Cultural Norms And Rape Culture

In the United States and other patriarchal societies, cultural norms set the schema and script for men and women. For men in such cultures, the norms begin in childhood when boys are taught to not cry or show any emotion, be strong, dominant, powerful, and aggressive. These norms and scripts on how to act are internalized. For a male to be a man in these patriarchal society is to be the opposite of a woman: weak, submissive, and powerless. There is a code that boys, and men, must adhere to that “insists on invulnerability and dominance through the use of talk like “be a man,” “boys don’t cry,” or “don’t act like a wimp/sissy/fag” (Hlavka, Girl w/Pen! 2016). Within this culture is another set of norms commonly referred to as rape culture. Rape culture “allows us to …show more content…
The men in therapy often times would create a fake reason for being in treatment when asked about it. Outside of the military, men often expressed worry over seeking out therapy at sexual victim centers because those places are labeled a “feminine space,” and they worry that they won’t be welcome or that both men and women will hold them in a lower regard. The one exception when it comes to adult males reporting or seeking help for sexual assault is when the assault occurred during childhood. Males may be more likely to report childhood sexual abuse because it does not affect their identity as an adult male and the gender norms that go along with being an adult male (Artime, McCallum & Peterson, 2014). Males are less likely to report their assault when it occurs during adulthood. They may deny or diminish their victimization to neutralize the distressing gender conflict or threat to their masculinity rather than seek out help. They may also self-medicate with alcohol or drugs, or engage in risky sexual or physical