Rape Culture as Haute Couture

We are supposed to educate young people that Rape and Sexual Assault are about Power and Violence; that they are horrific, dehumanizing crimes that destroy peoples lives; that they cause mental health illness and / or drive many victims to substance abuse, self-harmful behaviours and suicide; that many if not most survivors struggle with and suffer the consequences of the trauma for the rest of their lives.

And yet the cultural depiction of rape, sexual assault and sex abuse in the arts & entertainment Industries (including of course Pornography), in advertising, fashion and the media, says exactly the opposite: the message, explicit or subliminal, from these industries, and from the culture that pervades our society, is telling and showing young people that Sex Crime is Acceptable, Artistic, Attractive, Beautiful, Desirable, Erotic, Lucrative, Normal, Sexy, Successful, Valid, Virtuous and Wonderful.

The depiction of Rape as Entertainment has become a bandwagon. It has become “personal expression”. It has become “creative freedom”. It has become “Free Speech”. Just like Hate Speech.

In fiction – and specifically, literature in the English language – Rape has been Eroticized, Normalized, Prettified, Sexualized, promoted and shown as something that can lead to a wonderful life, healthy, loving relationships and happiness. The Rape Trope is Acceptable, and people who are making a living by exploiting the Rape Culture and turn their rape fantasies into plot devices for even the most mainstream books, film, or television dramas, are admired, rewarded, respected, bestowed with honours and success. Some are Revered, elevated to the status of auteurs, even.

You may repeat to the young ones that Rape is a vile, heinous crime until you are blue in the face – they are not going to believe you until it happens to them. And they are not going to listen because they pay attention to what the responsible adults are doing, not what they pay lip service to. And they know we’re hypocrites about sexual violence. We are teaching them that, too.

Children nowadays (mostly the boys but also girls) learn about Sex from pornography where women are not just objectified and humiliated, they are brutalized – and they have to pretend they are enjoying it, just like prostitutes do, because that is the job description. Before, boys learned about sex from being taken to a brothel by a male relative (in some cultures) or they didn’t learn at all: in some ultra-religious conservative cultures, their parents pretended sex outside marriage does not exist and expected their children to learn from / with their spouses. I don’t know what is actually worse but that was then. Now, in the internet age, when young people turn to the mainstream media they further learn that Rape can lead to beautiful fairytale romantic and loving relationships. We are showing them that romantic lovers can beat and rape people “lovingly”. Millions of fans idolize these role models: they swoon over these on-screen couples and “romances” ; an entire Industry troupe of authors, producers, directors, actors and “expert” critics defend such absurdities – because of course, they are paid to do so…Yes, that’s right: we are feeding our young the utterly harmful bullshit that rape can be most enjoyable and a positive experience…

I really only need to mention two Famous examples where Rape and Sadism are not just used as a mechanism to drive the plot and a sinister ploy to attract viewership but also grossly and falsely misrepresented as either insignificant or enjoyable and where the on-screen sex in general is purely gratuitous exploitation: Game of Thrones and Outlander. Rape and Sadism have become the mainstream “soft porn” for bored housebound consumers of our times because, of course: the more violence viewers are exposed to the more desensitized they are so the images have to become more and more shocking to attract audiences.

I have read all the Song of Ice and Fire books and I found them boring, tedious and mediocre, lacking originality and imagination (I’m being kind): the plot is copied from history, the fantasy bits aren’t original (dragons…yawn) and the sex is poorly written – but that’s all it takes to become an award-winning culture icon nowadays: a TV adaptation.

During the long hours of painting I listen to audiobooks so I recently started listening to the Outlander audiobook. And no, I won’t be partaking either. Which is a pity because Scotland as a setting deserves better. It’s obviously not a coincidence that the authors of both these series are following the same recipe and swapping writing tips. It was only because of Outlander that I actually found out a bit more about the televised adaptation of GOT – and I know for sure that I wouldn’t have watched a second episode of that caper, either.

Game of Thrones Season One, Episode One: Prince X forces his sister to marry Y who will lend him ten thousand warriors to take back his kingdom. She doesn’t want to. Brother says he would have all forty thousand men and their horses rape her if that is what it would take for him to reclaim his throne. Her new husband rapes her. They subsequently “fall in love”. The author defended this as “realistic”…

Rape Scenes Are Not Just Awful: They Are Lazy Writing.

