“Legitimate Rape” and Our Culture’s Confusing Messages About Rape and Sexual Violence

The most recent “oops” from men on women’s biology and reproductive rights comes to us from Todd Akin, Republican Congressman from Missouri. He told a St. Louis television station that there is, apparently, such a thing as “legitimate rape” and that when it happens, women do not get pregnant because, evidently, their lady bits turn off in order to prevent conception. Akin explains, “If it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut the whole thing down.” Apparently, abortion can be regulated based on “legitimacy” of the sexual act that led to conception. This made some people angry.

Aside from Akin’s horrifyingly inaccurate biology knowledge, which Democratic Senator from Missouri, Claire McCaskill, called “ beyond comprehension that someone can be so ignorant about the emotional and physical trauma brought on by rape,” his innuendos about legitimacy and validity in rape is destructive and, unfortunately, not an uncommon offense in the past few months.

Akin is one of many contemporary male politicians who have made problematic public remarks about rape and sexual abuse that misinform the public on social norms, legality, and gender relations and also reinforces a culture of victim blaming. On August 20^th, former Republican governor of Arkansas Mike Huckabee used the phrase, “forcible” rape, suggesting that rape is not always forced on women as violations or abuse. In the UK, Justice Secretary, Kenneth Clarke claimed “date rape” was less “serious” than other attacks and George Galloway, the Respect MP, played down the sex crime allegations against Julian Assange. In 2011, Roger Helmer made a distinction between “classic stranger rape” and “date rape,” writing on his blog, “rape is always wrong, but not always equally culpable.” As Louise Mensch of The Telegraph writes, “Rape is having a moment. And not in a good way… from the Left and the Right, male politicians and two-bit “public figures” have made common cause on rape. Not to condemn it, or to pledge tougher action in policing it; but to minimize and dismiss it as a crime.”

The current trend of misinformed and judgmental conversation about rape and sexual abuse in politics is complicated by the mixed signals about healthy sexual relationships in pop culture because both risk misinforming people about sexual violence. The rise of S&M literature that romanticizes sexual dominance, vampire fantasies with violent sexual themes, and music that glamorizes aggressive sexuality only feeds the flame of considering some acts of sexual violence more acceptable than others. The Fifty Shades of Grey series is empowering for many men and women, but it also sends confusing signals about healthy relationship dynamics and power hegemonies between couples. The vampire craze offers a mystical love plot but also confusingly mingles sexual and violent interactions, and recent Top 40 songs have popularized themes of rape and sexual dominance, notably Rihanna’s “S&M” (“Now the pain is my pleasure”) and Katy Perry and Kanye West’s “E.T.” (“Take me, take me / Wanna be a victim / Ready for abduction”). While these trends have promoted acceptance of diverse sexualities, they also risk blurring the line between consent and rape. Clearly there should not be a prescribed “normal” sexuality, but our society needs to make it clear that rape is never “illegitimate,” regardless of sexual preferences.

Without dismissing diversity in sexuality, politicians and the media need to send a clearer message about what sexual violence is, how to recognize it, and how to react to it. Establishing a clear definition of rape and abuse does not conflict with acknowledging sexual diversity and these public spheres need to be responsible for communicating that distinction so that our culture does not become complacent or ignorant of violence.

Southern Knuckledraggers Admit Women to the Augusta National Golf Club in 2012

The gentlemen from the Augusta National Golf Club, host of the Masters Golf Tournament, finally admitted its first women members, Condoleezza Rice and Darla Moore, in its 80-year history on August 20^th, just 22 years after first admitting black men members. This landmark event inspires a memory from a scene from the sagacious film, Caddyshack, when Al Czervik tells his Asian American golf buddy, “I hear this place is restricted, Wang, so don't tell 'em you're Jewish, okay?”

Tim Kawakami of the San Jose Mercury News calls the landmark event the “end of a Neanderthal policy.” Even Obama "thinks it was too long in coming, but obviously thinks it's the right thing to do," according to White House spokesman, Jay Carney. So this was “a long time coming.” But why did it take so long? How did Augusta National manage to remain current—hosting the Masters Tournament and maintaining members like Bill Gates, Pete Coors, and Warren Buffett–when it had such archaic and offensive traditions? More importantly, even if this was a long time coming, what is most problematic is that it took so long to happen and American women had to wait for the Good Ol’ Boys Club at Augusta to take their time inviting women to tee off.

Augusta National was not upholding any honorable traditions when they excluded women until Monday and African Americans until 1992: they upheld racism and sexism. Until 1983, Augusta National’s caddies were exclusively African American, a relic of Jim Crow that ignored the social revolution since the end of the laws in 1965. Augusta National also struggled to keep up with women’s issues, as evident by former Masters Tournament Chairman, Hootie Johnson’s, 2002 remark, “There may well come a day when women will be invited to join our membership, but that timetable will be ours and not at the point of a bayonet.” Why was 2002 not on his “timetable” for gender equality?

