Running head: Rape Myth: The Perpetration of Culturally Sanctioned Violence against Women

Rape Myth: The Perpetration of Culturally Sanctioned Violence against Women Pepper M. Lopez

Azusa Pacific University CCSD 583: Counseling Issues and Practices Professor Sharyn Slavin-Miller

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Rape myth was defined nearly thirty years ago as prejudicial, stereotyped, or false beliefs about rape, rape victims, and rapists (Earnshaw, Pitpitan, & Chaudoir, 2011) (McMahon, 2010). An expanded and more current definition which has been guided and interpreted by the more current research is as follows: rape myths are attitudes and beliefs that are generally false but are widely and persistently held, and serve to deny and justify male sexual aggression against women (Lonsway, Cortina, & Magley, 2008). Perhaps one of the most poignant definitions comes from researchers Zillmann and Weaver who characterize rape myth as the most self-serving justification of sexual coercion ever invented by callous men (Ryan, 2011). Culturally it can be presented that rape myths serve to deny, undermine, and justify the sexual violence that men commit against women. The research into culpability supports that the male denial of sexual assault upon women serves to justify sexual aggression and rape against a female victim for which they hold no or little empathy (Miller, Amaker, & King, 2011). Perhaps the most utilized instrument used to measure rape myth acceptance is the Illinois Rape Myth Acceptance Scale [IRMA] Subscales (Lonsway, et al, 2008). Another scale which has proven effective in its repeated use is the earlier Rape Myth Acceptance Scale [RMAS]. In broad terms these scales serve to measure the denial of rapes existence, denial of rapes seriousness, and excusal (Lonsway, et al, 2008). Participant responses are typically measure by an endorsement of the various cultural myths which serve to support the both sexual violence as well as sexual discrimination against women primarily by men. These scales show culturally a twenty-five to thirty-five per cent acceptance of rape myth for all participants (both male and female), and that between the genders men are more likely than women to endorse rape myth (Edwards, et al., 2011). Rape and sexual harassment have been presented by theorist a part of a single continuum of male sexual aggression against women. Rape myths and sexual harassment myths are appropriately conceptualized as false stereotypes. They are not important for their accuracy, but for the cultural significance in their function of denying violence against women and justifying this type of male

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dominance (Lonsway, et al, 2008). Sexual harassment myth and rape myth seem to be omologically related attitudes and beliefs. Common themes among both would be the acceptance of interpersonal violence, rape myth acceptance, hostility toward women, intolerant attitudes regarding gender equity, the supporting of traditional subordinate gender roles for women and the dominant gender roles of men (Lonsway, et al., 2008). Examples of some of the sub-factors measured in IRMA and RMAS would be as follows: She asked for it. It wasnt really rape. He didnt mean to. She wanted it. She lied. Rape is a trivial event. Rape is a deviant event.

As research has continued to inquire into the rape myth dynamics further themes have been surveyed. Some examples of these are as follows (Ryan, 2011) (Edwards, Turchik, Dardis, & Reynolds, 2011): Men cannot stop themselves once they become aroused [blue balls]. Alcohol reduces the perpetrators culpability and increases the victims blame. Husbands or boyfriends cannot rape their wives or girlfriends. Women enjoy rape.

Commonly held myths regarding the victimization of women such as women bring victimization upon themselves, women enjoy being victims, assaults are only committed by deviant men, and the women exaggerate claims of victimization to cover up their misdeeds, gain attention, or simply out of spite make a womans recovery from sexual assault, harassment, and rape an unnecessarily more difficulty situation beyond the initial aggression (Lonsway, et al., 2008). For women there is a thirteen to twenty-five per cent chance that she will be a victim of a sexual assault in her lifetime (Loiselle & Fuqua, 2007). Specific data for the women in the United States is