But the Rape is not real to you, the viewer: all you see is two attractive naked actors having sex on your screen. Their semi-nudity and the simulated sex is titillating. It’s arousing. There is no detailed analysis of the suffering. As time is condensed, whatever emotional damage was inflicted is glossed over, ignored and quickly forgotten by the next plot twist. Rape as Prelude to True Love – oh sure, that’s Realism…Rape Eroticized, Sexualized, Normalized and Prettified – because, you know, they are soooo pwetty. Two young people with nice bodies – that is all you see. Your husband / boyfriend gets a stiffy or at least a semi watching the tits on “that” object. You look at on-screen hunk and think phwooooooarrr…The implication is you would love him to Rape You, Too, because he is so Manly…You know the rape is not real like the dragons aren’t. You suspend disbelief. It’s just two pretenders simulating sex for your viewing pleasure. And you think that’s cool. The way the rape scene is filmed is Eroticized, Prettified, Sexualized, Normalized and deceptive. It’s all about the camera angles, lovely-looking naked bodies for the viewer to ogle. Nobody talks about the trauma and the suffering associated with rape afterwards, about the damage that stays within forever. Instead, you are invited to believe Rape as the beginning of a beautiful romance…

That Game Of Thrones Rape Scene wasn’t a Turn On : It was Rape

Oh yes, the rape was so enjoyable and bonding, they fell in love afterwards. Yeah, that happens you see. Women can’t have enough of rape as long as it’s someone handsome. Our rape fantasies mean that we would just love getting raped by Jason Momoas and Nikolaj Coster-Waldaus and Sam Heughans for real. It’s because they are so attractive, manly and sexy – who wouldn’t fall in love with their rapist, right? The fact some victims experience involuntary sexual arousal during rape means “it wasn’t really rape” because “you enjoyed it”… So there you go. Absence of consent means nothing. And the tickling torture is not really torture because hey, the victim is laughing…

What did you say? Rape is about abuse, power, violence, hatred? And you expect kids to believe that instead of Game of Thrones? Billions watched it and the majority loved it. It won more critical acclaim than anything else, ever. Experts, I tell you, experts who know about these things have confirmed and enthused and verified their artistic merits and proclaimed them “masterpieces”. Seriously. It’s Art. Rape is Entertainment. It’s Culture. And no matter what you tell them, your sons and daughters will do as you do, not as you say. And they know why you watched it and they will watch it for the same reasons and think it’s manly and sexy to rape a hot chick – because that is the masculinity model you brought them up with, that is what you showed them on the screen. Thank you, Mister George Martin and Co.

Rape Is A Plot Device In Western Literature, Sold Back To Us By Hollywood

Game of Thrones was a Rape Fest and the author and the team that adopted it for television seem to have a Rape Fetish. Sex and Violence sell, so you combine them and voila – Rape sells even more.

Diana Gabaldon set forth to create a chick-lit version with “a strong female heroine”, borrowing the background of her story from the Scottish Jacobite uprising and adding the fantasy element of time travel. Her story was praised for depicting the “female gaze” in sexual attraction. And because the authoress is a Roman Catholic, the supposedly strong heroine that supposedly personifies the female erotic gaze is saved by marriage (…) to a Christ-like pious, prim and proper Virgin, martyr and sacrificial Saviour – because, what else…The Lord is the ideal Man. 

Of course, everybody gets raped in Outlander – adult men, women and children. Including Jesus-Jamie. But his rape is THE big deal of the series – because he is a heterosexual male and because his rape is consensual – he sacrificed himself to save herself. And he is raped by the spitting image and ancestor of the heroine’s future husband. And the heroine is torn between the love she feels for her 1740s beau and the love she feels for her husband in 1940s – the idea that her husband looks exactly like the embodiment of Satan who raped the other love of her life two centuries earlier must have sounded like a really ingenious twist to the author. More shock value currency to disguise the lack of genuine ideas and plot in the story.

The other rapes, even the child rape, are insignificant in comparison because the “unnatural” raping of Jesus/Jamie is the big deal. If you happened to realize that the underlying message is homophobic and misogynistic, suggesting that somehow the anal penetration of the heterosexual protagonist is a worse kind of rape than the vaginal and or anal penetration of raped women and children, you are not alone. Others have noticed too, that the storyline conforms to the author’s warped and twisted Christian mythos that underpins the story. Of course, when Jesus/Jamie beats and rapes his wife he does it to teach her “his point of view” as a “gentleman spanker” tells us the author (because, of course, there’s no such thing as marital rape in the Christian ethos).

And no matter what, Satan /Evil wins in the end: the consequences of his “corrupting” poison triumph in torturing the Christian family over several generations. Sex is His weapon of choice, both Hero and Nemesis use their Penises as weapons…So what we are shown is that Rape is Sexy, it’s not really about Power, it is about Sex, just rough, “naughty” sex…punishment sex, even…We are shown examples of “consensual” punishment Rapes and the story suggests that it is the sex itself that causes the corruption and the punishment – because of course, for the Christian Sex itself is sinful; so it’s almost like the bearer of the female erotic gaze had to be punished for the transgressions of the Madonna – Whore heroine, that always seems to bring disaster upon her loved ones for centuries…And what is her Original sin that caused all this misery and punishment, other than her sexual transgressions, promiscuity, marital infidelity and disobedience…

