Arresting Rape Culture – Dialogical Spaces – Question Centre
Summary
The following is a list of questions to begin your reflections about the culture of rape and its social and personal implications. The questions are difficult. The questions could be used to critically explore the material available on this web site's' Learning Exchange Space as entry points for discussion and analysis. It is encouraged that you take this work on with a peer, family member, or teacher. Remember: resources are available at your school and in your community to consult if you require additional support.
Questions
How do I define rape culture? How am I implicated?
Is rape culture a recent phenomenon? How are historical contexts associated with contemporary understandings? Identify these connections with examples.
Identify your expectations about gender, sexuality, race, class, ability, and power in relationships that promote rape culture. How do these discourses intersect? How can you begin to challenge these?
What are the structures (ideological and/or material) that contribute to these expectations (education, capitalism, religion, social and news media, current events, popular culture, familial systems, peer groups, etc.)?
What does objectification mean? Identify examples of objectification? Where do they appear?
What is victim blaming? When have you experienced/witnessed it?
Where do you notice the trivialization of gendered violence? When and how are actions, beliefs, and values that contribute to this issue minimized?
Why are survivors of gendered violence silenced? How is the stigma of shaming socialized and normalized to discourage disclosure?
How is it helpful to identify and ask questions about the normalization of gendered violence?
How can I begin and continue conversations about these issues without alienating individuals?