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similar with a reported incident range of attempted or completed rape between eighteen to twenty-five per cent, and it has been characterized as an epidemic (Edwards, et al., 2011). One in four college women have reported being victims of an attempted or completed rape (Loiselle & Fuqua, 2007). The disturbing reality for college women is that a university setting is a high risk environment for sexual assault. Three per cent of college women report being raped during any given nine month window, and in the approximate four to five years in which it takes to earn an undergraduate degree approximately twenty to twenty-five per cent of college women will have experienced an attempted or completed rape (McMahon, 2010). Sexual assault is a common experience among college woman, and the lack of social support and stigmatization of the female victim produces again additional harm beyond the initial event (Miller, Amacker, & King, 2011). Although most college students are now exposed to some type of rape training education by the time they exit high school rape myth, now less overt, still lingers. Most college students will not directly blame female assault victims in self-assessments, but in these assessments express the beliefs that women put themselves at risk by such behaviors as drinking alcohol, dressing alluringly, or flirting with male companions. There has also been evidence reported that rape is believed to happen accidently or unintentionally, and that there may be some situations of reduced accountability for the male perpetrator in a sexual assault with the culpability shifted to the female victim and her behavior. For college students full accountability for the male aggressor is still a grey area (McMahon, 2010). Study results indicate that college students as a whole support rape myths with the following sub-factors receiving the greatest endorsement or acceptance: He didnt mean to, and She lied. The reality of the research is that despites the greater degree of sexual assault training that this youngest generation of college student has received, which has positively impacted their understanding of the political incorrectness or rape, the dynamics victim blaming and excusing the predator still exist. When surveyed

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fifty-three per cent of college students strongly agree or agree with the belief that if a girl acts like a slut, she is eventually going to get in trouble (McMahon, 2010). The trends of the endorsement of rape myth by both men and women have made the college environment particularly difficult for women who are the primary victims of rape and sexual assault. Men play the role of perpetrator ninety-nine per cent of the time (Foubert & Newberry, 2006). Buddie and Miller found in studying college students that the samples composed of men and women held a sixty-six per cent endorsement of the rape myth sub-factors to varying degrees (Miller, et al., 2011). Edwards (2011) cites some of these rape myths below: 21% of college women endorse the myth that a woman are asking for trouble from men if she wears sexy or provocative clothing.
27% of college men and 10% of college women endorse the myth that women provoke rape.

A British study found that 22% of respondents reported that a woman is responsible for rape if she has many partners, and matching the U.S. study the 26% felt the woman to be responsible for the rape if she wore sexy or revealing clothing.

In regards to some of the rape myths endorsed by college students one to four per cent of women believe that a woman has a secret desire to be raped. Men hold this misconception at rates of fifteen to sixteen per cent. In the university environment nineteen per cent of college women believe the female victims accusation of rape to be false (Edwards, et al., 2011). For men it was slightly higher with twenty-two per cent endorsing the myth that women lie about rape. Thirteen per cent of this male sample held the belief that women lead men on, and then cry rape (Edwards, et al., 2011). The statement, although most women wouldnt admit it, they generally find being physically forced to have sex a real turn on, is endorsed by sixteen per cent of college men. A statement which carried virtually the same meaning women secretly desire to be raped carries only a four per cent. The difference implies that the term rape can skew self-reporting measures. Research has shown that the absence of a self-reported endorsement of a belief does not necessarily mean that a person does not hold the belief or that his or her behavior does not bear the dominant cultural influences. Rape myth acceptance has been established as one of the more destructive factors which contribute to cultural dynamic of violence and marginalization of women, and it is one of the identifiable significant predictor of violence against women (Edwards, et al., 2011).

