The women who are raped by women, the men raped by men, and the men raped by women. If we want to take a stance against rape, which should not make it a gender specific issue, but rather a human rights issue.

Conclusion: Rape should never just be represented as a gender issue. I would even go so far as to say that male rape and other gender identities involved in rape need to be recognized in in the media as well as other campaigns. Victims of male rape to be more comfortable in speaking out and telling their stories and until we create a culture in which we accept and support male rape victims and do not see men as the sole rapists, these men will continued to be silenced.

Works Cited

"Men Outnumber Women Among American Rape Victims." Men Outnumber Women Among American Rape Victims. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Oct. 2012. <http://www.outsidethebeltway.com/menoutnumber-women-among-american-rape-victims/>. Woman keeps robber as sex slave, feeding him only viagra. (2011, July 13). The Indian Express. Retrieved from http://www.indianexpress.com/news/woman-keeps-robber-as-sex-slave-feedinghim-only-viagra/816949 Wood, J. (2007). Gendered lives: Communication, gender, and culture. (7th ed.). Belmont, CA: Thomson Wasworth.