Actions shape views

Towards the end of class today, Bill shared the statement: "The way we view rape has been shaped by how we speak about it." This statement has given me pause to reflect on how I view rape. And I have come to realize that I find it difficult to believe that this type of behavior occurs.  I think this is because I find rape to be an issue of humanity--how could a person treat another person so violently? I'm astonished that this happens! I'm angry, frustrated, sad...ever questioning the reason why this happens.  This leads me to recognize when I read that the rapist is initially sorry, I want to believe them. Now, I want to be clear--rape is wrong and a perpetrator should be punished for their actions.  Yet, I'm still astonished that this happens in the first place!  And I think this view--my inability to accept that rape occurs--contributes to the way in which I view rape.  For, if I don't accept that it happens, I don't accept that it is a problem.  BUT IT IS...and reconciling with this has been a struggle.  And I think that this has to do with the fact that I have never experienced what these women have experienced; I am not a survivor of rape or sexual assault.

But when I reflect further, I realize that I am not far removed from it. I do know of an individual that has been assaulted--a close individual of my own family.  Yet, we never speak about it. We never address what happened.  It just happened and what can we do about it now? (It's important to note that the individual that assaulted my family member passed away some time ago).  We downplay the actions of the accused, taking a "it was only touching".  But even this feeds into the way in which we view rape and sexual assault--that "it's not that bad". And silences to an issue say something as well.

This is why I like the video What if bears killed one in five people? .  While the authors of the video are using a ridiculous scenario, it brings to light that rape and sexual assault cannot be ignored. We wouldn't ignore statistics if one in five people were killed by bears--so why would we put up with one in five women being sexually assaulted?  Therefore I can no longer ignore that rape occurs.  Which, to bring it back to what I said in the first paragraph--the realization that it happens makes me angry, frustrated, sad...

I know that this class is meant to help us critically evaluate texts for their rhetorical meaning through the use of Krakauer's Missoula book, but I'm finding that my views on rape are being challenged.  I only hope that through this class I can remove the taboo nature of speaking about these issues so that I can speak about (and speak up) about the ramifications of rape and sexual assault.