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Research on ambivalent sexism serves to deepen the understanding of the dynamics of womens sexual and cultural oppression compared to males. Researchers have described the dynamics of ambivalent sexism as the carrot and stick. The carrot or benevolent sexism justifies and secures male dominance by rewarding a woman for knowing her place, and not usurping male power. The stick or hostile sexism is the derogation of women who defy traditional gender roles, and the use of demeaning tactics to undermine her self-esteem and value as a means to justify male dominance and compel her to submit to her subordinate social role (Chapleau, Oswald, & Russell, 2007). Ambivalent sexism in relation to women can be understood in three sub-domains. These would be protective paternalism, complementary gender differentiation, and heterosexual intimacy. Protective paternalism assumes that men have a societal power that women are unable to access and therefore must be protected by men. Complementary gender differentiation assumes that women have an innate and inherent lady-like quality that is not resident in men. Heterosexual intimacy is the cultural concept that women are ideal romantic partners for men. The positive correlations between benevolent and hostile sexism suggest that both concept are used to justify male power and the perpetration of sexual assault upon women by men (Chapleau, et al., 2007). Benevolent sexism has been correlated with increases in victim blaming, a reduction in fault assigned to the rapist, and the recommendation of shorter prison sentences for rapist. Thus, both hostile and benevolent sexism are associated with attitudes regarding rape. Hostile sexism was significantly positively correlated with rape myth acceptance as a cultural dynamic in relation to both men and women as a whole. The strongest significant predictor of rape myth acceptance for all genders was hostile sexism toward women (Chapleau, et al., 2007). Ambivalent sexism explores the more traditional views and norms of the roles men and women have historically played. The acceptance of these traditional views by college students contributes to the potential risk of women at university settings. Among college students nine per cent of men and five per cent of women believed that a husbands use of physical force for sex with his spouse would not

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be support a definition of rape (Edwards, et al., 2011). In that same sample thirty-one per cent of men and nineteen per cent of woman did not define a husband having sex with his spouse without consent as rape. Further studies on college students indicate that only fifteen per cent believe that boyfriends and husbands could rape their girlfriends or wives (Edwards, et al., 2011). Traditional and conservative Christian views can also create an oppressive environment at religious universities. Men at Christian colleges who self-report themselves high in religiosity, as measured by the amount of prayer and a ranking of religious importance, have a greater adoption of rape myth; and are more likely to hold the belief that women who they view as promiscuous or who dresses in a provocative manner deserve to be raped (Edwards, et al., 2011). Research of rape myths have documented conservative social presentation for females, and these myths impact the culpability attributions for both the victims and the perpetrators. A study by Workman and Orr on college students which examined various skirt lengths short, moderate, or long found that women who wore short skirts were deemed to have wanted sex more, been intentionally sexually suggestive to the perpetrator, and accountable for leading the assailant on more than women who wore the longer skirt lengths (Edwards, et al., 2011). The social regulations placed on a woman within the dynamics of rape myth frequently serve to shift the blame away from the perpetrator and onto the victim. A British study found that twenty-two per cent of respondents reported that a woman is responsible for rape if she has many partners, and a complimentary U.S. study reported the twenty-six per cent of the respondents felt a woman to be responsible for the rape if she wore sexy or revealing clothing (Edwards, et al., 2011). College students who hold feminist attitudes are more likely to engage in anti-rape collective actions (Earnshaw, Pitpitan, Chaudoir, 2011). Feminism has explored the cultural dynamics of power inequities between men and women. It has examined the representations that objectify women, and explored heterosexualitys sanctioning of rape by its normalization of unwanted male sexual aggressions toward women. There is a relationship between feminism and gender with women possessing stronger

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feminist attitudes than men. Women also demonstrate lower on rape myth acceptance (Earnshaw, et al., 2011). However, rape myth acceptance is a cultural phenomenon and it does have a negative impact on women with greater degrees of acceptance. Women with high myth rate acceptance believe themselves less vulnerable to sexual assault, and view rape related information as less personally relevant than women with lower rape myth acceptance (Yeater, Treat, Viken, & McFall, 2010). Women who accept higher degrees of rape myth also less likely to believe the female rape victim in date rape vignettes, and showed longer more delayed response times as to when a man had gone too far in the audio playing of these date rape vignette than women with lower rape myth acceptance rates. (Yeater, et al., 2010) Studies of undergraduate college women have indicated that for these women their active resistance strategies in situations potentially dangerous for sexual assault are negatively impacted not only by their greater degrees of acceptance of rape myth, but also by a concern for male rejection. The social pressures that women experience regarding male approval has been termed as popularity impact. Studies have noted the pressure college women experience to sexually engage with men at social events, have shown that the adoration and approval of men is part of feminine social status, and can have an impact on a womans self-esteem. Thus, a desire for social acceptance by men may negatively impact undergraduate womens use of active resistance strategies, and result in victimization. (Yeater, et al., 2010) Women with severe victimization histories seek greater degrees of social approval from men than women with less severe victimization histories. The research of Yeater and colleagues (2010) is the first research have demonstrated a positive relationship between victimization and the competing need for social status illustrating a specific processing of risk information in sexual assault victims. Sexual assault victimization is its own vicious cycle. Women with more severe victimization histories require more evidence of sexual risk in order to conclude that a social situation has become unsafe.

