Response to Class Discussion, 2/24

During today’s class discussion, I found that discussing cultural norms was a very interesting part of the culture of rape. Unfortunately, I even find myself immune to hyper masculinity and not finding it uncomfortable when I should. Like the example I gave today in class, it just goes to show what norms we are raised with. And it is not our parent’s fault or their parent’s fault, it is just the historical context that is being strung through our lives. Women have always been looked at less superior and do not deserve the same that men do. We made that clear in discussion today by even the example of pay wage and in the work force. However, what we can do? Another point that was brought up by a fellow classmate which is was something that I had not thought about, but that certain jobs are intended for women. Like it was mentioned in class, teaching or nursing were jobs intended for women because these jobs can be built around time off. This was a great insight for me, because I had personally never thought of it at that perspective. However, does this also build around and help protect the cultural norms that we are practicing? I do find this to be somewhat true. There are gender labels that accompany specific jobs. Like nursing for example, when you hear of the word nurse, there is a female connotation that is tagged with it. So when you are at the hospital and are expecting a nurse and you get a male nurse, it may sometimes still shock you. Even this would be an example of gender roles as well.

Gender roles are also another cultural norm that still seem out of tact for the twenty-first century. The example of a male nurse could be considered a gender role and it would be an unfortunate case for the male. Does it make the male less masculine for wanting to be a nurse? Well, of course not. However, in many eyes this could be seen as less than masculine career choice. This does relate back to rape because people could look at a case of rape with the same suspicion and ask, well what was the victim doing to provoke such an act? I enjoyed reading the USA Today article that was posted because the media took a different spin on viewing rape cases. In the article, it decides to look at it from the victims perspective. “As long as we as a community continue to make victim-blaming statements, such as, 'She put herself in this situation,' … 'She didn't fight back, she must have wanted it,' we will continue to see rapes go unreported," Stevenson said. "We have to stop blaming the victim. The conversation needs to shift to the person who chose to rape." (USA Today) I found this statement relieving. You know, out of all of the rape articles that we have read this semester, this if the first time I have read such an opinion so bluntly. It makes me wonder why can’t be more blunt with this crime? It is brutal and life changing and how can it be fair for young women to experience such trauma, yet have it go unseen for years and may never be solved? Our priorities is yet another cultural norm that needs to change.