Forced Seduction in Western Literature

What is even worse than sexualizing rape and making it attractive to participate to? because that’s what we are doing as viewers if we select to view it – and that’s where the criminal responsibility of the producers of such massively pervasive shows lies: they don’t inform you beforehand; they are vague about it; the rules of advertising allow them to be intentionally misleading – they don’t clearly tell you you are about to watch a rape take place explicitly, and we sexualized it for you, so that you become a willing accomplice, we made it Erotic, and Attractive for you. “Rated R” simply means graphic sex and violence. It removes responsibility from the creators. It assumes that pornography and violence is benign. It also assumes that not just the sexualization of rape and torture and violence and the visual participation (voyeurism) in such are benign and valid but also the underlying, pervasive message – that rape, torture and sexual violence can lead to, and co-exist with, loving, egalitarian, mutually respectful, caring relationships, is somehow validated. When rape and violence are depicted in these misleading ways they are neither benign nor artistically valid; and the viewer is surely not the only one solely responsible for distributing this trash within easy reach of children in their formative years and young teenagers…

A Parody of Love: the Narrative Uses of Rape in Popular Romance

the Romantic Hero: “Did I want to break your arm, or feed ye naught but bread and water, or lock ye in a closet for days–and think ye don’t tempt me, either–I could do that…” (He has to punish her, you see. He is expected to punish her, by his buddies – prove that he is a Man).
The Heroine: “You can’t beat me. I’ll scream”.
The Romantic Hero: (thinks it’s funny) “Ha, ha, you sure will”. Reaches for belt.

The Romantic Heroine: “You are a sadist”.

The Romantic Hero: “I said I would have to punish you. I did not say I wasna going to enjoy it.”

The Romantic Heroine is subsequently “Half smothered in the greasy quilts with a knee in my back, being beaten within an inch of my life” by her loving, Romantic Husband and Hero. In the novel, the Strong Female-Model Heroine can’t sit down for weeks after the beating.

Swooning yet?

That’s what the author describes as “a gentleman spanker”. But in case you’re wondering if that is about Sex or Power, the good author clarifies it for us: “When push comes to shove, he outweighs her by eighty pounds”… Therefore, Wives Obey Your Husbands… Or Else…You’ll have it coming, you sluts. It’ll be your fault.

But that is not all:

The Romantic, Loving Hero and Role Model responds with sexual violence, stating that she is his woman and he’ll have her whenever he damn pleases. And then he rapes her. Brutally.
The next morning the couple wakes up cute and happy. Apparently it had been some great sex, despite the pain, bleeding, and bruises. Then the Romantic Hero and Role Model wants to have sex again, and the Strong Female Heroine and Role Model for Women responds “No way, I’m way too sore.” His response? Too bad. And then he rapes her again. But he is gentler than usual, so apparently, the Rape is okay. And after all this violence and rape, the Strong Heroine finally realizes that she loves him. So much so that presented with the chance to return to her own time (spoiler alert) she chooses to stay with her Hero, her lover, her protector, her rapist”.

Yep, that’s when she realized she loved him. It was the Rape that did it.

Vomit.

There’s more gratuitous Rape of course, perpetrated by the Romantic Hero:
“Take it out!” she screamed.
He clapped one hand over her mouth and said the only coherent thing he could think of. “No,” he said definitely, and shoved. (Jesus / Jaime rapes Geneva).

Same Great Romantic Hero seeks to find a husband for his daughter, determined that she shall not be shamed in front of society. She, quite unsurprisingly, refuses to countenance the idea of marrying her rapist. This is enough to make him question her story:

“Well, I’m thinkin’—are ye maybe playin’ wi’ the truth a bit, lass? Perhaps it wasna rape at all; perhaps it was that ye took a mislike to the man, and ran—and made up the story later. Ye were not marked, after all. Hard to think a man could force a lass of your size, if ye were unwilling altogether.”

“I could break your neck,” he said, very quietly. The weight of his arm left her shoulders, though the twisted arm still held her bent forward, hair loose and tumbled, nearly touching the floor. A hand settled on her neck. She could feel thumb and index fingers on either side, pressing lightly on her arteries. He squeezed, and black spots danced before her eyes.

“I could kill you, so.”

This is how Jesus/Jamie chooses to treat his only daughter.

When the Heroine is raped after being kidnapped, her loving Hero Husband initially seeks to comfort her. His solution is to offer to have sex with her, so that if she finds herself with child, there will be doubt as to who the true father is. The supposed magnanimousness of his offer is astounding.

Here is another man’s interpretation of it:

“It wasn’t the possibility of a child, he thought suddenly. It was fear—but not of that. It was Jamie’s fear that he would lose her—that she would go, swing out into a dark and solitary space without him, unless he could somehow bind her to him, keep her with him. But, Christ, what a risk to take—with a woman so shocked and brutalized, how could he risk it? How could he not?”

Roger’s interpretation indicates that Claire’s violation for Jamie does not represent a crime against her, but a violation of his rights as Claire’s husband. Jamie wants to eradicate the trespassing of his property (read: Claire) by replacing his mark upon her, thereby reclaiming his possession. A true partner does not choose to own their equal, but to compliment and uplift the other person when necessary. For all of Jamie’s supposed belief in Claire’s intelligence, at the end of the day, Claire is Jamie’s possession, as surely as the horses he loves so much.”

The “Feminism” of Outlander

‘Outlander’ and the issues of domestic violence and rape