Violence Against Women Reflection Paper
There are some systemic conditions that lead to violence against women. The first problem is that violent masculinity is believed to include sexual violence against women, control, and power. Nowadays the culture of violence exists because sexual violence is eroticized in modern culture (Donadey Kindle loc. 10290). The main idea is that violence has become an integral part of daily lives, and people ignore it.
Modern society normalizes violence in relationships (Donadey Kindle loc. 10364). It becomes especially evident when victims report to the police. However, the official authorities such as schools, police, the military tend to protect the penetrators (Donadey Kindle loc. 10321). The modern society blames victims for their behavior and claims that they had to dress more conservative clothes and do not attract men. As the result, victims refuse to report cases of sexual assault or seek help. I think that sexuality is not a shame and women should look really good. Thus, only violator is guilty of raping.
Western society considers that aggression is an appropriate emotion for men needed to express their masculinity (Donadey Kindle loc. 10360). As the result, rape is meant to be a method of social control. It is important to acknowledge that sexual violence was widely used against African Americans. As the result, they took an active role in the Civil Rights movement (Donadey Kindle loc. 10335). In other words, violence was always used against women in order to control them.
Feminists can resist gender-based and other kinds of violence by demonstrating that it is inappropriate in normal relationships. For instance, they provided the understanding that sexualized violence against women was motivated by a desire to obtain power rather than sexual desire (Donadey Kindle loc. 10270). They can expand this knowledge and emphasize that there is no place for violence in heterosexual relationships (Donadey Kindle loc. 10290). It is essential to inform the society about sexual assault prevention tips, types of violence against women, and characteristics of the assailants.
Women need to be aware that they cannot be forced to do something if they do not like it. For example, sometimes women are raped, but they do not even realize it. Feminists should educate people about circumstances in which sexual assaults can be probably committed. Thus, athletes are more likely to sexually assault after the game (Bohmer and Parrot Kindle loc. 10961). Women should learn that sexual actions that contradict their own wishes are rape, and they should report them to police. Moreover, they should talk about violence and do not need to blame themselves because the rapist is always guilty.
Feminists can resist gender-based violence by applying to religious backgrounds of women. The problem is that most of them believe that resistance to violence is unbiblical and unchristian, and they view Christianity and Judaism as obstacles to the handling of abuse (Thistlethwaite). On the other hand, women should learn that religion aims to help them, and look at the Bible from the other point of view. Feminists should tell …