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They are likely to determine situations less risky than merited, and may remain in potentially threatening situations longer than women who have not been victimized (Yeater, et al., 2010). Rape myth negatively impacts both mens and womans processing of information in making effective mutually consensual decisions in heterosexual relationships (Yeater, et al., 2010). Similar to the dynamic of popularity impact in its negative affect on the safety of women in sexually risky situations are the culturally shared beliefs of the various sexual scripts. The belief in the real rape script may be a contributing factor for sexual violence toward women who hold this belief because of their failure to recognize risk cues in sexually aggressive situation. This means that they may remain longer in this high risk and potentially dangerous situations. (Ryan, 2011) The typically held rape script for both women and men goes roughly like this: There is a deranged crazed strange weird man lurking outdoors at night that with sudden fury jumps from the darkness to attack an innocent woman whom is unknown to him, but has presented an opportunity by being alone and isolated. She resists, or may be much too afraid to resist fearing for her safety. Her only mistake which lead to the attack was being in the wrong place at the wrong time (Ryan, 2011). This however is rarely the case of an actual rape, and research indicates that women who hold this real rape script may be at greater risk for sexual assault than those women who do not hold this belief (Ryan, 2011). Most rape and sexual assault victims know their assailants and they occur indoors, involve alcohol, and prior conversations. College women have a tendency to adhere to this rape script. Unacknowledged rape victims are more likely to believe in the real rape script, and it is theorized that this believe in this statistically unrealistic portrayal of the actuality of rape may make them more susceptible to sexual victimization (Ryan, 2011). For women rape myth acceptance can serve to provide comfort by allowing her to distance herself from the possibility of being a victim or ease her thoughts regarding heterosexual behaviors with men. They can serve as cautionary tales of the consequences regarding unguarded female behaviors. In other words rape myth serves as a cultural means for women to process the anxiety that might arise for

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engaging in the issues and dynamics of potential sexual violence (Ryan, 2011). For men rape myth serves to rationalize and justify their sexually aggressive behavior. They can also serve as the guidelines or instruction in regards towards which women sexual violence is culturally acceptable. Rape myths operate differently for both women and men (Ryan, 2011). The rape script of sexually aggressive men in college followed this broad pattern: consensual sexual foreplay, later token refusals from the woman ignored, and finally the sex act. Elements of this script supported the male student holding the female student responsible for a part of his act of aggression. Further myths and script elements that allow college men to justify their sexual aggression toward college women are interpreted female provocation and promiscuity, the false concept that men cant stop once aroused, and the belief that sexual aggression is a suitable punishment for teasing and exploitative women (Ryan, 2011). College women are particularly susceptible to high rates of sexual assault with the majority of these assaults being perpetrated by acquaintances (Miller, et al., 2011). Victims of acquaintance rape are particularly subject to blame assessment by others. This type of negative social impact predicts greater distress, poorer recover, and a greater likelihood or again being a victim of sexual assault. It should also be noted that victimization makes these collegiate woman more prone to future victimization (Miller, et al., 2011). The coercion of the date rapist and his script is very different from the actions of the assailant in the real rape script. Analysis has described the techniques of the date rapist to include drugging, extortion, fraud, and lying; as opposed to a surprise attack from the darkness. Date rapists are likely to use alcohol or drugs to intoxicate a woman. They may frequently declare their love, pledge to deepen the relationship, or threaten to terminate it. The research suggests that men who are date rapist utilize coercion, manipulation, and deceit as their primary tools to victimize (Ryan, 2011). These men may also believe that they gain status form having sex against a womens will or from a demonstration of sexual conquest as the ultimate male dominance of a woman. They may also experience addition nuances of

