Sexual Violence

Sexual violence is something that everyone in society is aware of but until it happens to you or someone you are close to it is often just another flaw in society that you look past. My general reaction to the fact sheet is how overwhelming the percentages of abuse are. According to the CDC, "20-25% of college women in the United States have experienced an attempted or complete rape during their college years". Even worse are the percentages of victims of sexual violence before the age of 17. The CDC reports that "25.5% of females were first raped before the age of 12". Like I mentioned before because we are such a self-absorbed society if it doesn't affect you, your family, or someone you are close to you probably won't think much about how serious of an issue sexual violence really is.

The interview with Jackson Katz is something that all men should have to listen to especially those that are bringing up little boys. One common theme that I noticed in the interview is how Katz is trying to get society to recognize sexual violence as a man's issue instead of a women's issue. Even being a woman my first thought is that this is a women's issue but Katz is right; the majority of the victims are women so the issues themselves lie with men. This is most likely because of the way that we grow up looking at our fathers as leaders, strong, and protecting the family. I know for instance my father was never abusive to any of us but he also didn't show a soft side until later in life with his grandchildren. So that reinforced to me the fact that men are dominant and strong and that they don't need to show a soft side to me. After several bad relationships I figured out for myself what I wanted in a relationship. Men are taught as young boys to toughen up and be strong and not cry. As they get older this behavior is praised by their fathers and encouraged by the media and their peers.

The media has a big impact on sexual violence in our society. Sex and violence are depicted on television every day and more often than not it isn't the late night programming like it used to be. You see violence in cartoons, puns and innuendoes that we as a society have deemed ok for our children to watch. Like Katz said in his interview, "The media does not cause violence", but it does reinforce the idea that men are strong, dominant, and powerful and that women are there to meet men's needs. I think that socially men also remain dominant in the business world. Statistically men hold the majority of the top paying managerial positions so that feeling of dominance continues and the inferiority of women in the workplace also remains. Men are dominant all over the world, sexual violence does not discriminate by age, race, culture, or social class, and it is something that affects women all over the world. This is a problem that spans the globe.

Sexual violence