F--kRapeCulture: “We’re fighting against the normalization of rape.”
What is rape culture? It seems that far too often this is the question asked by those fighting against the idea. By definition, rape culture is "normalization of sexual violence through images, language, laws and other everyday occurrences that perpetuate sexual assault.” What’s even more concerning is that many people continue to think that rape culture is nonexistent. Why is this an issue? Rape is not a joke. It’s not something that should be normalized. Rape should remain something that people find taboo or prohibited by social custom. It should not be the punch line of a joke or something you threaten someone with in a game.
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Rape culture is not new and will not go away on its own. Rape culture can be perpetuated in even the smallest of ways, even on our own campus. Earlier this semester, KC Johnson visited Ohio University and spoke on the subject of due process against those being accused of rape. What could have been a potentially thought-provoking “debate” was instead a victim-blaming, thoughtless and one-sided speech. With that being the case, F--kRapeCulture had no intention of not speaking up for the silenced. Knowing that there would be no chance of using their own voices, the words on the members' shirts spoke loudly enough for them. “Rape is real” and “this is bullshit” slogans that were hand-stenciled onto their shirts created a bit of an uproar with alums and members of the Athens community.
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Was it a successful protest? Yes, and here’s why: F--kRapeCulture is an activist group, but its members are not activists just to be activists. The goal of FRC is to start a conversation about rape culture, specifically on this campus. While people’s views might not have been changed, conversation definitely happened after FRC took a stand against Johnson.
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To think that this isn’t a conversation that we as a campus, school and community need to have is naive. Just last semester, OU had two students who were reported as survivors of rape. This semester, there have been four sexual assault cases reported to date. All but one of these cases, from both semesters, is still open. By making rape commonplace and taking away its impact, we’re downplaying the importance of what’s happened to our fellow Bobcats on this campus.
FRC is an activist group, but we’re fighting for the safety of our fellow students. We’re fighting against the normalization of rape. We’re going to be loud and stand up for what we believe in until there’s no longer a need.
This letter was written by members of F--kRapeCulture and reflects the majority opinion of its members.
