Argumentative Essay On Women And Rape

When people think of the word “rape,” they usually associate it subconsciously with a man sexually assaulting a woman. Many people forget, or even disregard the fact, that women are not the only victims in this area of crime. Due to this common fallacy, justice for males who have been sexually assaulted is not sought out properly or nearly enough. This stereotypical perception of males and rape acts as a handicap in the realm of social justice. As a society, we know a lot more about the sexual assault of women: it is common in media and there are, unfortunately, multiple reports of it every day. This is much different from the sexual assault of men because of the lack of exposure to it in media and the “taboo” society has placed on it. For some reason, it is easier to talk about the rape of females than the rape of males. This is probably due to the “superiority” men are supposed to have over women. Historically, women were not seen as “subordinate” to men until around the time of the Industrial Revolution. Before industrialization, women and men lived more egalitarian lifestyles. Men hunted, and women would do the …show more content…
Although it has progressed quite a bit since the 20th century, research in this field is still scarce. Another problem is that it mostly focuses on specific groups of male victims, namely: children, college students, soldiers, and prisoners (Javaid 272). This narrow-minded view on the sexual assault of males functions as one reason why men who have been raped may not know whether they should or how they could seek justice for themselves. The lack of exposure to all types of criminality generalizes men only as aggressors (Javaid 272), rarely addressing the less common yet very prevalent male rape victims in society. This is a dangerous, slippery slope; humans are creatures of habit and we fear