The topic of sexual violence and rape is such a sensitive topic that it rarely gets the attention that it should. Perhaps if more people were willing to talk about it, then the number of victims could be reduced. Though disturbing, I think that these readings do a good job approaching the subject and the reality of it. The reading “Don’t call me a Survivor,” was by far the most difficult to stomach. The author makes rape a reality and her story is very relatable. To think that she was raped, not once, but three times is horrifying. What I found most troubling that she had no one to turn to seek comfort or confide in. Every time she did try to talk to someone, whether her parents, friends, or the authorities, there were negative repercussions. She was made to think that it was her fault that she was raped and being raped was what it meant to be a woman. It is hard not to question what is was about her that made her a target of rape three times. Additionally, I found myself wondering if after the first time she was raped, that if she had received the proper help and counseling that the other two times could have be prevented. Then again, it seems like the gang rape was an inescapable situation. It is especially important to bring into consideration what the article in Feminism in our Time says about the typical rapist. Before reading this, my idea of a rapist was someone with a mental disability or some neurosis. Instead, we learn that the majority of rapists are typically normal men that are prone to violence. I really made me wonder who in my daily life could be capable of committing such an atrocity.
In a recent Private Practice episode, one of the doctors, Charlotte, is beaten up and raped while on call. Of course they portray her attacker as a mentally deranged man, who was out for revenge against women. This doctor is a particularly strong and proud woman; she is even the Chief of the hospital. In order to “maintain her dignity” she refuses to admit that she was raped, for the fear of people treating her differently as a weak victim. I think this episode plays nicely into these readings, especially “Don’t call me a Survivor,” because it shows how traumatic sexual assault is and the psychological damage it does to the victims. It is even more unfortunate that some woman become so paralyzed by it and the stigmas attached to it that they refuse to take action and do something to stand up for themselves. For this reason, it is imperative that the issue of sexual violence and rape becomes a more talked about topic and that greater action is taken to prevent other women from becoming victims.
I really like the points you make in your post, Sara. I thought Morgan's story was very powerful, yet also very sad. I think I was most angry that the man who raped her a second time is a pre-law student. He deserves to be in jail, not practicing enforcing the laws that he obviously has no regard for. And he knew he raped her, too - it wasn't obliviousness or ignorance on his part because he knew exactly what he did. That absolutely disgusted me. Her story raises so many issues that women need to talk about - how our society fosters a rape culture, how patriarchy instills shame into rape victims which prevents them from seeking help and justice, and how unequal power dynamics between men and women furthers inaccurate stereotypes and unattainable ideals for both genders. When Morgan says that the first rape had made her internalize the belief that a rape victim is somehow responsible for being raped and how she didn't report her rape because she knew no one would listen to her, she clearly showed that although feminism has brought rape awareness to new heights, the stigma and lack of justice still plague rape victims.
ReplyDeleteI find Rachel and Sara's comments to come from the same place as my own. After reading Morgan's article, "Don't call me a Survivor", I was shaking with fury. What rattled me the most was after she was raped the first time, she assumed it was her fault-- that it was no one else's. The second and third times she was raped, I was in awe. Not only when she told people did no one come to her aid and help her through it, but when she did tell people, she was scolded or looked down on...by her parents! By her doctors! I'd never before heard such an account as this one and the fact that she still lives with the night terrors ad the music playing after the 6 and a half hour gang bang, I know if a friend came to me and told me they were raped not once, but three times, the amount of helplessness I would feel, is tremendous. I would want to do anything and everything I possibly could to help her. This article changed the way I think about rape.
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