Elisabeth Bumiller of the New York Times opened her story the day of the announcement with, “Condoleezza Rice has lived a life of firsts: first black woman to be Secretary of State, first black woman to be national security adviser and the first African-American, first woman and youngest person to be provost of Stanford University. On Monday, she added another first when she became one of the first two female members admitted to Augusta National Golf Club.” Bumiler brings up an important point: Condoleezza Rice is a trailblazer for 20^th and 21^st century women of color. Yet why is Augusta National even on the list her of unprecedented accomplishments? Isn’t it problematic that her membership is significant enough to add? Moreover, shouldn’t someone else have broken that barrier a long time ago?

In Ms. Magazine Blog contributor, Rebecca Nelson’s, piece on Rice and Moore’s recent membership, she highlights the elitist, sexist, and racist ideology implicit in the club’s requirements for membership. She recalls sociologist Jessica Holden Sherwood’s 2010 article for Ms. that examines how the exclusive club mentality creates “breeding grounds for a toxic mentality” and affirms the homogenization of the privileged class. Holden Sherwood observes, “symbolic boundaries like these feed and legitimate all class, race and gender inequalities.” Augusta National’s tradition of exclusion is an intolerance of difference and, as a result, reinforces problematic hierarchies among race, class, and gender spheres. With luck, the inclusion of Rice and Moore will point the club’s community toward inclusion of diversity without inequality and will inspire and reflect an ideal for our current society.

While Monday’s announcement is an accomplishment for American women, it is also a testimony to how far we have to go in achieving equality in the 21^st century. One consolation walking away from this is that “golf” is finally no longer synonymous with “Gentlemen Only, Ladies Forbidden.”

Competitiveness Confused With Being a Diva and Not Being “Impressed,” and The Commodification of Hot Athletes: What The Olympics Reveal About Our Gender Biases

The 2012 Olympics in London has included many triumphant moments for international athletes beyond the podium. Male athletes enjoyed landmark events such as Michael Phelps’ record number of Olympic medals and double amputee Oscar “Blade Runner” Pistorius’s competition in the 4x400. Female athletes also experienced history-making achievements from the first-ever inclusion of women’s boxing (see this interview from WBEZ’s “The Afternoon Shift” on the documentary, “Go For It: Life Lessons From Girl Boxers”) to the praise of Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh for their third gold in women’s beach volleyball to US Olympic gymnast, Gaby Douglas’, mature response to criticism of her hair. Yet amid these achievements were also events that were evidence of lingering biases against competitive women and single, successful men, revealing problematic social norms for both genders.

The McKayla is Not Impressed meme has become one of the m buzzed about and visited memes since its inception on August 7^th, 2012. The meme features American gymnast, McKayla Maroney’s, face after not winning gold in the women’s vault photo shopped into scenes like the an image of the Taj Mahal, the White House cabinet getting briefed on Osama bin Laden’s death, and the birth of Jesus. Some of the memes are witty commentaries like Mitt Romney’s VP choice or jabs at Justin Bieber, yet others like Maroney’s supposed lack of amusement at the Pyramids and Paralympics athletes competing suggest that she is simply a bitch with a bad attitude. The meme’s playfulness with Maroneys frustration over not winning gold risks interpreting her drive and competitiveness with being bitchy and ungrateful. Why is this female Olympian’s expression after losing first place synonymous with not being “impressed” with anything else in the world? Is this a gender-based meme that confuses competitiveness and disappointment with being a prima dona?

Similarly, the NBC coverage of the Russian Olympic women’s gymnastics team included the gender-biased word choice, “diva,” in describing the Olympians’ training styles and relationship with their coach. Dvora Meyers' Jezebel article on NBC commentators’ poor word choice draws attention to the problematic association between women’s motivation, focus, and training style with “truly negative, un-sportswoman like behavior” characteristic of a diva.

Male athletes also received special attention from the media that sometimes confused attractiveness with sexual permissiveness. Swimmer Ryan Lochte is an eleven-time medalist yet the majority of press about him this Olympics revolved around his personal and sexual life. Rumors continually swirl about his latest girlfriend(s), photos like this one pop up with Lochte out clubbing (with special attention to his sartorial choices), his mother unfortunately told the press he only has time for “one-night stands” upon repeated questioning about his dating life—thus forcing Lochte to clarify that his mother doesn’t even know what that means and that she meant he is “not in a relationship so I do go on dates”—and recently he has been courted to join Dancing with the Stars and The Bachelor. The athlete’s appearance has gained more attention than his professional success, making Lochte’s sexual life a proverbial piece of meat for the press to gnaw on. The commodification of Olympic athletes is not uncommon given the void in professional options post-games and is therefore not always bad attention for the athlete, yet Lochte’s offers and media attention are based solely on his appearance and the press’s assumption that he is a womanizer. At least Apollo Ohno’s endorsements with Subway and Nyquil don’t involve him handing out roses to beautiful but crazy women.

The problematic gender portrayals of Olympic athletes come down to what sells: womanizing guys, diva Russians, and bitchy silver medalists. They are easily packageable images of womanhood and manhood that people respond to. The question is: will we as internet users, TV watchers, and blog readers ever change our response and eventually get frustrated with these prescribed roles, demanding new portrayals of Olympians?