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prestige for teaching a lesson to a woman who has been labeled a tease or a gold digger (Ryan, 2011). Alcohol is frequently a reality of date rape with seventy-three and fifty-five per cent of perpetrators and victims respectively being under its influence during an assault (Loiselle & Fuqua, 2011). Research on college students determined alcohol usage to be a very strongest predictor of date rape, and its use has been reported to be twice as likely to be an element of a sexual assault over physical force (Loiselle & Fuqua, 2011).
Research has consistently indicated that the culpability attributions in relation to sexual assault victims can be predicted by the gender of the perceiver, the perceivers similarity to the victim, empathy for the victim, and degree of rape myth acceptance. It is worthy to note that men have consistently attributed greater culpability to the female victim, and less to the male perpetrator. This same culpability dynamic is reversed in women who are more likely to assess blame to the male perpetrator and empathize with the female victim (Miller, et al., 2011). In a university setting higher degrees of rape myth acceptance have been reported in males, those planning to pledge a fraternity or sorority, those without previous rape education, and those who do not know a victim of sexual assault (McMahan, 2010); and greater degrees of willingness to intervene in a sexual assault situations were reported in females, those who had had rape education, and by those who know someone who had been the victim of sexual assault. The bystander approach to rape intervention at a university setting may be particularly appropriate. On most college campuses, as with most rapes in general, the assaults on women are committed by an individual who knows the victim. Since most of the rapes that occur on a college campus involve alcohol or a social setting there are often bystanders present during the early stages of these assaults who might be witnesses to these cues of violence or risky behavior. Thus the proper training in the recognition and intervention of sexual violence in bystanders may put helpers in an ideal position to stop a potential sexual assault on a woman prior to it happening (McMahon, 2010). It may be that bystanders are better equipped to assist repeat rape victims. In date rape vignettes women who had been victimized responded with a greater degree of social acquiescent choices to a potential assailant than women who had not been victimized (Yeater, et al., 2010). Research indicates that important factors that can influence and mediate a bystanders intent to intervene in a rape situation are his or her beliefs regarding rape and rape victims, and their interpretation of the

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worthiness of victims merit of a response (McMahon, 2010). There is an obvious relationship to rape myth and fault assessment here. Research further indicates that individuals who assess greater degrees of fault to the female rape victims are less likely to intervene while those who assess greater blame to the male perpetrator are more likely to help rape victims (McMahon, 2010). Fouberts Mens Program has been shown to positively affect long term changes in mens attitudes and beliefs regarding rape increasing their empathy for female rape victims, decreasing the likelihood of them engaging in sexual assault behaviors, and increasing their willingness to support female rape victims (McMahon, 2010) (Foubert & Newberry, 2006). The Mentors in Violence prevention program is specific training targeted at male collegiate athletes designed to reduce violence toward women. It has been show to increase athletes intervention willingness in relation to harassing and violent behaviors towar d women (McMahon, 2010). Banyards Bringing in the Bystander is the most empirically that theoretically supported intervention training program targeted at preventing violence against women university settings. It has been shown to effectively impact bystander attitudes regarding intervention and assisting assault victims in both the general student populations and the at risk (i.e. athletes and Greek life) populations (McMahon, 2010). With limited research, other than the works of Banyard and Burn, college administrators are face the difficult decisions regarding the efficiency of sexual assault programs. The question arises for each campus arises as to what sexual assault and rape prevention programs to best conduct in order to best reduce the victimization of women enrolled at their school (McMahon, 2010). Should the focus be on rape myth, bystander intervention, or both? The relevant research seems to be indicating that student learning objectives that target increasing the understanding of both these significant aspects of sexual assault, rape myth and bystander intervention, for both men and women; are most likely to produce the most effective prevention programs, and create safer university environments for college age women.

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